This post is not about surviving a disaster. It is about living with the inconveniences that a disaster deals you. When the electricity goes out and you don’t know when it will come back on, things are different. It’s not like a camping trip or an adventure you choose. It’s daily life with different chores.

A power outage will disrupt your life and cause discomfort, but it is not devastating. For me, not being able to use a computer meant that things I wanted to get done would have to wait. For others, light and heat are more important.

But if that’s all you have to deal with, it’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when you see a neighborhood where every yard is full of things that were on the first floor when the water came in and are now waiting to be thrown into a garbage truck, when you realize that there are seniors living twenty stories up in buildings with only enough power from generators for hallway lights (forget about elevators or heat), when you think of the shore towns that were devastated and remember they were full of homes and businesses that people had built their lives in.

After finding out that Sandy was on it’s way, I spent a little time preparing and encouraged family to prepare. I made sure I had water for 3 days for everyone (at 3 liters per person per day) and got extra food. As it turned out, we’d be visiting relatives on the day Sandy was to hit. They were farther inland and had plenty of space, so we packed extra stuff.

Once we settled down and waited for the storm, the days begin to blur. It was an eerie feeling before the storm: with an irregular overcast and a light rain, it almost felt like this would be all we would get, but the knowledge that this would almost certainly be the best weather for a while only heightened the anticipation. We had plenty of food, water, batteries, and other supplies, and it was time to watch the weather.

Monday, October 29 was a day of anticipation as I read weather reports and watched the wind get more intense. By afternoon, trees were swaying wildly and the power flickered off and on. The night sky was lit up with the bright green flashes of exploding electrical transformers. Looking outside it also appeared that there was some thunder high in the clouds but I don’t know enough about weather to say for sure. Sometime around 8 our power was out for good.

The first thing was uncertainty: who did the storm hit the worst, when will power come back on? I had enough cell coverage to determine that my family was okay, as were my friends in the hurricane’s projected path. But figuring out when power would come back was not so easy. Power companies were giving the estimate of 7-10 days. We wondered what that meant. Would it actually be 7-10 days? Would it be more? A radio host speculated that they were overestimating to cover themselves and it would be sooner for most people. I figured that they meant 7-10 days for most people. It would be 6 days where we were staying.

We soon found out that the building our apartment was in was surrounded by floodwater – and in urban areas, floodwater means sewage diluted with whatever the water picks up – much of which was oil from ruined cars. Looked like we would be staying a while. I did visit my apartment after seven days. There was no power, and the ground floor lobby and stairs was coated with oily residue. The fumes were awful. Fortunately our apartment was completely fine except the food in the refrigerator. Our power came back on after about ten days, but since we weren’t ready to return before the nor’easter struck (and again knocked out the power where we were staying) we didn’t come to stay until November 8.

I like to think that I’m generally well prepared – for adventures chosen and disasters unchosen – but I certainly wouldn’t think experiencing a hurricane wouldn’t teach me anything or at least give me a tough review. I noted some things of particular value.

Be social: There is no substitute for family and friends who are glad to offer you a place to stay (bonus if there’s internet and heat!) and there are probably things you can do to make their lives easier while you’re around. I was fortunate to be spending time with the right people when there was little to do besides hope nothing big hit the house.

Take your time: Since I wasn’t sure I’d be away during the storm I ended up packing quickly before leaving. This caused some moments of anxiety before I realized I did have what I needed – thanks in part to the stuff normally in my backpack and my car.

Take warnings seriously: As Sandy moved north, it became increasingly clear that this storm was likely to cause a lot of damage – time to make sure your supplies and plans are in order and prepare for flooding.

Communication breakdown: After the storm hit my cell service was only good enough to send text messages with about 50% success – forget about using the internet. But others with Verizon were able to access the internet on their phones. We also had a corded phone that got enough power from the telephone lines to function – though thinking back on it I’m surprised the landlines still worked. I could have brought my old battery/dynamo/solar radio but decided it wasn’t necessary, and it probably would have just been a toy to play with.

Light is your friend: It is not easy to start going to bed when the sun goes down – especially when it gets dark by 6pm and you are in a place you normally go to bed hours later. Candles and lanterns or large lights provide nice stationary lighting.

Head lamps are awesome: It’s like a flashlight that you don’t need to hold, but can if you want to. You can also hang it from light fixtures to shine down.

