Herbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People

By Judson Carroll

My mission is to make herbal medicine available and useful to regular people in everyday life. The folks I learned herbal medicine from in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, were practical people. They were farmers and woodsmen - traditional, conservative, Christian, Appalachian people with deep family roots in the area. Preparedness, survival and living off the land were natural parts of life - gathering, growing and using herbs was as practical and common sense a tradition and skill, as growing a vegetable garden, hunting, fishing and trapping, food preservation and storage, doing your own home repairs or working on your own vehicle. In the rural mountains, down dirt roads and far from towns, folks simply did not have easy access to doctors, nor the money to pay medical bills. Rugged, self-reliant people maintained the herbal traditions of their ancestors. It is a sign that I am doing things right, that new generations who also value rugged individualism and self-reliance trust me to hand on the information I learned from those who have passed.

Many herbals have been written over the last 3,000 years or so, but I know of no other book that has ever made practical, common sense information on herbal medicine so readily available to people of all skill levels and experience.

The Prepper will find instructions on herbal first aid and herbs that can be used in emergency situations. This section places an emphasis on herbal preparedness in the case of supply chain disruptions or when doctors are not available and prescription medications simply cannot be purchased. This covers many topics, including bleeding, injuries, pain, bites and stings, burns, shock, diarrhea and much more - what herbs to have on hand and how to use them.

The Homesteader will learn about treating common family illnesses such as colds and flus, allergies, sleep remedies for complaints common to men, women and children and many other issues that an individual or family may expect in the course of normal life. We discuss growing herbs and finding them in the wild. Extensive information is given on how to make your own herbal medicine - infusions, decoctions, tinctures, poultices, oils, salves, lotions, lozenges, syrups, etc., and even how to make herbal wines and beers.

The Permaculture folks will learn about how to integrate herbs into their designs. We discuss strategies for incorporating herbs into the Permaculture zones for convenience and abundance. Advanced concepts are covered in this section, such as herbal energetics, adaptogens, medicinal mushrooms and ferments. This section is unique in that it is not about using herbs for specific conditions, but embracing an herbal lifestyle to keep us in optimum health and (hopefully) avoid disease as much as possible.

Throughout this book, I share with you the lessons I learned from my great grandparents who lived into their late 90s, strong and healthy with little need for doctors. I discuss the agrarian lifestyle and diets of the old mountain people from whom I learned. I also share with you a great deal of German Folk Medicine, another tradition that I was blessed to be exposed to in my childhood and which has become a big part of my own herbal tradition. Finally, I discuss the traditions of specifically Christian herbal medicine, from the Monastic Medicine to the current day. I believe it vital that this rich history not be forgotten.

"BUT WAIT," you may ask, "What if I am not a Prepper, Homesteader or a Permaculture practitioner? Will this book be useful for me?"

YES! This book should be useful for anyone who is interested in learning about herbs and how to use them. Anywhere you are on the Prepper to Permaculture spectrum... or, if you are not in that spectrum at all - if you are a college student or an urbanite - if you are interested in herbs and how to use them, this book should serve as a guide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judson Carroll
• Release date: Oct 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005733773

Judson Carroll

Judson CarrollI am a certified Master Herbalist and Permaculturist from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, USA. I began learning about herbs and their uses from the old Appalachian folks, especially the Hicks family of Beech Creek, when I was around 15.I host the Southern Appalachian Herbal Podcast: Southern Appalachian Herbs https://www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbsI teach free, online herbal medicine classes: Herbal Medicine 101 https://rumble.com/c/c-618325I also write a weekly article on herbs and their properties: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/151My passion is being outside, enjoying the woods, the water and the garden. My mission is to revive the tradition of “folk medicine” in America, so families can care for their own ailments at home, using the herbs God gave us for that purpose. I am a moderator and contributor for The Grow Network and you can communicate with me there https://thegrownetwork.com/My email address is [e-mail]

Book preview

Herbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture Folks

by Judson Carroll

Copyright 2021

All rights reserved. This book may not be shared or reproduced without written permission by the author.

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This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

Why Learn Herbal Medicine?

