There’s a lot about prepping on the Net, and how to. One thing everyone says is be a gray man, I agree to a point. If you live in a city being gray is what you’ll have to do to survive. It just seems people in the city are usually more self centered, distrustful, and maybe cynical. Not to say they wouldn’t help their neighbor, but what about the guy 5 blocks over they don’t know?  Would they help him? Probably not, so is that being selfish or just street wise?

In the country, people generally tend to help each other more.  We might know people 5 miles or 10 miles away. People from the country are generally willing to help, and sometimes have more of a sense of community. I know neighborhoods have a since of community, but that might just be a few square blocks. Where I live, we only have a few communities.  There are maybe 6 or 7, “communities” people reference themselves to be from.  Our whole county only has 15,000 people. The whole county really is a community too. In the city, there might be 15,000 people in one small neighborhood.

The point of all this is we need to strengthen our communities. We need to not be in hiding but be in the light, help each other become strong and we need to start in our communities. I’m not saying let people know how much of everything you have or where it is.

My wife and I have 10 acres of land and have been prepping for a little while. We have chickens now, heirloom seeds, and other items. I have enough seeds of a few things to give away, like corn and potatoes. We are getting pigs, possibly a milk cow, and I really want a grist mill. I want to be the go to guy in my community. A lot of people around here burn wood, have chickens and garden, but most don’t have a clue about heirloom seeds. Most people I know go to the farm store and get their plants and seeds. When SHTF, most could survive, but may not have the seeds for a garden or fuel for a chainsaw. I want to get a few hand saws, maybe two grist mills, and two or three electrical generator heads.

I want to be the go to guy for a couple of reasons. One is I want to see my community survive and thrive and get back on it’s feet and get back to basics. I believe getting back to the basics is the only hope we have. A local butcher, a local dairy, local orchard, seamstress, etc., etc., getting back to that would create millions of jobs. Two, being the go to guy will make you a mark for looters and people that don’t want to try for sure, BUT, if you are the go to guy, the community will need you and help protect you. In the country, this will probably be a lot easier to accomplish because everyone knows someone or knows someone who knows them. In the country, you’ll know most people in a large geographic area.  You’ll know who you can trust and who you can’t.

Be the gray man to a point, but also be the go to guy or women. Just look at the Net, it’s a community and there are lot’s of go to guy’s and gal’s. I think you’ll have to hunker down in the beginning and be that gray man, but after things calm down, you can start to release your stuff, ideas, and help the community.

This article first appeared on Ed That Matters.