R JN ou~~Q ~h .. Index to the First Seven 'T ~ Pollyanna PowerPolicy ~~/ Life Before Doomsday · Volume VIII No.1 $1.50 No Advertising
Page 2 RAIN October 1981 LETTERS Dear RAIN, Your review of my book Solar Retrofit in your July 1981 issue shows a lack of understanding regarding the construction of site built solar retrofits. Site built solar retrofits demand good carpentry skills and extreme care in material selection and detailing. It is not a good project for someone unfamiliar with construction. While a good carpenter can construct an effective solar collector, efficient, long lasting collectors demand the use of materials and details rarely encounPOLITICS --------------- The Congress Watcher, bimonthly, $5/yr. from: Congress Watch 215 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E. Washington, DC 20003 Published by Ralph Nader's Public Citizen organization, this newspaper provides the best coverage you're likely to find anywhere of happenings in today's frighteningly rightward-leaning Washington. Included are in-depth analyses of the potential impacts of current bills before Congress, interviews with Congresspeople of all political persuasions, and background information on who's been paying for whose campaign in the hopes of getting what. Nearly all the good news in The Congress Watcher lately has come from outside of Vol. VIII No. 1 tered in conventional construction. The information in my book is based on experience gained from over thirty solar retrofits. The engineering, carpentry, and home owner experience gained from these systems has been found to be extremely useful by hundreds of people presently duplicating these systems. I think your readers would agree. Sincerely, Daniel Reif Amherst, MA ACCESS Washington. Reports from grassroots groups around the country, working hard on such projects as halting the Clinch River Breeder Reactor and saving the National Consumer Cooperative Bank, help to temper the tales of Pinheads along the Potomac. The message is a clear one: if the Congress Watcher staff is ever to have much upbeat news to report on in the nation's capitol, more of us are going to have to join forces with those fine folks out in the field. -JF Revolt From the Center, by Neils I. Meyer, K. Helveg Petersen, and Villy Sorensen, 1981, 186pp., $7.95, from: Marion Boyars Publishers, Inc. 99 Main Street Salem, NH 03079 This book by three Danes-a physicist, a politician, and a philosopher-sold 120,000 copies when first published in Denmark in 1978 and was "vigorously discussed and anaRAIN The beauty of passive solar is that it is an appropriate technology, i.e., a technology that is buildable and understandable to people who are not professional carpenters or solar designers . My criticism of Mr. Reif's book is based on his exclusion of the average person by the use of carpenter's jargon. We should be bringing people into the solar movement, not alienating them. -Gail Katz lyzed in public and by the mass media." Now why can't we have a country like . that? The day this book is read by 5 million Americans (the equivalent proportion of the population) will be the same day Rain outsells Time and Ronald Reagan is an aging television actor. · The sad truth, though, is that this book ought to be read by that many people. These three remarkable men have done something I thought was impossiblethey've drawn together the best ideas of liberalism, humanism, and marxism into one coherent, devastating critique of modern society. What they propose to fake its place is a society that emphasizes economic equality, democratic decentralization, human development and ecological balance. (Sounds like something you'd hear about in Rain, doesn't it?) The first half of the book is taken up by their critique of present industrial society and the laying of a philosophical foundation for a better one. The other half is a confessedly "utopian" model of the better society to October 1981 Journal of Appropriate Technology RAIN Magazine publishes information which can lead people to more simple and satisfying lifestyles, help communities and regions become economically self-reliant, and build a society that is durable, just, and ecologically sound. RAIN STAFF: Laura Stuchinsky, Mark Roseland, Carlotta Collette, John Ferrell, Kevin Bell, Steve Johnson, Steve Rudman, Nancy Cosper, Scott Androes, Tanya Kucak. Linnea Gilson, Graphics and Layout RAIN, Journal of Appropriate Technology, is published 10 times yearly by the Rain Umbrella, Inc., a non-profit corporation located at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, Oregon 97210, telephone 503/227-5110. Copyright© 1981 Rain Umbrella, Inc. No part may be reprinted without written permission. Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho Cover Photograph: Ancil Nance
come and thoughts on how to get there. The critique is excellent; the utopia is not. not. Their ability to draw together disparate points of view and use the result to punch gaping holes in accepted paradigms is a sight to behold. And such clear, common sense prose, too! ·----- - - ------ ----- ---- GOOD WORDS --------- --- - Plain Talk, by David }annul, 1981, 76pp., $4.95, from: Volunteers in Technical Assistance 3706 Rhode Island Ave. Mt. Rainier, MD 20822 Ever since Reagan "hit the ground running" and Haig was "impacted negative wise" the less-sense, mumbo-jumbo we've all been guilty of has itself been a subject of much study. Whatever happened to "plain talk?" I remember the first list of "buzz words." They were tools for creating the impression that I was erudite-er-smart. Well, most people don't care how smart we are. If we've · got something to say we might just as well spit it out as spend time composing it. The problem is, many of us don't remember how to talk. Nor do we know how to tell whether anyone knows what we're talking about, and so we end up being, at best, boring. Have you ever tried to talk to your next door neighbor about "appropriate technology"? "It is hard enough to understand a new concept.... Difficult language makes it harder." Given that premise and this book you can learn to assess your use of the language, test your writing readability and restructure your vocabulary-painlessly. One section, the "Gunning Fog Index" (aptly named) is a little test to help you grade your writing. It was too complicated for me, but the rest of the book is more straightforward. So, the next time you feel like impacting and nurturing a critical mass for restructuring the social priorities within a cultural milieu, take a deep breath, count to ten, and reach for t,his book. It'll help. •-CC Unfortunately, they fumble the ball when it comes to articulating their vision-it simply doesn't hold together as a social model. Naive, simplistic and unworkable are words that come to mind. But that is only a question of technique and in no way diminishes the overall validity of their criticisms of the status quo-a critique, incidentally, which is A Thousand Thoughts on Technology and Human Values, by Edward}. Gallagher, 1979, 92pp., $3.00, from: Humanities Perspectives on Technology Program Maginnes Hall NO. 9 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA 18015 Wise Words on the Good Life, by Helen Nearing, 1980, 173pp., $9.95, from: Schocken Books 