The Preps, Herbal Preparations

Herbal Infusions (Teas)

Decoctions

Washes and Soaks

Oil Infusions

Salves, Balms and Lotions

Liniments

Tinctures

Percolations

Capsules, Pills/Pastilles and Lozenges

Syrups

Poultices

Soaps

Smelly Things

Essential Oils

Herbal Wines and Beers

Double and Triple Extracts

Herbs as Food

Homeopathy and Bach Flower Remedies

Herbal First Aid

Bleeding

Disinfecting Wounds

Wound Healing

Bruises and Sprains

Burns

Rashes

Bites and Stings

Eyes

Sore Throat

Lungs

Blood Pressure and Anxiety

Shock

Fever

Diarrhea

Kidney and Bladder Issues

Frostbite

Pain

Herbal Homesteading

Allergies

Sleep

Colds Flus and Other Viruses

Family Medicine

Men's Health

Women's Health

Children's Health

Animal Care

The Chronic Ailments of Modern Culture

Herbal Permaculture

Adaptogens

Zones and Designs

Medicinal Culinary Herbs

My Tradition and Philosophy of Herbalism and Why That Matters

Is Herbal Medicine Christian?

Introduction

I am Judson Carroll, and I am an herbalist. That is how I start my podcast each week. My podcast is The Southern Appalachian Herbal podcast and my audience is largely made up of people who identify with the three categories mentioned in the title of this book. Of course, people from all walks of life and of all ideologies listen to my podcast world-wide. But, I am particularly pleased that Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture Folks find my information valuable because these three groups place a premium on practical, useful, accurate and reliable information. I will get more into my philosophy of herbalism later, but my mission is to make herbal medicine available and useful to regular people in everyday life. The folks I learned herbal medicine from in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, were practical people. They were farmers and woodsmen - traditional, conservative, Christian, Appalachian people with deep family roots in the area. Preparedness, survival and living off the land were natural parts of life. Herbal medicine was not some kind of new age, hippie concept to them - gathering, growing and using herbs was as practical and common sense a tradition and skill, as growing a vegetable garden, hunting, fishing and trapping, food preservation and storage, doing your own home repairs or working on your own vehicle. In the rural mountains, down dirt roads and far from towns, folks simply did not have easy access to doctors, nor the money to pay medical bills. Rugged, self-reliant people maintained the herbal traditions of their ancestors. It is a sign that I am doing things right, that new generations who also value rugged individualism and self-reliance trust me to hand on the information I learned from those who have passed.

Now, let's define our terms. I am going to give a very simplistic definition of what it means to be a Prepper, a Homesteader or a Permaculturist (there really is no good label for a person who practices Permaculture - all of them sound awkward - so, I'm going to use the generic folks when possible). My definitions will absolutely not be complete. A dedicated person who identifies himself with any of the groups will surely find omissions and flaws in my definitions. There is a lot of cross-over between the three. So, simplistic definitions will help us categorize information for easy reference and use.

What is a Prepper?

My simplistic definition is, one who prepares for any kind of major event. Preppers are people who prepare for natural disasters, economic disruption or collapse, political upheaval, war, food shortages, etc. Preppers focus on food preservation and storage, water storage, backup fuel and electricity, guns and stocking up on ammo... and always, first aid/emergency field medicine. Many of my good friends are Preppers. In many ways, prepping was a way of life in the rural mountains where I grew up. Winters brought heavy snows and ice storms, summers often brought flash floods. The electricity was rarely reliable. At least annually, a storm would leave us without electricity and with impassible roads for a week or more. Additionally, my mother's side of the family is from the coastal swamps of NC and I spent several years living in that region, as well. Hurricanes were frequent and just as disruptive. Stocking up on firewood and kerosene, storing food and making sure we had a source for water when the power was out, was just part of life.

Preppers tend to be viewed in a negative light by the mainstream media, but I think it is a very practical and reasonable mindset, and really the first step in becoming self-reliant. Sure, the whole zombie apocalypse thing seems nuts, but that is really just a form of gaming - thinking through all the contingencies in what if and extreme situations; it is a form of mental training. But then, my grandfather was the only man in our community to build his own nuclear fall out shelter during the Cuban Missile Crises. He was a brilliant, truly self-made and self-reliant man, who was a Prepper and Homesteader, and even an unknown pioneer of Permaculture.... he was a huge influence on me, and I'll probably mention him several times in this book. His underground bomb shelter, complete with a lead lined door, an air filtration system, a well with a hand pump, septic system, electric, food storage, etc, all of his own design, was a model of preparedness.

What is a Homesteader?

