I've been chewing on a pretty hot take that a majority of the "normies" see what we see but they just choose different priorities. It's why you'll often hear them say "why do you get yourself down with all that stuff?" The point isn't that they disagree with observations, it's that they prioritize living well with how things are, rather than trying to resolve problems. This can be defensible if it truly is out of our hands, but my criticism would be that a lot more is within our power to fix than many people believe.
I don't have a pulse on people "inviting themselves" to other people's places, but at minimum I would find it rude without a pre-existing cooperative relationship.
I think you might be onto something there! For instance, I've discussed issues around privacy, the Snowden revelations, etc. with people in tech who take virtually no privacy precautions, and the answer is usually that they've heard about the issues but just don't care, value convenience above privacy, that kind of thing.
Fantastic observation. I live on land in northern Michigan, and while I am not fully off the grid, I could stick in a woodstove, and a handpump and probably make it on fish and game and a garden in a pinch, going to enjoy the techno toys while they last. Anyway point is, is it looks like I may get a couple of sets of visitors this summer as well as family that comes up, many people I think know our system is brittle and on edge, a dying empire even, perhaps.
Sounds like you have a good setup! My advice is to get the wood stove, pump, etc. figured out now while supply chains are good. After building a homestead from scratch it's incredible how much effort goes into sourcing certain parts, appliances, machines, etc., even during good times.
Sometimes stuff is out of stock for months, sometimes it comes broken and needs warranty repair or replacement. Almost all of it is shipped from thousands of miles away. The closest store to us who had a non-catalytic wood stove in stock and could install it were 3 hours away, and the stove itself is shipped from Canada. The system is very brittle, like you said. Works great while it does, and I agree, the fancy appliances and toys are nice :) I like to live in the modern world with all its conveniences, while being ready to revert to 19th century life if I have to.
I don't have many appliances, but I have a lot of laptops and cameras, and mics and musical instruments for making media, and a laser cut for my paper cuts I sell, so I can't really claim to be Uncle Ted, but I have heated with wood including harvesting and splitting by hand, so I can make it work if I have to. But for now I prefer propane, so I have time for creative projects, but also with a realizable plan B. Escaping the city and suburbs is the major step and I already have that done, I live in a county with many lakes, have had bears in my yard, and no traffic lights in the whole county. So I guess I have a half on the grid already occupied bugout shack. :-)
Great job escaping the city! We had been working on that for years and are so glad to finally be out here where there's almost no noise, except for the occasional neighbor hunting deer in the distance.
Firewood is a lot of work! This is my first winter being 100% on firewood and I'm learning that the hard way. Would be nice to have a propane backup I can turn on when I'm feeling lazy.
Yeah I was stuck heating a house trailer with green Oak I was splitting outside in blizzards when it was zero, so I vowed my next house would be propane. :-) It’s good exercise and I can if need to, but I don’t, so I won’t (at least not yet). Kind of like my electric submersible pump as well. Beats priming an old school pump, or pumping by hand, at least while I can. And if not, no biggie.
What are you bringing to the table? Would be the question. It should be a potluck dinner don't you think? It's not like they don't have time to prepare at least a little...
That's exactly right. Ideally you can have those conversations beforehand and make plans together. Perhaps have them over to help you plant a garden, and then they can come harvest and keep some of it later in the year. Then you're developing a relationship and skills together while things are good.
It's best to avoid finding out who someone "really" is when they're hungry.
its a long way to go, and the road might not be easy, but a beautiful life can be lived. Lotsa work! but there's good relaxation out there too. in the late 1980s I moved straight outta that picture from the lower east side of NYC where I had lived my first 23 years, to the mountains of far north coast California. my area was peopled by the back to the land movement of the late 1960s and early 70s, and it was going very very strong. so many beautiful homesteads. the region had gotten rather lucky in general to figure out how to make a little bit of extra money, or even more, from growing weed. its not brain surgery. anybody can do it anywhere. there's lots of very cheap land to be had and books like '5 Acres and Independence.' even 1 acre could keep someone busy for their entire lives. honestly I planted a total of like a million coniferous trees every year by the thousands and tens of thousands over the course of 35 winters in a row. luckily I also planted over 1000 fruit trees that survived and are big now, and there really are no words to describe the power and glory of that. people from my old housing project would think they had arrived in the original garden of eden. good luck out there!
That sounds beautiful! And wow, that's a lot of trees!