200Madison New York, NY 10016 Good quotes, as author Gallaggher says, articulate dimly held feelings, wrestle with strongly held convictions, and unleash new thoughts. They carry us inward to discover new things about our own thoughts, at the same time as they alert us to other points of view. For people trying to create a new world, though, the old familiar Bartlett's can seem pretty musty and out-of-touch. That's where these two come in; you might call them quotations for a New Age. Great fun to browse through in a quiet moment. -SMA Some examples: While civilization has been improving ou1 houses it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. -Thoreau ·When the sun rises, I go to work When the sun goes down, I take a rest I dig the well from which I drink,. I farm the .soil that yields my food, I share creation, Kings can do no more. -Ancient Chinese, 2500 B.C. October 19Sl RAIN Page 3 firmly grounded in a clearly articulated set of moral values and assumptions about human nature. This book only adds to the suspicion I've long had that those Europeans are way ahead of us when it comes.to designing societies right. -SMA In the Shining Moun.fains, by David Thomson, 1981 paperback edition, 268pp., $3.95, from: Bantam Books 666 Fifth Avenue New York,NY.10103 Haven't got around to that summer vacation yet? Well lace up your boots, load your rifle, grab your pack and head into the northern Rocky Mountains with David Thomson on a thoroughly enjoyable quest for the last piece of wild country in America. Along the way you'll feel how the ec.irly mountain man must have felt to explore a truly wild territory and feel himself a part of nature. Then you'll know how saddened David Thomson was to realize that such wildness no longer exists in the continental U.S. He went to the wildest regions of the Rocky Mountains-country where you hike in for two weeks to reach a valley no one has seen for forty years-only to find that he · was too late. The advance guard of the · American monied class is already closing in on the few remaining spots that are untarnished and before long they will ruin them. Thomson describes the loss so vividly and poignantly that it makes your heart ache just wishing you could have been a mountain man in 1820. But this is the 1980's, not the 1820's, and we have to learn to deal with our affluence rather than escape it, says Thomson. His thoughts on values for our society combine wilderness ethics, spiritual discovery, and 1960's political awareness in a truly . inspiring fashion. Read this book for vicarious vacationing; remember i~ for the social message. -SMA
Page 4 RAIN October 1981 APOCALYPSE HEN? The Survivalists in,Southern Oregon © By Mark Roseland In the southwest corner of Utah a 240-unit underground condominium development is nearing completion. It is equipped with all kinds of provisions for surviving nuclear fallout contamination, including a year's supply of food in each unit. The units sell for up to $80,000. Outside of Portland, Oregon an architect is designing homes which feature expensive, integrated energy systems, multi-fuel appliances, fallout shelters, food and fuel storage tanks, vandal-resistant roll-down shutters, and doors that lock automatically. The homes sell for about $250,000-and business is booming. What's a Survivalist? I grew up in New England, where winter can sometimes be severe. I can remember·blizzards that not only decommissioned roads, but literally snowed in our one-story house, forcing the family to remain inside for days at a time. For years my parents have kept an extra supply of canned and frozen foods, grains, and other essentials in the basement. They think nothing of it-it's just part of living in New England, and thousands of people do it. You're not apt to read abou·t people like my parents as survivalists-there are far more colorful fol~s to read about. But it's worth noting that while Survivalists with a capital "S" may be relatively few, their small "s" counterparts are many. Grants Pass, Oregon is apparently a hotbed of Survivalist activity. Several articles and television reports indic;ate the area is full of crazies hoarding food and guns, hiding up in the hills in armed bunkers ready to shoot at the first question. Grants Pass is only a couple tanks of gas from Portland, so of course I had to go look for myself. Except for an imaginary broken line, southern Oregon might as well be part of California. The green Cascade foothills are dotted with ponderosa pine, scrub oak and madrone. In Josephine County summer is dry, the roads dusty, and land not irrigated by river water or wellsprings is positively parched. ' Interstate 5, running North-South, is the only major road going up and down the numerous mountain passes. Nestled within these peaceful hills is Grants Pass, population 17,000, the major town in the valley. Sixth Street, the one-way main strip, has some fast food joints and used car lots, but for the most part is wall-to-wall.real estate companies. The Rogue River cuts through town, providing tremendous beauty and significant revenue. Tourism, especially in the form of white-river rafting, is big money here. So is marijuana. Arched over Sixth Street in white neon is the proclamation: "It's the Climate!" Indeed, the climate accounts for both the tourism and the pot, and contributes to the creation of a Survivalist mecca. So does the fact (see map) that this area would be one of the safest places in the U.S. in the event of a nuclear attack. It's also more than a tankful of gas from either Portland or San Francisco, the nearest major population centers. For these reasons the late Mel Tappan, author of Survival Guns (considered by some to be the Bible of the Survivalist movement), chose tC? live in this valley. Without exception ·the Survivalists I talked to want one thing: to mind their own business and for you to mind yours. Survivalist paranoia, at least around Grants Pass, is readily understandable. For quite some time the area has been under siege by headline-happy reporters who have sensationalized the county almost beyond recognition. CBS, The New York Times, Assoc.iated Press and dozens of other national and local media have all been here, ostensibly to give you a survivalist profile. For the most part they have portrayed a "hard-core" Survivalist, a doomsaying warmongering hoarder who is a fisql hypochondriac and probably a gun nut, someone who sacrifices vacations-to buy antiquated 1962 cans of dehydrated civil defense biscuits, converts paper money into silver, and moves to the country long before it is time to retire. There are Survivalists here who fit this description, but most of them have at least as good a common-sense to lunacy ratio as the .rest of the population. The "hard-cores," according to one of the "soft-cores" I interviewed, are "just a handful of guys who like to keep track of everything going on in town, who's moving in and out. They're sort of the Ku Klux Klan of Grants Pass." Portrait of a Survivalist Survivalists are a private sort. Most don't like to be identified as Survivalists, as they don't want people to know about their stockpiles of food and supplies. In particular, you don't hear much about the "soft-cores," mostly because they aren't headline material.