Clothing is valuable equipment: Be ready for harsh weather and no heat. Layer up right – materials matter and one good thermal shirt will do more than a pile of cotton. Pants that fit well are better for holding heat (something I seem to forget often).

Wood is good: I visited a family friend with an awesome woodstove. Outside it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and windy. In the living room it was almost 80. The stove did not heat the whole house but it was enough to get comfortable – and the chimney pipe provided heat to the bedroom above. This was with one log burning, no smoke smell, and a nice view of the flame through a window.

I did want to make a fire where we were staying, but there was no fireplace inside or outside and no good stones. Things certainly hadn’t got desperate enough to dig up the yard for a fire ring!

Gas is great: Yeah, I’m a little weirded out by the idea of an open flame on top of a massive supply of flammable gas in the house. But apart than that, natural gas is almost always on and can provide warm food, tea, and hot water. If you’re like John Robb, it can even power your house! Absent a stove that functions without electricity, a campstove and food that doesn’t need to be cooked are next best.

Prepare your fridge: It is annoying when food goes bad, but it can be an amusing game to decide what to eat next before it spoils. Three days after the storm I managed to get ice after a bit of searching and questioning. I have never been more amazed by walking through automatic doors into a building full of light and cold food. And seeing that pile of ice bags was like finding treasure. I managed to get even more ice from a relative whose power had just come back on. Score!

Water is life: Our tap water remained safe but it was not a waste to fill up beyond what was already in storage. Water is something we use anyway and containers take up space empty or full. Some people not far away did lose potable tap water. Of course you should have some water stored at all times in case of sudden problems.

Precious gasoline: A car is a means of exit, a big phone charger, a heater, and a radio – provided it is working and not stuck indoors. Gasoline was not easy to get after the storm. It was no Mad Max wasteland, but long lines formed at the stations that had both power and gas. A gas tank is available space that should be filled – gas cans too.

Batteries: Have them. I replaced 8 batteries during the outage. All of them had been used extensively before the storm.

LED is the way to be: Maybe you don’t like the bluish light they give off but the batteries last really long in these things. I didn’t remember the last time I had changed the batteries in my lights but it was well before the storm and I only needed to change them once.

Yes, you should have paracord: One of my bootlaces broke and I didn’t have an extra around. Paracord to the rescue! I did need to pinch the ends as they melted to fit them through the eyelets but my boot looked extra cool afterward.

Check your stuff: Shoes are important equipment and maybe I should have noticed that lace fraying earlier.

Inside shoes: The floor will be cold. You want to separate your body from it. There is probably debris outside that you don’t want to track inside.

Reach out: Find out how your immediate circles are doing then move to the larger community. If you need help, someone will be glad to provide it.

Generator: You might think you can get around this with a generator. Maybe, maybe not. Smaller generators will only provide partial power. Gasoline generators create noise and pollution. Gasoline can become difficult to acquire and storing it can be dangerous. A natural gas generator sounds like an ideal solution, since natural gas service is rarely disrupted.

Unfortunately, under current political conditions, as the demand for natural gas increases irresponsible extraction will proliferate. Holding industries responsible for the damage they cause is difficult in a system where the rules are bought. In the meantime, solar arrays and battery banks might be a more environmentally-friendly option.

Weather events have got more extreme in the past few years, and this is a global phenomenon. Expect more outages.

A power outage is annoying and can be dangerous for some (especially as temperatures drop). But if you’re prepared for it and stay away from downed wires it becomes another challenge that life is made of.

Growing food means getting it fresh, getting a feel for where it comes from, creating opportunities to experiment with different methods, and improving food security. With so many people living in cities, improving the urban environment means improving the lives of more and more people. And local food generally means less costly transportation. So urban agriculture, foodscaping, rooftop gardens, and similar ideas make sense as a way to continually innovate and improve on the quality of life.

An exciting example is Brooklyn Grange, a one-acre rooftop organic farm in New York City. It is nicely depicted in the film Up On The Farm, which has a trailer online.

Is this going back to the land, or bringing the land back?

Up On The Farm (trailer) from Diane Nerwen on Vimeo.

I’ve been meaning to share some info about books I’ve read lately, especially after the responses from Thinking Liberty fans to our recent book recommendation contest.

I haven’t read every page of all of these, and obviously my agreement with them varies, but they are all interesting.

Gary Chartier, The Conscience of an Anarchist
I now have a go-to book for introducing anarchism, and this is it.

