There used to be a time when if someone needed a new barn 20 men showed up and in a day there stood a barn. Later it was a guy with a 72 chevy pick-up that didn't run. Neighbors and friends came over with beer to help out. This has nothing to do with money nor a mechanical object.
This is about being a community, a brotherhood some would say. And a brotherhood does not have to include only those that participate. Of course some is required to a point, even if it is discontent. Maggot might be out on this one, but who knows what the future holds.
With 12,000 or some crazy number of "members" the brotherhood is comprised of the elite members. Probably less than 0.05%. You can't really ask to join as it requires action or sometimes lack of to gain respect.
Disclaimer - I have consumed enough whiskey to type, but maybe not enough to be coherent.
That shit still exists. I thank God all the time for blessing me with the folks in my very most inner circle. My father, some other old farts, all with some background somewhere in mil, leo, farming, and some random shit like machinists and pipe fitters and whatnot, and crazy fucks like myself that try to fill in all the missing parts..
My whole life, most of what I've known is people that care about one another enough to spill a little blood or lose some time out of their lives for them over stupid mundane shit without the slightest bitchy tone in their voice or labored breathing. The folks I've met in the wild, most of them don't have any idea that people exist that are like that.
The ones that enjoy it, I try to keep around forever. Name it, you've got it type shit. Just stay, adapt, figure out how to contribute, figure out when to yield to experience, enjoy your life, help others enjoy their lives just like they help you enjoy yours, and do the things people depend on you to do. I add about one person per year to the roster, and fail to add 2 or 3 more.
I've been around the net a time or two and have met some incredible people, and like a billion that didn't seem worthy. The hide is a pretty cool little section. I'm very glad to be in a position to help get some busted up geezer a log splitter. Why a log splitter? I don't even care why. I just know I can help make it happen. Maybe one day I'll get to learn how to build a bonfire Alabama style. Maybe not. I'm fine either way.
There's a bigger picture here that I still can't see, but it seems pretty badass anyway. It has something to do with merging the ideas in your post into something like what forums and facefuck and twatter and cell phones and all that kinda bullshit offer, but without the institutional treachery we've come to expect from these methods of communication. I'm starting to believe the blockchain may be the baddest ass technology we could have been given by anybody, but it does depend on the internet, and so I believe defending the internet is THE MOST CRUCIAL THING.
/rant