My definition of a Homesteader is one who has made preparedness a part of his lifestyle and is working actively to achieve resilience and self-sufficiency. The Prepper may have a home in a suburban neighborhood that gives no sign of having a basement fully stocked with stored food and other preps, a Bug Out Bag and an established Bug Out location. The homesteader either has some land or is actively planning to move to a larger acreage. He may have anything from a good-sized lot to a farm, but he has a garden that provides at least half of the produce he or his family needs. He likely has some livestock - at least a few chickens. He has a freezer full of meat, sourced both from the farm and the wild. He has a secure water source on site, probably a well. He has a backup power supply to run the pump for the well. He knows how to can vegetables, has a stocked pantry and is probably planning a root cellar. He likely has a wife and kids. Hopefully, the kids are home schooled or attend a small, church affiliated private school - I'll get into the why of that later but suffice to say that public education does not teach kids to value a homesteader lifestyle. He does most of his own home and auto repairs. Hopefully he has little to no debt. If he has debt, he is actively working to pay it off - that is part of being resilient and self-reliant. Hopefully his land is also providing a marketable asset, even if it is just some extra vegetables or eggs to sell or share with friends and family. As Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast said, A house is something you work to pay for. A Homestead supports you.

My great grandparents and the old mountain folks I learned from were Homesteaders. They had small farms and surrounding woods that provided almost all of the food they needed. Trips to the store were no more than once a month to buy a few things they could not grow. Tools, tractors and pickup trucks were old and often repaired. Electricity was little used. Insurance was unheard of and doctors' visits extremely rare. Some may doubt that people lived like this in my lifetime, but my great grandparents lived into their late 90s with very little change in lifestyle. They had a smokehouse and beehives, and many of my childhood evenings were spent shelling beans under huge old oak and sweetgum trees as the chickens pecked around us. The biscuits my great grandmother made, with lard from the hogs they raised and buttermilk from their own cows, were peerless. That was a low country farm. In the 1990s, I got to know the Hicks family of Beech Creek, NC, high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They lived in a generations old cabin, down a long dirt road. They had no indoor plumbing, a wood stove for cooking and another for heat, a spring house to keep food cold and for drawing water and only one electric light. Other than that one light, which was the only electricity in the house other than a radio just used to listen to The Grand Ole Opry, and a pickup truck having replaced a horse (which their son, Ted drove into town to buy occasional necessities or to sell the herbs they harvested from the woods), little had changed in their lifestyle from that of their grandparents and great grandparents. Ray Hicks became recognized as an Appalachian storyteller in his old age, which brought a little more money into the family... but little else changed. Whether on a very basic, old-fashioned farm like those, or with more modern conveniences, the Homesteading life is still not only possible, but perhaps the most peaceful and rewarding way of life imaginable. It is, however, HARD WORK!

What is Permaculture?

First and foremost, Permaculture is a design science. Various forms of what we now call Permaculture have existed for as long as man has farmed. The human brain is an amazing thing; it is creative and logical. When faced with a problem, the human mind begins to design solutions. The problems of a self-sufficient or self-reliant Homestead are very often, productivity and hard work. Simply stated, the more produce one can grow, the more he has for his family and the more he has left over to sell. In the ancient world, fertile land and natural irrigation along the Nile made Egypt and empire. Throughout time, we discovered compost and manure to fertilize and designed irrigation systems. Each generation made improvements, using the resources at hand and inventing new systems of agriculture. This continued until the chemical age, in which tremendous yields could be obtained using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and mechanical irrigation. Unfortunately, these gains were short lived. The modern system of agriculture strips the soil of nutrition and makes it difficult to absorb water as it naturally would. More and more fertilizer is needed to compensate for worn out soil. More and more herbicides and pesticides are needed as weeds and insects become resistant to those already in use. In order to profit, the farmer must turn to large mono-crops of corn or soybeans rather than the diverse food gardens of the Homesteader. As profits decrease and yields per acer plateau, the only option is to farm more land. That requires buying more land, chemicals and large equipment, and hiring more employees... which means more debt and taxes. The nutritional value of food grown in this way is far lower than that grown without chemicals. So, as the farmer works harder, he gets poorer and we all are faced with an epidemic of diabetes, heart disease and cancer mainly caused by poor diets and an abundance of nutritionally deficient, sugar laden food. The modern large-scale production of livestock is even more bleak. But, this is not a book on farming - Joel Salatin has written several excellent books on the problems with modern, corporate agriculture and offers ingenious solutions.

