Preface-1
Preface
About the cover of book 1 “The Preppers Lament”.
In the fall of 1845, the potato blight in Ireland began. By 1847, there was massive death and famine. The Irish were only permitted potatoes by the English authorities, and when the potatoes perished, so did they. As many as a quarter of the Irish population either starved or immigrated under the worst of circumstances. Many of those who left Ireland never arrived at their destination. Ships were known as “coffin ships.”
British colonial policies before and during the crisis exacerbated the effects of the potato blight, leading to mass death by starvation and disease. For example, in March of 1847, at the time of the Choctaw donation, 734,000 starving Irish people were forced to labor in public works projects in order to receive food. Little wonder that survivors referred to the year as “Black ’47.” What potatoes were harvested was shipped, by the English, outside of Ireland. There is certainly some question about whether these acts were intentionally genocidal, the same questions that apply to the US policy driving the Removal Act which led to the Trail of Tears.
Famine' (1997) was commissioned by Norma Smurfit and presented to the City of Dublin in 1997. The sculpture is a commemorative work dedicated to those Irish people forced to emigrate during the 19th century Irish Famine. The bronze sculptures were designed and crafted by Dublin sculptor Rowan Gillespie and are located on Custom House Quay in Dublin's Docklands.
The photo depicts the Famine Memorial in Dublin today near the docks. These pathetically thin people are portrayed walking towards the ships on the quay, their desperate escape to anyplace. The story of the man on the right, carrying the child, is that by the time he arrived where there was soup, he discovered that he was carrying a dead child.
I’m always amazed at the degree of cruelty humans can carry out upon other humans.
As an academically influenced prepper fiction author, I have studied in depth the sociological and psychological impacts of how disasters influence the populace. Many of the post apocalyptic books I write include a specific story line that the books' title refers or alludes to. I have decided to call this particular book “The Preppers Lament”. This reflects our community. A strong central underlying theme of the books' purpose and lessons to learn is to construct or deconstruct just what that titles' implication or meaning applies to the reader’s own perspectives about surviving a disaster, as well as life in general...
Just what is a lament one might ask? Well, according to Webster’s, we find the word to be defined as:
la·ment
Verb
1. to express sorrow, regret, or unhappiness about something
2. To express sorrow, mourning, or regret for, often demonstratively
Now being a country boy that sometimes forgets some of his education on exactly what a word means decided that if something is done “demonstratively”, it must therefore be important that it be well defined and so I looked this word up also.
. de·mon·stra·tive
adj.
1. Serving to manifest or prove.
Author Note.” We preppers hope we will not have to prove our skills or depend on our preps if a disaster should manifest itself but serve ourselves and others by preparing for a perceived likelihood of inevitability”.
2. Involving or characterized by demonstration.
Author Note.” Preppers are all about involving themselves with the community and learning from and demonstrating preparedness and survival skills.
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