bolu escortçanakkale escortbayburt escortdüzce escortaydın escortdenizli escorthakkari escortbingöl escortgümüşhane escortantalya escortbartın escortbilecik escortçankırı escortamasya escortelazığ escortbatman escortartvin escortbursa escortçorum escortbalıkesir escortburdur escortaksaray escortankara escortbitlis escortadıyaman escortağrı escorterzincan escortafyon escortdiyarbakır escortığdır escorthatay escortgiresun escorteskişehir escortadana escortardahan escortedirne escorterzurum escortgaziantep escortkilis escortizmir escortmanisa escortkastamonu escortkahramanmaraş escortistanbul escortkars escortkaraman escortmuş escortısparta escortsinop escortmardin escortkocaeli escortkonya escortkırklareli escortmuğla escortordu escortosmaniye escortmalatya escortkırıkkale escortkayseri escortvan escortsamsun escortmersin escortnevşehir escortsakarya escortkırşehir escortkarabük escortkütahya escortyalova escortniğde escortkıbrıs escortşırnak escortuşak escortrize escorturfa escortsivas escortsiirt escorttrabzon escorttokat escorttekirdağ escorttunceli escortzonguldak escortyozgat escortside escortşehitkamil escortşahinbey escortesenyurt escortçankaya escortkeçiören escortmecidiyeköy escortgüneşli escortpendik escortküçükçekmece escortyenimahalle escortbakırköy escortaltınordu escortserik escorttaksim escortsilivri escortkadriye escortmezitli escortsüleymanpaşa escortbostancı escortdarıca escortkonyaaltı escortsarıçam escortbahçeşehir escortiskenderun escortkepez escortseyhan escortosmangazi escortbağcılar escortselçuklu escortgaziosmanpaşa escortmamak escortkuşadası escortkarabağlar escortsancaktepe escortbaşakşehir escortgörükle escortetimesgut escortkayapınar escortavcılar escortbahçelievler escortmelikgazi escortmaltepe escortbosna escortdidim escortkemer escortbelek escortfethiye escortyıldırım escortataköy escortaltıparmak escortsultangazi escortbornova escortbuca escortüsküdar escortgebze escortmuratpaşa escortkartal escortkadıköy escortnilüfer escortsincan escortkagithane escortkocasinan escortesenler escortodunpazarı escortsultanbeyli escortataşehir escortonikişubat escortaltındağ escortsarıyer escortbeylikdüzü escortkonak escorteyüp escortkaraköprü escortbağlar escortyüreğir escortizmit escorteyyubiye escorttepebaşı escortinegöl escortkaratay escorthaliliye escortfatih escortçukurova escortmeram escortkarşıyaka escortalanya escortpamukkale escortarnavutköy escorttarsus escortilkadım escortyunusemre escortipekyolu escorttuzla escortakdeniz escortantakya escortçekmeköy escorttoroslar escortmerkezefendi escortbayraklı escortşişli escortçorlu escortefeler escortortahisar escortbüyükçekmece escortyeşilyurt escortadapazarı escortzeytinburnu escortsiverek escortmanavgat escortbayrampaşa escortgüngören escortbattalgazi escortkızıltepe escortbeykoz escortmarmaris escortatakum escortizmit escortСмотреть русское порно в HD качествеBeylikdüzü escorthd porn videosrujizz.medesi porn videospornhdvideos.lifeAnkara bayan escortHindi sex tvbeylikdüzü escortsigara satın al,puro satın al,tütün satın al,pipo tütünü satın al520 kalpli sigaracaptain black sigara,captain black sigara satın alCavallo Sigaramilano sigaradavidoff sigaradjarum black sigaradunhill sigaramarlboro sigaravogue sigaraLucky Strike Sigarakentsticks sigarasenator sigaraesse sigaraWinston Sigaramarvel sigaraneo sigaraKarelia SigaraParliament Sigarakent sigarakeno club sigaranuo sigaraal capone sigaraamerican spirit tütünmarlboro tütün satın aldrum tütün satın alGeorge Karelias And Sons tütün satın alGolden Virginia Tütün satın alharvest tütün satın alMac Baren Tütün satın alRothmans Tütün satın alOld Holborn Tütün satın alPueblo Tütün satın alraw tütün satın alithal tütün satın alyerli tütün satın alAmsterdam Rolling Special Yellow TütünAbsinthe Apsinthion Yeşil PeriCapstan Pipo Tütünü satın alAmphora Pipo Tütünü satın alcaptain black pipo tütünü satın aldavidoff pipo tütünü satın alMac Baren Pipo Tütünü satın alRattrays Pipo Tütünü satın alW O Larsen Pipo Tütünü satın alReiner Pipo Tütünü satın alpipo tütünüsarma tütün satın alpuro satın alMarlboro Double Fusion SigaraMarlboro Double Fusion Summer karpuzlu sigaraMarlboro Double Ice Sigara Mentol ve Nane AromalıMarlboro