A new shadow has cast itself, this one much closer to home - quite literally.
Over the past weeks, we have had a number of white supremicists in. It started quietly, though offensively - after all, what do you say to a customer, in their 50's or 60's, who lays the blame for the New York terrorist attacks of 2001 on the Jews, and says so quite plainly?
There has been, though, a slow increase in more out and radical types; it is not that we are a shop meant to appeal to them, such as a militaria shop, nor do we target them other than as individual members the buying masses. We don't (professionally or privately) espouse racist or separatist ideologies; we don't treat customers any differently because of their ethnicity, sexuality, or any line drawn by people to differentiate between "Them" and "Us" - we just obviously supply some of what they want. Not surprising when you supply solar panels, batteries, amongst other things.
Encountering them has left me wondering... If and when civilisation was to fall, if the rule of law was to suddenly break down - would it be possible to do what I am trying to prepare for, with them knowing where I was, and what I was doing? Would it be possible to come to some accord with them? Not supporting them, or being at war with them - but a level of mutual understanding and non-interference? Would it be possible, even, to have some level of trade? Could I prove myself (and anyone with me) more useful to have alive than to kill?
The grapevine has it that they have a warehouse about half an hour further out from where I am endeavouring to grow a food supply; in it, they are well armed, with assault rifles and plenty of ammunition. The unanswered question is whether they have made preparations for post-civilisation survival, or would they quickly take to raiding?
Can you negotiate with people who want to take the food from off your trees? Would it be possible to persuade them to stop at your fence line (or even further off), when they are armed and you are not?
Am I white enough for them to even accept me as human in their eyes?
Obviously, it would be easier if I had my chemistry lab set up, or was better equipped as a field hospital (there again is the need to befriend a medical doctor), obviously better prepared for some things than they are - giving them a reason to not harm.
Another thing would be to include a few poisonous plant species in your garden - nothing says leave me alone like a lethal salad.
A counter example, one that I have always found false, and indeed irritating, was in the movie Mad Max 2 - the titular character finds himself hired to side with a group of post-apocalyptic survivors who run a small, remote oil well and refinery, and against a group of raiders. Both sides obviously have things that the other needs - the raiders use fuel at an alarming rate, all things considered... Yet neither side seems to realise that they would be better off finding a way to trade...
Of course, a semi-organised group would be much easier to deal with than lone survivors, hungry for the fruits of your labour, and having no reason to stop from trying to take it.