The Committee of Public Safety

I guess I haven’t posted in a week or so. I’ve been pressed by several projects but I hope to make a few posts this weekend.

When John Robb talks about resilient communities, it strikes a real chord with me. Building resilient communities has been something my faith (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has been doing for a long time. It has some hard won expertise.

Individually, the Saints have been encouraged to live prudently, to only take out debt for education and a modest home, to eschew consumer debt, to make a budget, to garden, to build up a year’s supply of food for emergencies. Each local congregation draws up an emergency plan for what to do in case of disasters. Each congregation also has its own funds that allow local leaders to help those members of the congregation that are in need. Meeting houses are set up as shelters and coordinating hubs in case of emergency.

The LDS church has its own welfare system where those who are able-bodied contribute their labor in return for food and supplies and those that aren’t work receive aid. Most of that food and supplies are produced or manufactured by church-owned farms and factories. It operates a chain of thrift shops that refurbish donated goods and sell them to the needy while providing vocational training for those who need to take a first step in the job market. The LDS church also has a large reservoir of volunteers to help with community projects.

In the developing world, the LDS church has concentrated on building up the capacities of local church communities. Members in their early twenties are able to take out loans for college from a church operated fund. After graduation from a local institution, they pay money back into the fund which then goes towards loans for other members, creating a self-perpetuating financing machine. The church also operates various programs to raise the general living standards of its members.

I remember my family following the curious custom of canning peaches and cherries every Saturday. My grandmother specialized in canning pickles. My father built a concrete storeroom under the front deck for year round storage of food. Later, when my family experienced financial reversals, assistance from our local congregation and church welfare was essential in keeping us from going hungry and out on the street.

Despite the church’s explicit teachings on the matter and its own well-run finances and operations, many American church members have chosen to follow the predominant American lifetstyle and live far beyond their means. Now they are reaping the whirlwind. While religious injunction should have guided them, common prudence should have made them live a more resilient life. Our forbears were a far more resilient people, building up resilient communities in the middle of a harsh wilderness. Fortunately, enough follow prudence to carry the wayward. It’s a lesson many will learn in the tightening to come.

To Hugo, a good friend and a fine spirit. We’ll miss you, Crazy Bird.