Double Mix SigaraMarlboro Edge Less Smell Slim SigaraMarlboro Edge Sunset SigaraMarlboro Exotic Shuffle SigaraMarlboro Gold SigaraMarlboro ice Blast Sigara mentollüMarlboro Lights SigaraMarlboro Luna Shuffle SigaraMarlboro Red Kırmızı Classic Sigaramarlboro shufflemarlboro sol shufflemarlboro touch aquamarlboro touch graymarlboro vista double fusion purple sigaramarlboro vista blossom fusion sigaramarlboro vista double fusion summermarlboro vista exotic fusion sigaramarlboro winter shufflemarlboro vista red fusion sigaracaptain black blue compact sigaracaptain black cherise sigara vişne aromalıcaptain black sigaracaptain black dark crema sigaracaptain black mentollü sigaracaptain black navy blue sigaracaptain black peach sigara şeftali aromalıoscar çikolatalı sigaraOscar Nano Silver SigaraOscar Ice Gold SuperSlim SigaraOris Vintage Club Vanilla SlimOris Vintage Club Chocolate Slim SigaraOris Vintage Club Cherry SlimOris Twin Sense Strawberry sigaraOris Twin Sense Spearmint SigaraOris Twin Sense Blueberry SigaraOris Tropical Dew SigaraOris Swiss Presso SigaraOris Strawberry Superslims SigaraOris Spearmint SigaraOris Smart Change Purple SigaraOris Smart Change Mentollü SigaraOris Pulse Super Slim Fusion MintOris Pulse Mentol Orange SuperSlims Sigara Portakal AromalıOris Pulse Mango Mint Superslim SigaraOris Pulse Gum Mint SigaraOris Pulse Blueberry Blast Superslim SigaraOris Pulse Apple Mint SigaraOris intense Summer Fizz SigaraOris Intense Purple Fizz SigaraOris Double Apple SigaraOris Cherry Sigara Kiraz AromalıTekel 3000 Night BlueTekel 2001 SigaraTekel 2000 SigaraSobranie Cocktail Renkli SigaraSobranie Black Russian SigaraZümerret SigaraZumerret Mojito sigaraZumerret Mango sigaraZumerret Blueberry SigaraZumerret Blueberry Spearmint SigaraZumerret Applemint sigaravigor sigaraviceroy sigaraSheri Menthol Slim SigaraSheri Double Apple Slim SigaraRothmans SigaraRockets Sigara Paket 40 DalRobin Bubblegum Mint SigaraRobin Applemint SigaraPhilip Morris Blue Caps SigaraPlatinum Seven Slims Double ApplePlatinum Seven Strawberry SlimsPall Mall SigaraPall Mall Nano Switch Superslim SigaraAl Capone Sweet Cognac SigaraAl Capone Sunset SigaraAl Capone Red Pockets SigaraAl Capone Irish Coffee SigaraAl Capone Green Sigara MentollüAl Capone Gold Pockets SigaraAl Capone Flame SigaraAl Capone Filter Pockets Sigarilloharvest puroMilano Eject Double ClickHarvest Blueberry Crush SigaraHarvest Menthol Crush SigaraHarvest Superslim Coconut SigaraHarvest Superslim Menthol SigaraHarvest Superslim Original SigaraHarvest Superslim Sweet Cherry SigaraHarvest Superslim Sweet Coffe SigaraHarvest Superslim Vanilla SigaraHarvest Sweet Cherry SigaraHarvest Sweet Coffe SigaraHarvest Sweet Original Little SigaraCaptain Black PuroMuratti Rosso SigaraMT Premium Blend Super Slim Gum Mint CapsuleMT Premium Blend Super Slim Blueberry CapsuleMorgan Black SigaraMore Yeşil SigaraMore Kırmızı SigaraFree Porn Passwordsesenyurt escortharvest sigaramanchester sigaraoris sigaraoscar sigaramore sigarachapman sigaracaptain blackavcılar escortPendik escortsigarapuroKocaeli Escortkalpli sigaracaptain black sigaracavallo sigarachapman sigaradavidoff sigaradjarum sigaradunhill sigaraesse sigaraharvest sigarakarelia sigarakeno club sigarakent sigaralucky strike sigaramanchester sigaramarlboro sigaramarvel sigaramilano sigaramore sigaraoris sigaraoscar sigaraparliament sigarasenator sigaravogue sigarawinston sigarapuro satın altütün satın alankara escorteryaman escortsincan escortsigaraizmit escort,kocaeli escortcasino siteleri,slot siteleri,deneme bonusu,deneme bonusu veren siteler,güvenilir casino sitelerideneme bonusu veren sitelerDeneme Bonusu Veren sitelerDeneme bonusuSlot Sitelerialanya escortbodrum escortİstanbul EscortDeneme BonusuDeneme Bonusu 2025Deneme BonusuDeneme Bonusu 2025pulibet girişEsenyurt escortEsenyurt escortbeşiktaş escortSlot SiteleriCanlı BahisSlot SiteleriGüvenilir SitelerSlot SiteleriGüvenilir SitelerSlot SiteleriGüvenilir SitelerSlot SiteleriGüvenilir SitelerSlot SiteleriGüvenilir SitelerSlot SiteleriDeneme bonusu 2025Deneme bonusu 2025Deneme bonusu 2025Deneme bonusu 2025Deneme bonusu 2025Alanya escortdeneme bonusu veren sitelerKuşadası escort
 