The bottom line is though, that the modern model is bad for the farmer and the consumer. I studied economics in college, and I fully understand the arguments that modern agriculture is more economically efficient and feeds the world. But, in my opinion the non-monetary costs are too high. Economists may well advocate that a workforce of cheap, often off the books, illegal immigrant labor may be extremely economically efficient for the owner of a large farm. But, the relative poverty, high crime and pressure on social services in the community that farm calls home is a cost the economists do not consider. The quality of life lost in the demise of the family farm is another cost they do not calculate. As is, the detriment that the heavy load of toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals and concentrated animal waste flooding into our food and water supplies have on human health and the environment. While I do not consider myself really an environmentalist, with the political baggage that term entails, I like clean air and water as much as anyone. Moreover, my grandfather died of ALS that was likely triggered in part by his use of agricultural chemicals. I choose to avoid such whenever possible.

A few decades ago, a man named Bill Mollison coined the term Permaculture. Mollison was a jack of all trades, with a background in farming, fishing and trapping. He was a great self-promoter, and a thoroughly offensive old atheist, socialist and radical environmentalist. But, he was also practical, logical and brilliant. Faced with all the problems I have just described, and more, he decided to look at farming through the science of design. Mollison identified excess work, expense and pollution as waste and inefficiency. Rather than all the toxic, stinking animal waste on a large farm being a detriment, why not use it for fertilizer...to grow livestock feed that would be healthier for the animals and reduce the need for veterinary care and pharmaceuticals... which would result in better quality meat that could be sold for a higher price? Rather than soak fields in fertilizers and herbicides, why not chop the weeds and turn them into mulch which would fertilize the plants (along with manure) and reduce the need for irrigation by covering the soil and reducing evaporation? Why not design every element of the farm so as to make the best use of sun angles, shelter from winds, protection from fires, make maximum use of rainwater and wastewater and arrange each element to reduce labor and make maximum use of everything? What if the soil could become more fertile each year and production more abundant without chemicals? What if more perennials and tree crops could be grown so less effort is put into annuals? What if resiliency and stability could be accomplished by designing in redundancy - each element supported by at least three other elements in the system and accomplishing at least five goals?

With a special interest in protecting farms from wildfires and reducing pollution, Mollison began to design these systems, making use of efficient designs throughout the ages, such as French Biointensive and the work of P.A. Yeoman. He didn't just stop with farming though, Permaculture design is applied to building construction, heat and electricity, business income, etc... the principles can be applied to most every aspect of your life. Along with others who were working independently on similar concepts, such as Masonobu Fukuoka and Sepp Holzer, he began to implement these designs, write books and teach. The students of those men - David Holmgren, Geoff Lawton, David Korn, Toby Hemenway, etc, further developed and taught Permaculture throughout the world. For many though, realizing the dream of Permaculture never materialized. The reason that many such farms failed was due to lack of experience. Many who studied Permaculture were college students and hippies... wide eyed idealists. Some succeeded grandly, most lost interest when the work got hard. But, Permaculture kept developing with each generation of students. Today, Paul Wheaton, Matt Powers and several others teach very practical Permaculture design systems. They do not minimize the amount of work involved, especially in establishing the farm, but they train people in designing and setting up systems that are not only sustainable, but regenerative, meaning that the system is not only efficient, but gets more productive and better each year. I have taken 5 Permaculture Design courses and was the first person to complete Matt Power's Advanced Permaculture course of more than 270 hours. I believe that Permaculture is farming as God intended - man as steward, understanding plants and animals, studying natural systems and organizing them for efficiency, using the creative and logical minds that only we have.

So, what does all of this have to do with herbal medicine?

If we think in terms of Prepper, Homesteader and Permaculture Folks, we can present learning about herbs for self-reliance in easily digestible terms:

1. Prepper: The Prepper is preparing for a disruptive event. Of primary importance to the Prepper would be First Aid. What herbs can I use for an injury or sudden illness? What do I need to have on hand? What herbs do I need to learn to identify and use in nature, in an emergency, if doctors and pharmacies are unavailable?