Yes, it's a ton of work, but very rewarding, and there's nothing quite like working the land and seeing the slow progress and change. We've planning on getting chickens and starting a garden this spring for the first time (on this property). I love watching "Chicken TV", hah.
I really like Normies, weirdly I find I crave their compagnie more often than not and find them a blast to discuss literature and history with. I love going to work, and also discussing mundane work related stuff with them.
I'm a school-teacher so walking around recess with fellow teachers and just discussing how to improve my teaching methods, writing techniques, good students, bad ones and even discussing my books with them really excites me.
It's definitely a good break from the doom and gloom. I haven't watched the news in months, and rely on people telling me about anything important enough to be worth discussing. One thing I like about my work is it's a nice, politics-free environment. There are definitely pros to that.
“I know I have active disdain for your mindset and that lifestyle primarily from the fear of you being correct, but if you are can you protect me while I suck up your resources?”
Fascinating post and a very astute observation. Have had the same conversations with my city/suburban friends for years. I have an extra house on a acre right on the river. It would take just a little work to be be a lovely place to live for a family. I have serious tentage, hunting camp size and durability that I’ve lived in pretty comfortably for extended periods in all kinds of weather - couple more families there. I have shelf stable food put up for a long time, enough for several years for a good handful of people (puts my Mormon neighbors to shame). I joke with my family that they will not starve on my watch (I have experience starvation and would not wish that on anyone), they may get sick and tired of beans but they aren’t gonna starve. I have enough guns to arm an infantry platoon and enough ammunition for, forever probably. Climate is mild here, long growing season, a network of neighbors that are already self sufficient, and we are far, far from any urban center. Wound up this way, not really as part of any deliberate plan but I have thought lately that it won’t be wasted. What I expect though is that even though Vesuvius has been smoking and blowing cinders for days, most people are going to carry on… until it’s just too late. I do agree that deep down, some understanding of what at this point is inevitable, exists almost at the subconscious level in just about everyone.
I've been chewing on a pretty hot take that a majority of the "normies" see what we see but they just choose different priorities. It's why you'll often hear them say "why do you get yourself down with all that stuff?" The point isn't that they disagree with observations, it's that they prioritize living well with how things are, rather than trying to resolve problems. This can be defensible if it truly is out of our hands, but my criticism would be that a lot more is within our power to fix than many people believe.
I don't have a pulse on people "inviting themselves" to other people's places, but at minimum I would find it rude without a pre-existing cooperative relationship.
I think you might be onto something there! For instance, I've discussed issues around privacy, the Snowden revelations, etc. with people in tech who take virtually no privacy precautions, and the answer is usually that they've heard about the issues but just don't care, value convenience above privacy, that kind of thing.
Fantastic observation. I live on land in northern Michigan, and while I am not fully off the grid, I could stick in a woodstove, and a handpump and probably make it on fish and game and a garden in a pinch, going to enjoy the techno toys while they last. Anyway point is, is it looks like I may get a couple of sets of visitors this summer as well as family that comes up, many people I think know our system is brittle and on edge, a dying empire even, perhaps.
Sounds like you have a good setup! My advice is to get the wood stove, pump, etc. figured out now while supply chains are good. After building a homestead from scratch it's incredible how much effort goes into sourcing certain parts, appliances, machines, etc., even during good times.
Sometimes stuff is out of stock for months, sometimes it comes broken and needs warranty repair or replacement. Almost all of it is shipped from thousands of miles away. The closest store to us who had a non-catalytic wood stove in stock and could install it were 3 hours away, and the stove itself is shipped from Canada. The system is very brittle, like you said. Works great while it does, and I agree, the fancy appliances and toys are nice :) I like to live in the modern world with all its conveniences, while being ready to revert to 19th century life if I have to.
I don't have many appliances, but I have a lot of laptops and cameras, and mics and musical instruments for making media, and a laser cut for my paper cuts I sell, so I can't really claim to be Uncle Ted, but I have heated with wood including harvesting and splitting by hand, so I can make it work if I have to. But for now I prefer propane, so I have time for creative projects, but also with a realizable plan B. Escaping the city and suburbs is the major step and I already have that done, I live in a county with many lakes, have had bears in my yard, and no traffic lights in the whole county. So I guess I have a half on the grid already occupied bugout shack. :-)
Great job escaping the city! We had been working on that for years and are so glad to finally be out here where there's almost no noise, except for the occasional neighbor hunting deer in the distance.
Firewood is a lot of work! This is my first winter being 100% on firewood and I'm learning that the hard way. Would be nice to have a propane backup I can turn on when I'm feeling lazy.