Minimalism and Survival – Overlap and Conflicts

By minimalism, I mean simple living, or practices that promote simplicity in one’s lifestyle, not the art movement. If one just scanned through minimalist web content, they could be forgiven for thinking that minimalism was simply about reducing the number of possessions owned, but that would be an oversimplification.

Minimalism is also about living intentionally, lowering the overstimulation and mania of the modern world, freeing oneself from consumer culture, and trading the excesses of modern life for things that matter more. For me that means things like time, relationships, service and self-reliance, but it may be something else to you.

The Overlap

Intersections between minimalism and survival occur in idealistic writings of Henry David Thoreau and John Muir and their appreciation of nature, and in the teachings of Mahatma Ghandi in which he promoted simplicity and self-sufficiency. Minimalist practices include reducing the number of possessions one owns, reducing dependence on technology and services, and spending less money. At 30,000’, it is easy to spot overlap between minimalism and survivalism, especially where minimalism overlaps with the practice of primitive survival.

The idea of the hunter gatherer living simply, off the land, often nomadically, with only what he carries on his back, caching items too heavy to carry.

Overlaps also occur in common minimalist survival adages such as “The more you know, the less you need.” and “Don’t own anything you can’t carry on your back at a dead run.”

There is certainly common ground between the two philosophies for everyone who feels burnt out and overstimulated by the daily grind of working one or more full-time jobs in the city just to scrape by. There is indeed a movement of people yearning for a simpler life and wanting to know what is in their food.

The feeling that we are becoming disconnected from nature and that that will certainly have negative consequences is nothing new and has surely existed since man built the first cities of any size. It is evidenced in Thoreau’s writing in the first half of the 1800’s and in writings from Roman times. Romans would escape the excess and overstimulation of the city to the spartan villa rustica just as the American middle-class escapes to country homes, hobby farms, homesteads, hunting cabins, and fishing camps.