2. Homesteader. All of the above, plus.. What herbs do I need for home medicine, to treat myself and my family so we can avoid going to doctors and using pharmaceuticals when possible? What herbs can I grow? What herbs can I learn to harvest from the wild and how do I do that? How do I make my own herbal preparations and how do I use them? What conditions do I or my family experience that I can mitigate using herbs long term?

3. Permaculture. How do I make herbs a part of my lifestyle? How can I incorporate the use of herbs into my daily life and regular diet to prevent sickness? How can I incorporate herbs into my garden and into my landscape, and encourage them to grow in the woods, so that I am literally living with hundreds of useful herbs? How can growing herbs, making herbal preparations, teaching classes or writing about herbs become part of the perennial revenue streams that support me and my farm?

BUT WAIT, you may ask, What if I am not a Prepper, Homesteader or a Permaculture practitioner? Will this book be useful for me?

YES! This book should be useful for anyone who is interested in learning about herbs and how to use them. I will cover herbal first aid, herbal home remedies for coughs, colds, sore throats and flu, allergies, upset stomachs, pain, sleep, etc, etc... most anything you might need to treat yourself and your family - the basics. But, I will also get into more advanced information and concepts. Anywhere you are on the Prepper to Permaculture spectrum... or, if you are not in that spectrum at all - if you are a college student or an urbanite - if you are interested in herbs and how to use them, this book should serve as a guide.

Of course, I cannot legally say any plant can be used to treat or cure (etc) any illness. That is the law… no matter how stupid and misguided it certainly is, it is still the law. If we disobey, people with guns and regulators with fines will show us exactly what it means to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Supposedly, many laws and regulations were passed from 1920 or so on, to protect the American people from tainted food and fraudulent drugs. In 2021, a free American cannot buy raw/unpasteurized milk in most states, vaccines are being mandated against religious and health concerns and we have seen health food stores raided by SWAT teams, guns drawn and bullets firing, to ensure that no one says that ginseng may put a bit of pep in your step…. No, my ancestors did not cross the ocean on ancient, wooden ships and fight multiple wars for this… but, there you have it. Ironically, about the same time these laws were passed, our own government intentionally poisoned liquor, leading to the deaths of over 10,000 American citizens in the name of public health - it was the era of Prohibition, and the intention was to scare people away from drinking liquor, for our own good. As the late President Reagan said, The scariest words in the English Language are, we are from the government, and we are here to help.

That said, here, I must offer my disclaimer:

The information in this book is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. I am not a health practitioner and am not offering advice. No content on this site has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Following any information on this site is at your own risk.

Do your own thorough research before following any herbal advice. Be aware of interactions (drug or herbal), allergy, sensitivity or underlying conditions before proceeding with following any health information.

By continuing to read this book you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to hold me responsible for your own actions.

Read that and embrace it or go no further. If you use any herb, whether recommended by me or anyone else, you are treating yourself… and as the old saying goes about the man who represents himself legally (he has a fool for a lawyer), you maybe have a fool for a doctor. Frankly, as I often say, I won’t even guarantee that anything I write in this book or elsewhere, is true. Do your own research.

Why Learn Herbal Medicine?

The simple answer is that learning to treat yourself and your family, naturally, with herbs is essential for preparedness and self-reliance. There is a lot more to it than that, though.

A few months ago, I recorded a podcast that has become very popular. It was entitled, Two Options for Your Future. The first option is the one that probably 95% of people in our modern culture choose... most not knowing they even have the choice. That option is doing what is expected and not taking responsibility for your own life. The second option is independence, making your own choices and taking responsibility for your life.

I call the first option Being herded like cattle and slopped like hogs. This may sound extreme, but stick with me for a few minutes. An individual's childhood may vary greatly from others in terms of family life, but a public-school experience is mostly standardized. The goal of public education is not to teach students the skills they need to be independent thinkers, entrepreneurs or creative and logical people. If it were, up to 50% of high school students in my home state of North Carolina would not GRADUATE functionally illiterate and unable to do basic math! If it were, Americans would not spend more on public education than any nation on earth, while having among the lowest test scores in the civilized world. The goal of public education is very simply to teach kids to do what they are told and to not question authority. Additionally, it is to enculturate them with the approved values of those in charge and to create unthinking consumers.