And they don't much like reporters, especially after all the recent media attention. After a few days in Grants Pass, though, I did manage to get a fascinating interview with a woman I would consider a fairly typical survivalist-on the condition, of course, that I not print her real name. Alice Johnston runs her own real estate company out of her home and has "a lot of income property" in Grants Pass. The 66-year-old Minnesota native says she always believed in natural foods because she grew up on a farm. "Once you've been on a farm, you never really get it out of your system." Alice was married in 1941. She and her husband chose to move to Grants Pass 35 years,ago because it was considered one of the safest places to live in regard to atomic fallout..They'd gone through the war, he'd survived the German bombing of England thanks to fallout shelters, and so they "were conscious of that sort of thing." A few years ago Alice bought, or "fell into," as she puts it, 5 acres of land outside of Grants Pass. Her latest project now is to drill a second well on the property to provide water "in the event that the irrigation water becomes limited, which I think it will." Recently she bought a rototiller and is currently buying two cows and two heifers. The land has hay on it, and when the hay is cut she'll put the cows on. Eventually she plans to get goats-they'll eat the blackberries that abound on the property. Alice thinks it is a good idea to be prepared for either a national or local disaster, so she has about 1000 lbs. of dried food put away in plastic containers. Taken together, the containers of grains, beans, lentils, and so on occupy a relatively small space, roughly S' x 21/z' x 4', small enough to fit under a table. White-haired Alice is a "soft-core" Survivalist. Her stockpile includes food, water, and liquid soap ("for cleanliness and to preFrom A Better Pla,ce to Live October 1981 RAIN Page 5 I vent disease") but no guns. When I asked her if she could foresee a need for firearms, she said she thought that was going too far. "If it gets to that point, you've had it-it's too late. Why would you want to last up in the hills? What good would it do? Let's say armed guards took over Grants Pass-how long could you survive?" (Quite a while if you're prepared, according to Bruce Clayton-see access.) When Alice and her husband first came to Grants Pass they were thinking, like many others ·at the time, about fallout shelters. But everyone here seems to have forgotten about them. "The Russians haven't forgotten about fallout shelters. They, I understand, have "Let's say armed guards took over Grants Pass -how long could you survive?" all kinds of underground shelters prepared for their people." Alice thinks that we in the U.S. should be similarly prepared. "It's propaganda that has caused us not to do it, I mean the lack of being military-minded. For the last 20 years it seems like our government has gotten away from thinking about mqitary things, and I think we've made a terrible mistake, not to keep that in mind. Those underground facilities could be used for other things during normal tirnes. You could have schools underground ... you're building plants above ground all the time. Why not build them underground, and use them on an emergency basis? Subways could be built. Eugene could have subways, Portland could have subways, then utilize them for emergencies. I think it'd be an excellent idea! I think the government has been very lax in thinking about the safety of our people." As far as Pentagon-style militarism goes, says Alice, "The best defense is a strong offense-that pretty well speaks what I feel." She has no political affiliations other than being a Republican, and thinks the Reagan administration is a great and long overdue step in the right direction. "I think he's done a fantastic job in his short term of office.'' When asked what kinds of tl\ings she reads, Alice replies that she gets much of her information from what she laughingly calls "gloom and doom" newsletters, including Howard Ruff's $145/yr. Ruff Times (see review of Ruff's How To Prosper During the Coming Bad Years-access). Alice doesn't think the Survivalists have had a big effect on ' Grants Pass. Many of her real estate customers are simply looking for "privacy." "I think it's a good influence, whatever they might be doing. We need more people to be down-to-earth, working the soil. The more that we can provide for ourselves, whichever way it might be, I think is good." What lies ahead? Alice thinks her past experience has given her a good eye to see what's around the bend. "I understand what survival really and truly means, because I lived in the '20s and '30s when banks went under and everyone was forced to ... well, the problems that we encountered were very severe, and they probably will be that way again. Maybe. We hope not, but maybe they will." ' New Age Chicken Littles ? Ever since the Great Moral Question of the early '60s became whether you'd shoot your neighbor if he tried to get into your fallout shelter, survivalism and guns have seemed related topics. - David Sarasohn, Oregon Magazine, December 1980. Survival gear has become big business. Standard merchandise
Page 6 RAIN October 1981 FIGURE 8: Fallout-free Areas of the United Stat~. Type A refuges have less than a 2 percent chance of receiving fallout if all primary targets are hit at ground level. Type B refuges are unlikely to receive includes gun vaults, blast-proof boxes for burying valuables, German air rifles, ammunition, radiation suits and 2,000 gallon tanks for water and fuel. A crossbow costs about $300. You can buy a gun vault, which holds about a dozen guns, for $1500, while for another $90 you can get a radiation suit. A year's supply of pre-packaged food, equal to a diet of about 2400 calories per day for one person for one year, costs from $1000 to $1500. The primary customers for self-sufficiency wares over the years have been Mormons and John Birch Society members. Sales picked up in 1976 after a Mormon conclave reaffirmed the church's longheld recommendation to store a year's supply of food in case of famine or pestilence. Recently, though, media focus on survivalism has brought in a whole new clientele: lawyers, doctors, movie stars, businessmen, law enforcement people, and members of the military (do they know something we don't?). / The Hy-Land Texaco station in Merlin, just north of Grants Pass, doubles as the home of Liberty Arms, a "survival gear" shop , that specializes in guns. They are perhaps the core of the ".hardcore" in this area, catering to Survivalists, not sportsmen. I was advised there that in procuring weapons for survival it is important to "keep up with the Joneses," only in this case "Jones" is the U.S. military. Otherwise you might have trouble obtainiµg the right ammunition. "You wouldn't want to be stuck with a 30.06." · Guns are a good investment. The better ones have doubled in price in the last year, and their resale value is high. I was advised to buy the three latest military rifles (of various gauge) and a :45 pis- 1 tol for my side. Without ammunition they'd run me about $2000. If I could afford one gun, the choice would be the new Atchisson Assault 12. The Atchisson Assault 12 is a semi-automatic rifle with a 20~shot drum magazine. It's solid and easily. maintained, and can fire 12gauge shot or slugs as fast as you can pull the trigger. Advertised as "the ultimate home defense weapon," the gun sells for about $500. The manufacturer quotes the Book of Joel (~: 10) in: the advance. deposit agreement: "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning heoks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong." [2Ja .§c fallout other than that generated in nearby missile fields. Type C. , refuges are unlikely to receive fallout even if all domestic targets are hit ,·[: at ground level. From Life After Doomsday ' The_r;wo men;I.talked to at Liberty Arms, the .owner and a customer, claimed that candles and kerosene are a better investment than solar.' They told me Reagan is an improvement over the softy Presidents but he isn't going far enough. They described how the Communist bloc countries owe the World Ba1'k $80 billion which will cause economic collapse here when they default. And they explained how when the crunch comes (be it nuclear war, natural disaster, economic collapse, or a trucker's strike), a horde of black, "I lived in the '20s and '30s when banks went .Under and every9ne was forced to ..· . ·~ell, the problems were "very severe, and they probably wiflbe again.". Chicano I o~ Mexican fifth generation welfare types will come knocking on your door asking for a handout and will "blast your ass off" if you can't defend yourself. The owner, who after participating in a Bible !)tudy group seven years ago left a high-paying job in Los Angeles to come to Grants Pass, acknowledged that one family seemed a little small for a survival network, and s~id he was working toward a group of 5-10 survivaliS.t families, each with well-stocked retreats within walking distance of the' others. "I'd want to have at least 10 adult males"iri my group." He al5o noted that "women are going to have to learrt how to do laundry and domestic chores the way their grandmothers did, without modern co~veniences." · _ "People today don't have the morals of people 30 years·ago,." said . the customer, himself a franchiser of dehydrated survival foods.
"Why, during the Depression, a guy would knock on your door and ask if he could chop wood, pick oranges, do any ~ind of work in ex-·· change for a meal. Today they'll just try ta come and take it." I asked how many people in the Grants Pass area they would consider "hard-core" Survivalists, defined as having at least a year's supply of food and weapons. I wondered if they would agree.with the fellow who said it was "just a handful of guys."·They didn't. The number, they assured me, was "hundreds.". "..,· When the crunch comes~ a horde· of welfare types will ask you for a handout and "blast your ass off" if you can't defend yourself.. ' Earlier this year it was reported that Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh was disturbed by reports of Ku Klux Klan activity in southern Oregon. After talking with a few "hard-core" Survivalists, the possibility of some overlap between Survivalists and Klan members seemed quite plausible. According to sources at the American Civil Liberties Union, the Oregon Attorney General's Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, though, there does not seem to be any such overlap. However, as Mike Bahala of the Klanwatch Project in Montgomery, Alabama pointed out to me, there is a philosophical connection in that, like many Survivalists, Klansmen and I Nazis actively envision some sort of Armeggedon..:.._characterisI ... ~~~ ~~~ A Loophole behind vine~ B Tiles lifted on roof. Dark patches are painted on roof as dummy loopholes. C Loophole under shadow of porch. D Loophole'.at ground level behind bush. E Loophole under the eaves. Dummies should be painted all along under the gutter. · F:IGURE 33: Technique ,of fortifying a house. Diagram sh«>ws methods of hiding loopholes to avoid the·necessity for firing through windows. (From Combat in Fort~fied and Built-up Areas. United States Army Field Manual Number 31-50, 10 March 1964.) From Life After Doomsday October 1981 RAIN Page 7 tically including a racial an? religious war. Survivalists and survivalists OK. Back to square one. What's a Survivalist? Clearly, Survivalists are consumers in a fast-growing industry that's making a lot of money by playing on people's fears. Survival, ' Inc., a mail-order outfit'in Carson, California grosses $1 million a year. Survivalist economist Howard Ruff (see access) has made some $20 million from sales of his books, newsletter and freezedried foods. Realtors in supposedly ."safe" areas are having a field day buying and selling expensive "retreat'·' properties (sometimes the same property three or four times in one year) with a 6-10 percent commission at each turn. Certain publishing houses, such as Paladin in Boulder, Colorado are cashing in on a virtual catalogue of survivalist books. Kephart Communications in Alexandria, Virginia even has long-time appropi:iate technologist Karl Hess (see RAIN, VII:2) editing their new Survival Tomorrow, an 8-page monthly that sells for $60/year. Beyond profiteering, Survivalists (with the exception of Hess and a few others who recognize the importance of community) are per- · haps the most vivid expression of the vagaries of the profit system: Survivalists epitomize capitalism. The capitalist ethic of rugged indiVidualism, of "every man for himself," is the foundation of Sufvivalism, casting a pall over a more cooperative, "one for all, all for one" ethic. ' There are Survivalists and there are survivalists. Thousands of people everywhere are preparing themselves to survive hard times, whether