Taking on a nomadic existence is perhaps another area of overlap. Minimalists who take to the road in boats, RVs or vans must necessarily embrace increased self-reliance, especially if motivated by improving their personal finances.

The Conflicts

There are also some areas of survival and minimalism that do not overlap, stockpiling being perhaps the most obvious.

Like survival, minimalism can also be taken to the extreme. Attempting to quantify their minimalism, some minimalists go to the extreme of setting and achieving goals to not own more than a certain number of possessions … to not own more than say, 100 items. Perhaps they cannot comprehend the end result of such a goal, that they will eventually end up zero possessions.

A past mentor of mine who was a professor of philosophy had a friend who went to Tibet to become a Buddhist monk. He began giving away is his possessions in an effort rid himself of attachment, eventually owning only his robes, a prayer book, prayer beads, a bowl and a spoon.

As he considered giving away his spoon, it dawned on him that his motivations for doing so were, on some level, still basically selfish. It was his desire to rid himself of attachment that was motivating him to rid himself of all his possessions. This was simply the opposite end of the spectrum of competition that drives so many people to make a competition of amassing as many homes or cars or boats or other material possessions or to amass the most expensive possessions as possible, only to become a slave to them. He could plainly see that he would be no more content than he was at that moment.

Indeed, the thought of stockpiling, basic to survival, necessary for a homesteader to make it through the winter months, or a bad harvest, would be unthinkable to some minimalists. They would think it akin to hording. Yet many of those same minimalists have no qualms stockpiling money or using minimalism to own fewer, nicer (more expensive) possessions. In my humble opinion, someone who trades an obsession with the number of material possession they own for the quality of the material possessions they own is still obsessed with material possessions.

Meeting in the Middle

As a writer, I suppose I have done little to conceal the fact that, between minimalism and survivalism, I lean toward the latter while still valuing the former, at least as an ideal.

I don’t see stockpiling as the ultimate goal of survivalism just as I don’t see owning less than some arbitrary number of possessions as the goal of minimalism. I suppose like both survivalism and minimalism for the correct principles that they embrace, such as self-reliance and frugality.

For me, at least, survivalism and minimalism collide in the works of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Because, if there is an end goal of survivalism, then it is antifragility, another correct principle, which Taleb used to describe the condition of growing stronger in response to low order, negative stimuli and volatility.

Anyone can be killed by a high order disaster (think nuclear bomb), but in response to lower order survival ordeals (think stranded in a wilderness where survival is possible, but very difficult), some people die or are permanently damaged (fragile), others are simply unaffected (robust), but some actually benefit in some way for having survived the experience (antifragile). The adversity forges them into stronger, wiser, or more adaptable versions of themselves.

The word, “antifragility” was coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a Harvard educated risk manager from an old money Lebanese Orthodox Christian family and author of The Black Swan (Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, 2010) and Antifragile (Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, 2014), two books that are both “must reads” for any self-respecting survivalist. Antifragility is the word that describes the act of “thriving over merely surviving.” This idea strikes home with any survivalist with goals higher than “to keep on breathing.”

In the later book, Taleb describes anyone who makes more than minimum wage and still desires more wealth as belonging to the “Tantalized Class”, lumping them in with most of the middle class, along with “Russian billionaires, lobbyists, most bankers and bureaucrats.” Adding that “members are bribable provided they are given an adequate narrative, mostly with the use of casuistry.” Who doesn’t belong to it? In Taleb’s opinion, “Workers, monks, hippies, some artists, and English aristocrats escape it.” (Taleb, 2014) Easy for him to say … he’s rich, right? It’s not that simple though. The man has a valid point.

Let’s face it, emergency preparedness can be a little overwhelming, especially to folks who are just starting out. A little simplification can make it easier to get started. Taking those first steps is not easy for some people but every journey starts with a single step.