That likely sounds like a conspiracy theory, after all, aren't teachers the equivalent of secular saints, under paid, over-worked, dedicated educators? No. At least, not in my opinion. I think most are over-paid considering they get all national holidays off, summers off, generally make above each state's average salary, receive very good benefits as government employees and generally fail to educate students at all. But surely, this is new... something has gone wrong! Well, let's look at what the architects of public education and their progressive allies wrote about their stated goals. The following is an excerpt from Peter McCoy's excellent book, Radical Mycology:

The average person gains much of their ability to interpret and describe life experiences during a decade or two of public education. During their formative years, most children are placed under state controlled structures that define what the child is to think. As that child turns into an adult, all that they learned in school is carried on to define what is worth studying and, more importantly, how one is to learn about-indeed, think about-a given topic. Unfortunately, the learning models presented in public schooling are not only limited, but detrimental. ... For the bulk of the last few thousand years, education systems in western societies were structured quite differently than the rigid, subject-based model that is now common around the world. As opposed to studying an assemblage of disconnected facts, students of the past were largely encouraged to study on their own and to explore those topics that interested them. Along with this freedom, the student was also given robust skills for logical thinking that enabled them to analyze a topic quickly and ultimately develop their own understanding of it, derived from personal investigation. Such studies often took place in small one-room classrooms (dame schools) in which students of different ages learned from and taught each other. This not only increased the older students' ability to express ideas and inform others, it also created mentor-peer relationships and mutual respect amongst the differing age groups. In the l9th century, the dame school model slowly began to be replaced by the enforced schooling system. As detailed in the many great works of author and former public school teacher John Taylor Gatto, this shift began when the Prussian government devised an education system that sought to mold students into non-critical, obedient citizens. Under the Prussian model, curriculum was no longer left open to interpretation by teachers and students, but regulated by the state. In the high class of Prussian society, only 0.5-1 % of students were given the actual skills to think strategically and contextually. These lucky few went on to become future policy makers and rulers of the country. Below them, the next 5-7.5% of students were taught to take on the management of society and grew to become the engineers, architects, doctors, lawyers, and general problem solvers of the country. The rest of the population attended people's schools where one's proficiency was measured largely by their ability to obey the teacher's commands and to memorize random data, regardless of its merit. By dividing class lines along degrees of intellectualism, the Prussian government was able, in just a generation or two, to slowly shift the mass culture's relationship with authority from a critical to subservient form. This system was so successful that despite frequent-and at times violent-resistance, it was soon imported to the United States where it was further refined, largely due to the private funding of major industrialists of the early 20th century, such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. Since that time, the compulsory education system has only been further embellished in the United States and around the world. In Gatto's summation, nearly every aspect of the enforced public schooling system is designed to support the state. School teaches, directly or indirectly, to place the planning of one's life into the hands of other people. In the classroom, the teacher is commander and chief, dictating what is learned, how time is spent, and what value will be attached to the work that students produce. In a world filled with an infinite number of things to learn, curiosity is partitioned into a small set of inane assignments where thinking or spawning outside the box is not encouraged. The teacher's authority is unquestionable, a submission to hierarchy that the child learns to accept in school and throughout the rest of their life. This stifling of creativity and self-expression leaves the child endlessly searching for external guidance and validation, whether from authority figures or celebrities, rather than from their own sense of self-worth. As Gatto puts it, if a child is never given true responsibility, s/he will remain child-like beyond necessity-s/he may grow old, buts/he will never grow up. The child is also deprived of the ability to think efficiently or to even plan their life to achieve goals. Public schools do not teach children to think in context or to connect concepts from different areas of life. Rather, schooling's emphasis on memorizing disconnected facts in discrete subjects leaves the child with an incoherent view of history and cultural development. Removed from Nature and the patterns... the child is deprived of sustained contact with pattern- and systems-based thinking models. Unable to think abstractly, objectively, or with historical contexts, the child is also unable to grasp how the world arrived at its present state or how the actions of a single individual can shape the present and future. This is further exacerbated by the ringing of the Pavlovian bell that tells the student to abandon their work as if it doesn't matter, for it is only the grade marks of the overbearing teacher that can place a value on the work of the child. Over time, the child can no longer view learning as its own reward or appreciate knowledge for its ability to enrich one's life. In the end, the child is left unable to think for themselves, to value their own work, to have relationships that are not based on requirements or outcomes, to investigate taboo topics, or to challenge ideas that they are told to accept."