Jan Tomasz Gross, Polish Society Under German Occupation: The Generalgouvernement, 1939-1944
Part history and part sociology, this study of Polish society under German occupation offers a number of insights on occupation, insurgency, and underground society.

Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
Excellent description of mass murder under Hitler and Stalin.

Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela, The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, Coexistence
This well-written examination of Hamas includes discussion on how social connections and social power were used to amass political power behind a radical ideology.

Sven Lindqvist, Exterminate All the Brutes: One Man’s Odyssey into the Heart of Darkness and the Origins of European Genocide
Compelling narrative of the author’s travels and thoughts as he attempts to comprehend genocide by Europeans.

Carol Anderson, Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African-American Struggle for Human Rights
A critical view of civil rights politics in the US.

Samuel Moyn, The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History
Moyn argues that an ideology of Human Rights became in the 1970s the last utopian program as other utopias failed to deliver.

Edward Said, The Question of Palestine
Somewhat dated, but certainly relevant introduction to Palestinian grievances.

Segev, Tom. One Palestine Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate
Detailed work that conveys the excitement of empire and nation building without glorifying it.

Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited
Detailed analysis of how Palestinians became refugees.

Michael Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
Well-written political and military history.

Itamar Rabinovich, The War for Lebanon, 1970-1985
Can be dry, but describes conflicts within Lebanon and how the country became a center of regional conflict.

Jackson Spielvogel, Hitler and Nazi Germany
Good textbook overview of Nazi Germany. New editions are expensive, but they do claim to have integrated recent scholarship in several areas.

Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century
Discusses the troubles of Europe in the Twentieth Century (I’ve only read the first two chapters as of this post).

David Crew (editor), Nazism and German Society, 1933-1945
The essays authored by Bartov, Mallman and Paul, Kershaw, and Browning are excellent writings that challenge some common views of the Nazi order. I expect that the essays that I haven’t read are also worthwhile.

Detlev Peukert, Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition, and Racism in Everyday Life
I’ve as yet only read the chapter “Young people: mobilisation and refusal,” which is a fascinating examination of how the Nazis gained and lost power among German youth.

Mark Mazower, Hitler’s Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe.
Well-written 600 pages of how Nazi Germany conquered and ruled. Contains a detailed index.

Peter Carlson, Roughneck: The Life and Times of “Big Bill” Haywood.
Exciting biography of the larger-than-life union organizer.

Joseph R. Conlin, Big Bill Haywood and the Radical Union Movement.
Contains less detail on Haywood’s life than Carlson’s book, but more analysis of related labor issues.

Penny A. Weiss and Loretta Kensinger (editors), Feminist interpretations of Emma Goldman.
A number of essays examining Emma Goldman in feminist contexts.

And a couple of books that looked interesting and I intend to read:

Peter Gelderloos, Anarchy Works

John M. Hart, Anarchism and the Mexican Working Class, 1860-1931.

George Woodcock, Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements

I’m posting some particularly interesting articles on revolts in Egypt and Libya. If you have other suggestions, please share.

How to Help Libyans Stay On the Internet Despite Government Restrictions

Libya: protesters vow to march on Gaddafi’s palace

Roots of the Egyptian revolutionary moment

Twenty reasons why it’s kicking off everywhere

The Secret Rally That Sparked an Uprising

Made in America: Mubarak’s Most Brutal Thugs Trained With FBI

Behind the Arab Revolt is a Word We Dare Not Speak

The Arab world is on fire: dialogue with a Syrian anarchist

Here are some books that readers of this blog might find useful.

The Russian Anarchists by Paul Avrich is a great source on anarchism in Russia from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

I haven’t yet read any of Nestor Makhno’s accounts of the revolution and civil war in Ukraine, but I presume they will be excellent.

The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick is an excellent short overview of the events of 1917.

Agorists in particular might be interested in Chapter 6 of Stephen Kotkin’s Magnetic Mountain. In Kotkin’s narrative, the “shadow economy” in Stalinist Russia is a sphere of freedom and source of basic goods for the individual, but is also a mechanism by which Stalinist projects were able to be sustained.

Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire, by David Remnick, is an excellent account of the collapse of the Soviet Union from an American journalist inside the USSR.

It has been said that the internet, or any text format, is not a good medium for discussion. But writing can be as good or better than verbal communication, particularly verbal communication where the other person is not seen (such as phone or radio). Of course, the internet also allows for long distance video chat, which would include visual cues, but even if text is the only medium it can be an effective medium if people want it to be.

