How is this project any different from any given “survival”
book?
Some people might ask if In the Wake is a “survival book”.
In the Wake is pretty different from most books in the “Survival”
genre, although it definitely does include skills to help people survive
industrial collapse.
For one, survival books usually focus on the scenario of one or a
couple people confronting struggles of survival alone. This book has
a greater emphasis on the survival of communities and larger groups.
As part of this, there is a goal of greater inclusivity in the project
of “survival” for people with a variety of skills, including
people with disAbilities (which is the focus of one section in the
upcoming excerpt booklet #2). In contrast, many survival writings
focus on a rather ruthless pseudo-Darwinian “survival of the
fittest.”
In fact, it’s really an inversion of the classic “survival”
book formula. Survival books are usually about people who are trapped
or lost in the wilderness trying to get back to civilization. In the
Wake is about people trapped or lost in civilization, trying to get
back to the land.
Also, the emphasis in survival books is on humans getting what they
need from their surroundings to live. In the Wake is more focussed
on connectedness and long-term thinking. Yes, part of the goal is
to help people to relate to the land in ways that meet their physical,
psychological and emotional needs. But what’s also crucial is
helping the land itself to survive and heal, and more immediately
to stop and reverse the destruction currently being wrought on the
living creatures of this planet. This is far more important than the
survival of any given group of humans.
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