School is like starting life with a 12-year jail sentence in which bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. -JOHN TAYLOR GATIO

In our dreams, people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present education conventions of intellectual and character education fade from their minds and unhampered by tradition we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into men of learning or philosophers, or men of science. We have not to raise up from them authors, educators, poets or men of letters, great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, statesmen, politicians, creatures of whom we have ample supply. The task is simple. We will organize children and teach them in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way. -JOHN 0. ROCKEFELLER'S GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD

Education should aim at destroying the free will, so that, after the pupils have left school, they shall be incapable; throughout the rest of · their lives, of thinking or acting otherwise than as their schoolmasters would have wished. -BERTRAND RUSSELL, THE INTENDED RESULT OF EDUCATION

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much. -WALTER LIPPMANN

So, what happens next? Too often, the high school graduate, who has no true skills for learning, goes on to college... because, everyone deserves a college education. After several years of partying, the student finally earns a degree in what is often a worthless subject. Most importantly though, the student incurs massive debt. This is usually the first step in a lifetime of being enslaved to debt. Each subsequent step of credit cards, car loans, mortgages, etc will be marketed as the college loans were - a privilege and a right earned through compliance. The young adult now gets a job based on the degree and not his ability. Over his lifetime and through a number of new promotions or careers, new cars, new houses, lots of take-out and restaurant food, insurance, medical bills, taxes, a few nice vacations, usually a couple of divorces... and, don't forget, paying for his kid's education... then retirement and assisted living, that man (or woman, of course) will make a great deal of money... for other people. Gone are the days where each generation accomplished more than the generation before and left a large inheritance to their children. Gone are the days of building wealth.

But, what else did that student learn? He learned to eat what he was told to eat (industrial junk food) and to interact with the medical system. It begins with vaccines and health screenings, then annual check-ups. Of course, there will be all sorts of viruses that run rampant through crowded schools, which means more visits to the doctor and more medications. A boy will likely be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and put on meds for that. A girl will be encouraged to go on birth control pills and get regular gynecological screenings. Both will likely be prescribed anxiety or depression meds. Then, there are the required physicals for sports, and so on. If a parent resists, they will likely get a visit from Child Services, be threatened, fined and even jailed. Then, the whole process starts over in college... more vaccinations, screenings and meds. Throughout life, our hypothetical student will spend more and more time waiting to see a doctor...usually actually seeing the doctor for a few minutes (herded like cattle), be prescribed more and more meds (slopped like hogs) and told what a privilege it is that they have such an opportunity for healthcare. They will have insurance as part of their benefits package, vote for politicians who promise to expand healthcare coverage and as they age, their entire lives will revolve around medical appointments, treatments and prescriptions. When they hear a commercial like the one I often hear on the radio that states, High blood pressure meds, diabetes meds, anxiety meds, everybody's on them...., they will not even question why.

It may surprise many folks these days to know that this was not always the case. My great grandparents, who lived into their late 90s, did not live this way. They only went to doctors in cases of serious disease or emergency. If someone had a heart attack or broke a leg or got cancer (which was extremely rare just a few generations ago), then they would go to a doctor. Colds, flus, injuries, coughs, congestion, etc. were treated at home. Babies were had at home - a lot of them! There were no health screenings. People generally lived long, healthy lives - strong and independent, active in their churches and communities into old age. But, aren't people living longer, healthier lives now? Not really. If you adjust for infant mortality and early childhood illness, factor out the legitimate medical improvements in treating injuries sustained in wars and the occasional viral epidemics (which modern medicine still can't prevent and can barely treat), the average adult was living just a few years longer than his ancestors. But, the rise in opioid drug overdoses in recent years has largely negated those gains. Moreover, such statistics do not factor in quality of life. Yes, a person may live a few years longer on dialysis, with a feeding tube, on a respirator or being neglected and abused in a nursing home. That is a stark contrast to my great grandfather who re-married in his 80s and remained strong and vigorous, full of life and humor into his late 90s!

The sad truth... the truth few dare speak, is that medical error, over-prescription and side effects from prescription drugs are now the leading cause of death in America. If Covid-19 taught us anything, it is that the emperor has no clothes. The medical professionals who demand unquestioning obedience of us, are mostly unquestioningly obedient to the healthcare industry, the medical bureaucracy, the pharmaceutical industry and government. They will actively deny the origin of a virus, withhold effective treatments (hydroxychloroquine, for instance) and allow hundreds of thousands of people to die, if that