Dear
Mr. Rawles:
Thank you for providing a fine forum for those of us who value self-reliance
and preparedness.
My current professional situation requires that we live in a notoriously
liberal city in the northern People's Republic of Kalifornia. My wife
and I laugh frequently at being the true minorities in our city - an
independent Christian family with children where the father is a net
provider of jobs. We are working actively on a relocation plan and
hope for implementation within a few years.
Pennsylvania is a state which may not appear interesting when considered
in the aggregate, as the statistics are skewed heavily by the major
cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Additionally, statistical analysis
might overlook some of the favorable cultural aspects of the central
portions of the state. Income taxes are low, and education can be good.
Pennsylvania can be divided culturally into thirds. The Philadelphia
area in the far east of the state is an urban liberal cousin of New
York and Boston. In the far western portion of the state Pittsburgh
is a mid-western city having more in common with Cleveland and Cincinnati
than Philadelphia. The middle third of the state and the northern region
might
be worth examining for those with strong family ties in the northeast.
It is the geography and culture of this region which makes its retreat
potential interesting.
The Klintonian Democrat James Carville labeled the northern and central
portions of the state 'Alabama;' it is not Bill & Hillary country.
Others have referred to it as 'Pennsyltucky,' a reference to the more
conservative hard-working folks who populate the farms, mountains,
and small towns of the region. In the book On The Road,
the beatnik poet Jack Kerouac called this area the last great eastern
wilderness.
The region is comprised of low gently rolling wooded ranges of the
Appalachian Mountains, somewhat similar to sections of the coast ranges
of Oregon. There is plentiful surface water and springs, and dry-farming
can yield quite a lot per acre in the right regions. The untilled land
is rich in firewood, game, and fish in the streams. Rather than relying
on the vast distances of the American west for protection from urban
hordes, the region contains pockets of topography - combinations of
mountains, forests, and streams - that create challenging access for
non-locals and very defensible sites for the natives. Nonetheless,
Pennsylvania is a large eastern state with many lightly populated rural
counties well
removed from major highways. Locals may rely upon game
trails over the mountains rather than the small country roads around
them. Bad weather, cold winters with snow are additional factors limiting
access.
A large portion of the population in the central and northern portion
of the state hunts and fishes. The first day of hunting season and
trout season will see some schools closed and others missing quite
a few children. This is a part of the world where youngsters learn
early the stories of woodsman and sharpshooters who fought Hessian
mercenaries and British redcoats using the advantages of marksmanship
and terrain. Daniel Boone lived here and walked to Kentucky with his
PENNSYLVANIA rifle, perhaps the first American sniper weapon. The folks
live a self-reliant lifestyle which is steeped in outdoor survival
skills. It's a land of self-help and good neighbors, not welfare handouts
and intrusive government. Growing up, our farm was part of a small
group of farms contained in the bend of a small river and enclosed
by the mountains of state game lands and forests. Access was via one
of two small roads easily monitored. The hilly nature of the country
provided numerous opportunities for tactical advantage. For now, I'll
omit naming specific counties and towns.
While the region is not favorably located for the ultimate nuclear
TEOTWAWKI scenario, for us a chance to be close to loved ones and to
have children learn from their grandparents as well as from us will
likely outweigh this factor. Keep up the good work, we appreciate your
efforts. - A Mountain Yankee Waiting to Go Home
JWR Adds: Boston T. Party's ranking (in Boston's Gun Bible) for Pennsylvania on firearms freedom is 61%.