Writing allows for a detailed and thorough arrangement of points. If you look over a message and see that a point is not made as effectively as it could be (and will thus be communicated in a less effective manner) you can edit the writing. If text is entered real-time, there is usually the advantage of seeing exactly what you just said, which is not possible with verbal communication. This will better enable you to make corrections or clarifications to your own statements or to the other person’s statements.

Many online conversations are not impacted by anonymity. With blogs or social networking sites, there is usually a distinct identity attached to each piece of writing. Even if a pseudonym is used, internet handles often remain constant. A stranger you exchange words with online is no more anonymous than a stranger you discuss issues with in person.

So why does internet conversation often fail? Trolling and sarcasm take place offline, so they aren’t to blame. Internet conversation often fails because people (not all, but a significant number) don’t write well, don’t read well, or don’t generally communicate well.

Can you imagine Thomas Paine, George Orwell, Howard Zinn, or other well-known writer responding to a critic by saying “you couldn’t see my facial features or hear my intonation when you read that”? Not everyone needs to write as well as they did, but acknowledging one’s own limits is a lot more honest and conducive to self-improvement than referring to imaginary external limits.

Sometimes the style of writing that people use is not appropriate to the situation. The internet is often used as a substitute for casual personal interaction. This is fine, but do understand what is going on. Think about the setting and how the other people in the discussion are acting. And if you can’t get your message across in under 140 characters, Twitter is probably not the best place to write it.

Readers are often uncharitable. They should consider the professionalism of the writer and the setting. How formal is the setting and how much detail would one expect from it? Why not ask for details instead of assuming the worst? A blog might be an open journal or notebook. An op-ed designed for wide circulation might only have space to gloss over specifics. A Facebook comment might be a question from a curious uninitiated reader. It’s fine to expect an overview to take no more than a paragraph or a page, but one should be willing to read more than an overview before making a detailed critique.

When online, people communicate with different sorts of people than they often do in person. Those who are not good at writing or are operating without guidelines might be difficult to understand. But someone who is a representative of an organization should be able to represent it skillfully in writing.

It is always difficult to convince someone who has little or no interest in what you are saying. This person will not read in detail. Similar things occur in verbal communication when people only hear the part of a conversation that supports their assumptions.

Writers should realize that they can’t always have as much of another person’s time as they want. In the verbal realm, speeches are limited in time, the audience question time is limited, and you can’t force a speaker to attend your response speech. If you are unable to get someone’s interest in the beginning of your essay, they are less likely to consider your writing a worthwhile use of their time.

If your focus is on “defending a position” you aren’t necessarily open to considering other views. There is an appropriate time for this, like when there is an audience you are trying to convince, but not every instance of communication is an appropriate time. Even when it is appropriate to take a combative approach, you have to engage with the opponent – actually understand what he or she is saying — to accomplish more than ridiculous posturing.

It is true that when communication is not done face-to-face there can be a lack of empathy for the other person. However that means that during in-person exchanges, empathy can substitute for a convincing argument. People may be emotionally inclined to get along instead of continuing the discussion or looking for rational common interest. It also means that charisma and intimidation will play more of a role when communicating in person. If you can’t motivate someone without relying on your physical presence, you might be okay at getting your message across in person but not as good at arguing rationally.

Perhaps the most crucial impediment to online communication is the refusal to take it seriously. What happens on the internet is part of real life. The more you abstract away from “RL” the less real you will be.

Internet communication is unlikely to fulfill the emotional needs that communicating in person can fulfill. But for understanding and discussing arguments it is as capable as the users are.

A new pamphlet, Against Borders, has been posted on libertyactivism.info. It includes a 1-page individualist anarchist view on state borders, my Center for a Stateless Society commentary Escalating the War on Freedom, a New Jersey Alliance of the Libertarian Left statement, and a Nation article by Jacqueline Stevens. Download, print, fold, staple, subvert!

One of the people I had the pleasure of meeting at the New York Anarchist Book Fair was Scott from Firestorm Cafe and Books in Asheville, NC. It’s an anarchist space with a heavy mutualist influence.

There’s also a growing Local Exchange Trading System in Asheville.

I hope Firestorm and Asheville LETS become successful contributors to a consensual community, and I hope they help inspire folks elsewhere to move forward making liberty.