Likewise, experienced survivalist who have been stockpiling for decades, can often benefit from organization, taking inventory, selling, donating, and recycling to purge supplies that are no longer useful and then replace them, reclaim wasted storage space, and reallocate limited survival resources in light of what they have learned over those decades.

My own emergency preparations and stockpile is very different today than it was three or four decades ago because my understanding of survival has evolved significantly after decades of study, research, experience and tinkering. If “the more you know, the less you need” is true, I shouldn’t need anything at all by now, but it’s not quite that simple.

The world has changed since our distant ancestors existed as hunter gatherers and survival needs have changed along with it. They didn’t need to worry about nuclear weapons, drones, or being hunted with thermal imaging or facial recognition technology in the paleolithic. Man has made the world more complicated, and in doing so, has made it more fragile.

Survival needs now go way beyond the original “Rule of Threes” and the Earth could no longer support anywhere near the current population if everybody reverted to hunting and gathering without agriculture.

Urbanization is the long-term trend of humans migrating from rural areas, where most of them engaged in at least some agriculture, to cities. There will soon be more of us living in large cities than outside them for the first time in the history of the world. And that has made us vulnerable to a higher order of old threats, such as disease, famine, war and natural disasters, and has made us vulnerable to new threats like pandemics, dirty bombs, terrorism, supply chain interruption, HEMP, and genocide.

Globalization is the process of nations becoming interdependent and integrating trade. Thanks to globalization, certain goods cost less. In trade, we have shipped our production capacity overseas, are dependent on nations half a world away for a significant proportion of our food and oil, and are now dependent on our enemies for the medicines we need to live, the very large transformers we will need to repair our electrical grid after an EMP or HEMP, and even the semiconductors we need to build virtually all of our weapons. Greedy companies and politicians have put us in quite a pickle.

How do we out of it and manage these new risks? By identifying fragility and eliminating it and by learning to live simply and sustainably again. By each of us producing at least some of our own food. By more people moving out of cities and back into rural areas. By reversing some of the globalization, decoupling from our enemies and diversifying the global trade that remains. We shouldn’t be dependent on any single country for anything that we need to survive and certainly not an enemy.

If our brand of minimalism just means living simply, then I think there is plenty of overlap with survivalism, emergency preparedness and self-reliance, and that companies and politicians would do well to take note.

References

Taleb, N. N. (2010). The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. New York: Random House.

Taleb, N. N. (2014). Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder. New York: Random House.

Taleb, N. N. (2014). Glossary. In N. N. Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder (p. 428). New York: Random House.

 

image_pdf
Written by

Cache Valley Prepper is the CEO of Survival Sensei, LLC, a freelance author, writer, survival instructor, consultant and the director of the Survival Brain Trust. A descendant of pioneers, Cache was raised in the tradition of self-reliance and grew up working archaeological digs in the desert Southwest, hiking the Swiss Alps and Scottish highlands and building the Boy Scout Program in Portugal. Cache was mentored in survival by a Delta Force Lt Col and a physician in the US Nuclear Program and in business by Stephen R. Covey. You can catch up with Cache teaching EMP survival at survival expos, teaching SERE to ex-pats and vagabonds in South America or getting in some dirt time with the primitive skills crowd in a wilderness near you. His Facebook page is here. Cache Valley Prepper is a pen name used to protect his identity. You can send Cache Valley Prepper a message at editor [at] survivopedia.com

Latest comment
  • I visualize people living in less developed places in the world after any harsh scenario for us like nuclear war, electromagnetic pulse, world war, economic and societal collapse. A family in a modest one room straw and mud home wakes up the next morning with zero news of any of that and zero awareness that much of the world doesn’t have electricity and what was traffic before has become a parking lot of dead cars. They wouldn’t know because they never experienced electricity nor paved roads with vehicles nor even television or radio to be getting the news of the rest of the world. Instead, that morning would be to them the same as previous mornings as they tend their crops and animals. That minimalism and others in many places in the world having similarities would be among a spectrum of my preparedness options with my sea based mobility preparedness contingencies.
    [email protected]

LEAVE A COMMENT