induced by nature or by economics; working toward individual and community self-reli~nce. The major difference between "soft-core" and "hard-core" Survivalists may be guns. But between little "s" and big "S" Survivalists there exists a quieter and more·profound difference. Ultimately, what distinguishes you as a Survivalist with a big "S" is not the supplies you have in the basement but how you answer this question: Is nuclear war survivable? How do you answer that? · You can gather maps, documents, statistics, charts-information 'til it comes out your ears. You'll find "experts" like Survivalist Bruce Clayton saying you're apt to survive a nuclear attack whether you want to or not, and "experts" like economist John Ker:i.neth Galbraith saying that surviving a nuclear attack would be a worse nightmare than not surviving it. Perhaps the difference is in how you define "survival." If your definition is in purely biological terms, your answer is likely to be more optimistic than if your definition: is in physical, social, psychological and political terms. Information cannot, in the end, provide the answer-for it's a question of belief. And for many the question is·a religious one. They note that the Scriptures warn of a catastrophic period of tribulation involving famine, earthquakes, economic collapse, and possible nuclear Armaggedon-and that the moment of truth is fast approaching. With confidence in the American way of life at an all-time low and powerlessness at an all-time high, you can hardly. blame people for looking for dir:ection to cushion themselves_from the bumpy ride ahead. Is it any wonder that the sudden growth and interest in the Survivalist "movement" coincides so neatly with the rise of the Moral Majority? The Survivalists (both big "S" and small) I met in Grants Pass are not out to hurt you. If anything they are trying, through their own peculiarform of self-reliance, to combat helplessness. I am convinced that even those who admitted having a cache of weapons are thinking of defense, not aggression. Eccentric, perhaps-or maybe just wiser than the rest of us. Only tim~ will tell. But without exception, the Survivalists I talked to want one thing: to mind their own business and for you to mind yours. The only Survivalists who pose a threat to the rest of us are those who have captured both the market and the media. Unwittingly, perhaps, they have helped shift the discussion away from prevention of nuclear war toward preparation for it.OD
Page 8 RAIN October 1981 Survival School ? In several of my conversations in southern Oregon, reference was made to a "survival school" up in the hills near Grants Pass. Everyone had something to say about it, but almost no one had actually been there and seen the place. I decided to check it out. - Just outside of Grants Pass, in Selma, is a beautiful ranch property of about 370 acres, with 5 small lakes and several buildings, including a main farmhouse, shop, barn and.dormitories. The people who run Tall Timber Ranch consider it a "training center" for rural skills, although to hear some of · the townspeople talk about the place you'd think it housed the last vestiges of Jim Jones. The owner, Roy Masters, bought it just after the Jonestown incident in Guyana in 1978, and somehow the cult stigma has never completely left the place. It's understandable. Roy Masters lives in Los Angeles and only visits the ranch · occasionally. If you don't recognize the name, you're not one ohhe millions of people nationwide, especially in southern California, who listen to the man's syndicated radio program "A Moment of Truth." His books include How Your Mind Can Keep You Well; How to Control Your Emotions; Secret of Life; Sex, Sin and Salvation; How to Conquer Suffering Without Doctors; No One Has To Die; and most recently, The Satan Principle (1979). His Foundation for Human Understanding publishes his books and owns both the ranch and a thrift store in Grants Pass. At any one time you're apt to find 25-30 "students" or "kids" at Tall Timber, where they stay for 3 month terms. These "kids" range in age from 16 to 35 years old and pay · $2500 apiece for the privilege of being at the ranch. Additional short-term visitors pay $35 a day. What happehs at Tall Timber to attract these people? Well, nothing much to write home about, according to the ranch foreman. As a matter of fact, many of these "students" are sent, not necessarily of their own choosing, by th~ir parents. There are lots of projects coordinated by the small staff for the combined purposes of maintaining the ranch and teaching skills for rural living, but no indoctrination, no pressure to obey, conform, work or pray, so far as I could tell. No preaching, no target practice, no preparation for war. Just some nice, remarkably polite city kids learning country skills. Why do people come to Tall Timber? "Because they hear Roy on the rad'io." What does he say? "You have to hear him." Well, what does he write about? "I couldn't do him justice. You have to read him yourself." So I did (see access). "Watch those who try to sell you a religion that says Cod loves you as you are. That god is always Satan." Alice Johnston described the ranch in somewhat different terms. While she hasn't actually seen the ranch in operation, she said she is "close to people-who do go up there all the time, so I'm kind of close indirectly." She described it this way: "Tall Timber Ranch is a place where young people can come and be rehabilitated. I mean, they've been on the city streets in Chicago and New York and have gotten into crime, and they're brought out here to Tall Timber Ranch in Selma where they're given a good life; they're being directed by superiors, and being watched, guided, and trained to do certain things, do things other than smoke dope and carry a gun. And Ithi~k that's a fantastic program." -Mark Roseland The Satan Principle, by Roy Masters, 1979, 261pp., $6.50 from: words, everything you do is wrong and harmful. Adam the evil apple of knowledge, causing them both to "fall" from Grace, so women and knowledge are (still) both evil. (Some people really hold a grudge, don't they?) "Knowledge," Woman, and You are evil. "Understanding" and Roy Masters are good. Foundation of Human Understanding 8780 Venice Blvd. P .0. Box 34036 Los Angele~, CA 90034 In this book, at least, Roy Masters doesn't say much. The book gets its length because he is extremely redundant, saying the same thing over and over again with