Yeah I was stuck heating a house trailer with green Oak I was splitting outside in blizzards when it was zero, so I vowed my next house would be propane. :-) It’s good exercise and I can if need to, but I don’t, so I won’t (at least not yet). Kind of like my electric submersible pump as well. Beats priming an old school pump, or pumping by hand, at least while I can. And if not, no biggie.
What are you bringing to the table? Would be the question. It should be a potluck dinner don't you think? It's not like they don't have time to prepare at least a little...
Great Stack!!
That's exactly right. Ideally you can have those conversations beforehand and make plans together. Perhaps have them over to help you plant a garden, and then they can come harvest and keep some of it later in the year. Then you're developing a relationship and skills together while things are good.
It's best to avoid finding out who someone "really" is when they're hungry.
And thanks!
its a long way to go, and the road might not be easy, but a beautiful life can be lived. Lotsa work! but there's good relaxation out there too. in the late 1980s I moved straight outta that picture from the lower east side of NYC where I had lived my first 23 years, to the mountains of far north coast California. my area was peopled by the back to the land movement of the late 1960s and early 70s, and it was going very very strong. so many beautiful homesteads. the region had gotten rather lucky in general to figure out how to make a little bit of extra money, or even more, from growing weed. its not brain surgery. anybody can do it anywhere. there's lots of very cheap land to be had and books like '5 Acres and Independence.' even 1 acre could keep someone busy for their entire lives. honestly I planted a total of like a million coniferous trees every year by the thousands and tens of thousands over the course of 35 winters in a row. luckily I also planted over 1000 fruit trees that survived and are big now, and there really are no words to describe the power and glory of that. people from my old housing project would think they had arrived in the original garden of eden. good luck out there!
That sounds beautiful! And wow, that's a lot of trees!
Yes, it's a ton of work, but very rewarding, and there's nothing quite like working the land and seeing the slow progress and change. We've planning on getting chickens and starting a garden this spring for the first time (on this property). I love watching "Chicken TV", hah.
yes but sometimes the volume is too high with that chicken station. I love my wood stove hippie tv tho right now.
I really like Normies, weirdly I find I crave their compagnie more often than not and find them a blast to discuss literature and history with. I love going to work, and also discussing mundane work related stuff with them.
I'm a school-teacher so walking around recess with fellow teachers and just discussing how to improve my teaching methods, writing techniques, good students, bad ones and even discussing my books with them really excites me.
It's definitely a good break from the doom and gloom. I haven't watched the news in months, and rely on people telling me about anything important enough to be worth discussing. One thing I like about my work is it's a nice, politics-free environment. There are definitely pros to that.
Agreed X) I’m trying to break free from the doom and gloom myself especially with my fantasy-literature I’m working on X)
It’s fucking annoying tbh.
“I know I have active disdain for your mindset and that lifestyle primarily from the fear of you being correct, but if you are can you protect me while I suck up your resources?”
“Whaaat? No!? We work at the same company tho!”
Fascinating post and a very astute observation. Have had the same conversations with my city/suburban friends for years. I have an extra house on a acre right on the river. It would take just a little work to be be a lovely place to live for a family. I have serious tentage, hunting camp size and durability that I’ve lived in pretty comfortably for extended periods in all kinds of weather - couple more families there. I have shelf stable food put up for a long time, enough for several years for a good handful of people (puts my Mormon neighbors to shame). I joke with my family that they will not starve on my watch (I have experience starvation and would not wish that on anyone), they may get sick and tired of beans but they aren’t gonna starve. I have enough guns to arm an infantry platoon and enough ammunition for, forever probably. Climate is mild here, long growing season, a network of neighbors that are already self sufficient, and we are far, far from any urban center. Wound up this way, not really as part of any deliberate plan but I have thought lately that it won’t be wasted. What I expect though is that even though Vesuvius has been smoking and blowing cinders for days, most people are going to carry on… until it’s just too late. I do agree that deep down, some understanding of what at this point is inevitable, exists almost at the subconscious level in just about everyone.
Yes, exactly that.
I guess we may find out, or not.
I hear it all the time. And also 'oh you are so lucky' as if luck has anything to do with it.
Here's my doomsday prep song
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gtsRhv0gj5Q&pp=ygUgRG9vbXNkYXkgcHJlcHBlciB0aHVtYm5haWwgZ3JlZW4%3D
only the undereducated think we’re not all in the same boat
good luck with your Oregon Trail adventure. Hope you’re educated enough to cure diphtheria and dysentery.