minor variations. What Masters does say, though, is a contradictory mixture of sense and nonsense. For instance, in discussing the Scriptures he writes "Get that through your thick skull-YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO LEARN VERSE AND CHAPTER. Study kills." Yet he also insists that "Doubting truth is original sin.".Read on: It is no longer you who decides anything. It is Satan who tempts you to decide all things. For through all your struggles and acts of will, the will of hell is actuated. In other To think hard about anything provides an almost perfect escape from re~lizing its deeper meaning. It is easy to fool ourselves into believing that we are seeking truth when we look to.knowledge for truth, because just as the appeal of knowledge can lead astray, so can more of it lead you from realizing the sin of it. And that is just as true of knowledge about good things as it is of the knowledge of evil. Sensible women seek the dominance of a wise husband. The rest appoint a weak male whom they can dominate and manipulate. ... [This] represents the kind of democracy we have now, where the sinful masses elect idol-politicians who justify them in their sins. Wading through wearisome religious psychobabble one finds Masters' ideas rooted in a traditional religious framework: .Eve gave Paradoxically, you can't argue with Masters using rational processes (i.e., thinking) since that is based upon knowledge and so is inherently evil, nor can you argue with him by "understanding" -though he neglects to tell you this-because "understanding" is. for the most part individualized and not articulated. Satan takes many forms,·warns Masters. "Watch those who try to sell you a religion that says God loves you as you are. The god who loves you as you are is robbing you of repentance and change. That god is always Satan, even when he is dressed up as a Christian minister of the gospel." . · I'm sure Christian ministers will be happy to hear that! -MR
October 1981 RAIN Page 9 SURVIVALIST ACCESS Life After Doomsday, by Bruce D. Clayton, 1980, 185pp., $8.95 from: Dial Press 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza 245 E. 47th St. New York, NY 10017 Bruce Clayton has little patience for disarmament activists and other well-meaning people who try to convince us we're all going to die when the missiles arrive. His own scientific studies (he has a Ph.Din ecology) convince him that "for most Americans, survival of at least the first few weeks following a nuclear attack is not only possible, it is almost unavoidable." It naturally follows (at least for readers who can get past the questionable premise) that preparation for Doomsday is a matter of simple prudence, and Clayton describes an array of options in shelter, food storage, and firearms to help us make it through the post-attack period "with a minimum of unpleasantness." His matterof-fact tone and meticulous attention to the. smallest,details of shelter-living frequently lend a bizarre flavor to the book. For example, he suggests that even survival groups composed of atheists and agnostics should not forget to take along a Bible and a prayer book since they might feel an overwhelming need for "proper" services if a wedding or funeral comes up. He warns against piped-in music for the retreat since differences in musical taste could lead to serious tensions among sheltermates. And he notes that onions and watermelons are poor choices for the post-war garden since ultraviolet radiation resulting from nuclear damage to the ozone layer could subject them to sun sca:ld. "Corn should do well, however, especially after the first year or two is past and ultraviolet levels are starting to drop back to normal." Life After Doomsday is actually a very well written manual with good advice for coping with many kinds of disasters, natural and human-caused. How you react to it will, of course,-depend on how you react to the author's underlying assumptions about survivalism and the bomb. One thing to remember: if you should someday find yourself to be a scoffer who has been proven wrong, you should definitely not go knocking on Clayton's·shelter door! -JF How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years, by Howard J. Ruff, 1979, 384pp., $2.75 plus $.70 p&h, from: Warner Books P.O. Box690 New York, NY 10019 from the head-for-the-hills school of survivalism, is a "hard money" -oriented investment counselor .who believes we're on the edge of a worldwide economic collapse. He suggests we arm ourselves with a depressionproof financial plan (supplied by himself), store enough food for a year (he describes how in detail), and buy a home in a small town located a reasonable distance from any "welfare ghetto." Set against his vivid warnings of potential political turmoil, urban rioting and food system disruptions, Ruff's approach to disaster preparatation seems curiously blithe: "I will take my chances in a small town," he says, "and assume that America will come staggering back like Rasputin." It's an odd analogy to use, especially since it is preceded by the story of how the resilient Russian monk was finally disposed of quite permanently by his assassins. Perhaps the irony is not lost on less sanguine survivalists who use How to Prosper in plotting their food storage and investment strategies. -JF · Disaster Planning, by Harold D. Foster, 1980, 275pp., $29.80.(hardcover), from: Springer Verlag 175 5th Ave. New York, NY 10010 The science of protecting ourselves from the technological nightmare we're generating usually gets too overwhelming and ultimately too depressing. It's been estimated that "between 20 and 30 percent of all male deaths and 10 to 20 percent of all female ·deaths in the United States stem directly or indirectly from technological hazards." Then there are th~ lost ,species of animals, the death of lakes and rivers, the loss of air quality, and the effects on other countries of our spilled ''solutions.'' What's needed is a comprehensive system for evaluatiI).g potentially disastrous scenarios (both natural and technological), for calculating risks, costs of risk avoidance, and ways of mitigating and managing crises. It's almost macabre to read about balancing the costs of prevention with "community mortality, morbidi~y, and economic loss," but it is foolish to attempt to wish away the Industrial Age; as foolish as attempting to hold back an avalanche or plug a volcano. A cool study of disaster appears to be a conflict in terms, a surrender to the problem rather than a resolution of it, and yet in reading Disaster Planning I found the orderly progression of approaches very clarifying. From defining risk, through planning, design and prediction techniques, to construction and reconstruction, Foster proVides ----------------- , the most rational information around for Ruff, who takes pains to disassociate himself planners, students of planning, and concerned people in general. This book is one of a series aimed at broadening our understanding of "man and nature" and nurturing "an environment that is both stable and productive." It's a basic textbook, loaded with models, charts, figures and references, but still manageable for the neophyte. -CC "Investing Successfully When You Don't Have Much to Invest," by Christopher Stinson, Co-Evolution Quarterly, #30, Summer, 1981, $14/yr., from: Co-Evolution Quarterly Box428 Sausalito, CA 94966 If Howard Ruff is right, most of us will be broke soon (some of us are used to it). If Christopher Stinson is right (we can only hope) some of us can be less broke. For a change, the good advice that makes a fortune (and costs it, too) is available in simple terms, demystified, and with the risks pretty well marked out. Stinson suggests splitting up your nest egg (be it ever so humble) to cover three potential economic futures: "a) there will be a currency collapse, b) there will be a credit collapse, and c) although there may be times of economic stress and strain, there will be no economic disasters, and things will stay the same or improve slightly." His proposals are for weathering the times, not soaring into instant wealth, so don't get too excited. There is still the whole question of who is . being supported by your i~vestments, but that Stinson leaves for you to unravel. It's economic common sense he's offering and I find it very refreshing. -CC The Great Survival Resource Book, edited by Martha Henderson, 1980, 185pp., $19.95 (hardcover), from: Paladin Press P.O. Box 1307 Boulder, CO 80306 There's truth in this title. A virtual "Whole Survivalist Catalogue," this compendium covers books, f).ewsletters, catalogues and kits on homesteading, urban and wilderness survival, building and alternative energy, survival vehicles and retreats. Also included are short articles and excerpts by well-known Survivalists on survival homes (Joel Skousen), survival guns (Mel Tappan), and the ten safest and most dangerous areas of the US in a nuclear attack (Bruce Clayton). The publishers note that this is the "first annual edition." If so, the next one should be out soon. -MR
Page 10 RAIN October 1981 COMMUNITY The City That Works, (periodical) bimonthly, free, from: Community Renewal Society 111 N. Wabash Ave. Chicago, IL 60602 Short and sweet, this newsletter takes important issues of community development and examir~es them in brief but highly ACCESS enlightening articles. It's a wonder how much they're able to fit in 4-6 pages per . month. Each issue focuses on a specific topic. Recent issues·have included articles dealing with how schools can help alleviate the youth unemployment problem and the impact of Reagonomics on neighborhoods. The latter piece could have been a boring replica of every other article you've read on the subject-but instead was original and fact-filled. The editorial staff has a neighborhoodbased perspective that mistrusts bureaucrats and bankers alike, but attention to the local level doesn't keep them from writing intelligent, professional stuff. Best of all, though, are the delightful and pithy quotes sprinked through each issue, like this one from Lester Thurow: · l "My ethics tell me there is something wrong with cutting nutrition prograrr;is for poor pregnant women. Mr. Stockman's ethics tell him they are precisely the group whose benefits should be cut. Perhaps that is the difference between [my] learning ethics and economics in a department of economics rather than in a divinity school." -SMA I ,,_..,.....,.....C~.....C>4J-940.--Mc~~..-M..-M.-..C.-..C~~~J-9CC~J-9CC~) ENVIRONMENT ---------------- News of the Universe, edited by Robert Bly, 1980, 305pp., $7.95, from: Sierra Club Books 530 Bush Street San Francisco, CA 94108 There is a self-limiting quality to this book that I find disappointing. Sierra Club Books wanted to publish poems that could in some subtle manner encourage an ecological world view-the theory being that if we admit to a consciousness, a being-ness, in the universe outside the self, we may be more inclined towards respectfully keeping the whole thing humming along. Bly was a good choice as editor and commentator. His own poetry reflects what he calls "poems of two-fold consciousness" and he has dared to use his poetry to affect politics (most notably in his anti-Vietnam war work). But News of the Universe feels compromised, circumspect. Questions that are critical to his analysis of the spirital and political implications of a man-centered universe are mentioned and tiptoed around. Unbelievable is his condescending treatment of women. Bly, perhaps more than any living male poet, has explored the bonding of women to nature and the separation of the two from men. He's struggled to describe the imbalance of power following from that separation, and ' the loss to society in terms of cultural information from silencing women. So what went wrong? In this book he backslides. "It appears that in the male psyche; women, earth and the unconscious form a sort of constellation, or triangle. Usually the attitude a man has towards pne extends without his being aware of it, by secret underground channels, to the others .... If the details of nature were not worth observing closely, we can expect that the psyche of women will not receive much attention either." If the details of nature are worth "observing closely," can we speculate that the "psyche of women" merits some attention too? So where are all the women poets? There are only a handful in this collection. After writing a book like Sleepers Joining Hands (1973, Harper & Row) where he explored the separateness of man and the more female myths needed to unify the planet, how could he give such short shrift to women's version of the whole scheme? Is he trying to produce a nice, clean, simple (read unpolitical) book of nature poems? News of the Universe is a nice book. It won't ruffle any feathers or stir water into storms. -CC Sensitive Populations and Environmental Standards: An Issue Report, by Robert Friedman, 1981, 54pp., $5.00 plus $1.50 p&h, from: The Conservation Foundation 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 This is worth plowing through-I suspect it may be one of the most important reports published this year. Focusing on the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), ironically at a time when both are under attack, it raises key questions: Can air quality standards really protect the health of all Americans? Who will and will not be protected by environmental health and safety legislation? Can the legal requirements of CAA and OSHA be successfully implemented? Are the very concepts of "thresholds" and "margins of safety" archaic? To what degree is.society willing to protect its "most s.eri.sitive" groups (the very young, the aged, the infirm, and other susceptible individuals) I in light of limited resources and competing pressures? There are no proposals here as to·how to decide health standards. Instead, the nature of the problem is defined by analyzing current legal requirements and the policy dilemmas they pose. A valuable contribution to a complex and difficult debate, this report is a must for all those concerned with environmental health regulation and research. -MR
Last year about this time we ran a survey to get a sense of who our readers are and what they think Appropriate Technology is. Kiko Denzer, our intern at the time, decided to take the responses and attempt to analyze them. The result is that this month's Raindrops is more about you than about us . ... All we can say about this survey with any kind of certainty is that 1.5 percent of our readers are extremely kind, thoughtful, generous and patient. Many replies were extensive; full of thoughtful comments, criticisms and personality. Nonetheless, the statistics produced (ages, employment, mobility, and use of RAIN) are barely interesting and even less conclusive. However, they do, in combination with the more extensive and thoughtful replies, suggest lots of interesting questions about the magazine and about A. T. as a whole. One friend of RAIN who had known the magazine and A.T. for a long while wrote an interesting (and long, 2 pages single-spaced!) letter. It was not so much a response to the survey as it was a reflection on what A.T. is and what RAIN should be as a consequence. He said, "RAIN has always been sort of a barometer of the A.T. movement, but lately it seems to be having an identity crisis... ." At first I was insulted by such a suggestion, but then I reconsidered. I have always thought that the content of the magazine reflected the breadth and depth of the movement. So if there is an identity crisis perhaps it is not only here at RAIN, perhaps it pervades every aspe~ of A.T. But the paragraph continued: " ... if you/RAIN/want to run feminism it should have a strong A. T. angle (something like the problems of women in the solar construction business, or a feature on women who are owner builders). WIN is a publication of the left-wing movement which can publish anything remotely related, but RAIN should stick to A.T." So, according to his statement, there is a "left-wing movement" and an A. T. movement that are not even remotely related. Such is a precarious situation for two groups who desper~tely need each other's help and ideas, especially w.hen both are being threatened and further divided by the reactionary political and economic climate. It seems obvious, now even more than last year when we received the letters, that our definitions of A. T. must be as broad and as precise as possible. Some of the definitions that our readers shared with us ran as follows: They ranged from terse phrases like "Safe, simple, decentralized, October 1981 RAIN Page 11 renewable" and "Different ways of doing things, of being and living," to romantic notions of a society based on human labor, free of all technology and "labor saving devices," to refusals of a possibility of even trying to define A.T., to highly personal definitions- "what's appropriate to me," to thoughtful and complex ideas about combining A.T. theory with A.T. practice-critiquing and rebuilding at the same time. These definitions would appear to suggest that the "identity crisis" extends at least as far as our readership, since there were wide differences in outlook and opinion. Even within a single reply we were told on the one hand that A.T. is ''... the tool ... that works without upsetting the 'whole system' or invoking too many consequences on a physical, psychological, ~cological, spiritual, economic level," and on the other hand that RAIN itself is too "interesting but impractical ... to get the job done." Unfortunately, this reader forgot to tell us what, exactly, the job is. Another response gives a general idea of what the job may be-to develop a "sustainable lifestyle," in which case, he says, A.T. "becomes a set of criteria by which I determine solutions to life's problems which involve the least.short and long term costs to me and others and the environment in general." As someone who has only recently discovered and come into "the movement" I see within myself and others a strong tendency to talk about A.T. in terms of cause and effect, terms like "set of criteria," "solutions to life's problems," "systems and tools," all of which seems to fall short of the need for interconnectedness, a need that can perhaps be met only if we maintain both a critical and open attitude to the state of problems and criteria, in their various definitions, which surround us. The refusal, for instance, on the part of several respondents, to consider the place of feminism in A. T. , is typical of a closed view of A.T. which could shut out a.vital source of energy. And feminism in A.T. must certainly not be limited to "women in Solar," though the topic is an important one. It was not always crystal clear by their names, but of the thirty-seven who replied only six were obviously women, nine were unclear as to sex (some seemed to be individuals representing couples) and the twenty-six left were all men. But I am a man and this is an argument not only for feminism. The argument is also for making A. T. responsive to any and all conditions and people. The movement should be available everywhere, like the news only better. DD Kiko Denzer All we can say about this survey with any kind of certainty is that 1.5% of our readers are extremely kind, thoughtful, generous and patient.
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