Posted on 10/22/2019 2:46:30 AM PDT by gattaca
A term coined in 1985 by an unnamed staffer of the Reagan administration was “Starve the Beast”. This referred to a fiscally conservative political strategy to cut government spending by paying less in taxes. So, in the original sense, “the Beast” was the government, and people were to starve said beast by spending less and using loopholes to pay less in taxes.
Now the Beast is a whole lot bigger. These days the Beast has a lot more tentacles than just the government.
The system now consists of the government and all aspects of corporatism. Big Agri, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Food, Big Banking, and Big Oil, to name a few. It seems that now it’s the Beast that’s doing the starving, as small businesses close because they can’t compete with WalMart, bigger chains are run out of existence by Amazon, the family farm is on its way out because it can’t compete with the huge, subsidized mega-farms, and people are going bankrupt because they can’t pay the outrageous medical bills…
These mega-corporations aren’t there to make our lives better or easier. They’re there to make as much money as possible and they’ll run you over if you get in their way.
(Please note that there are Amazon links in this article to show you the books I recommend. You may be able to find these books from local sellers.)
When I first wrote this article in 2013, Big Tech wasn’t quite as prevalent. I’ve added some recommendations from the comments over the years to expand this list.
Perhaps more of us need to starve the beast. Is it convenient to starve the beast and avoid doing business with mega-corporations or to work around funding endless wars that kill and maim our young people while enriching the Military-Industrial Complex?
No, but it’s time.
It’s time for another financial revolution – one where people group together and use the power of the pocketbook to starve all the arms of this Beast that would swallow us whole. If we vote with our dollars, eventually there will, of necessity, be a paradigm shift that returns us to simpler days, when families who were willing to work hard could make a living without selling their souls to the corporate monoliths.
Every penny you spend with small local businesses is a penny that the big box stores won’t have. Everything that you buy secondhand or barter for is an item on which you won’t pay sales tax. Disassociate yourself completely with “the system” that is making Western civilization broke, overweight and unhealthy.
Here are 55 ways to starve the Beast. Starve the Beast by taking as many of these steps as possible…
Grow your own food. Shop at local businesses with no corporate ties. Use natural remedies instead of pharmaceuticals whenever possible. Homeschool your children. If you can’t homeschool, at the very least, spend time undoing the indoctrination by giving them the tools to think critically. Walk or bike instead of driving when you can. When possible, get care from naturopaths and healers instead of doctors. Make paper logs from scraps for free heat if you have a wood-burning fireplace or stove. Boycott all processed foods. Shop at local farmer’s markets or buy directly from the farms themselves. Don’t buy from corporate stores: Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy, Home Depot. Instead, pay a few extra dollars and buy from local vendors. Give vouchers as gifts for an evening of babysitting, a homemade meal, walking the dog, doing a repair, or cleaning Join a CSA or farm co-op Ditch television (and all the propaganda and commercials). If you want to view programs, enroll in a streaming service without commercials like Netflix. Participate in the barter system – although remember that even if no money changes hands, the government would like for you to let them know so you can be duly taxed. Buy secondhand from yard sales, Craigslist, and thrift stores Sell your own unwanted goods by having a yard sale or putting an ad on Craigslist Repair things instead of replacing them Avoid fast-food restaurants and chain restaurants Dine at locally owned establishments if you eat out. Brew your own beer and wine. Cook from scratch to avoid all those Big Food chemicals and additives. Grow or gather medicinal herbs. Give homemade gifts. Attend free local activities: lectures, concerts, play days at the park, library events. Dumpster dive and pick up things from the curb. Play outside: hike, bike, picnic. Mend clothing. Invite someone over for dinner instead of meeting at a chain restaurant. Throw creative birthday parties at home for your kids instead of renting a venue. Travel to other countries and note how most are not filled with mega-corporations, and local businesses still thrive. Bring your coffee with you in a travel mug. Do all of your Christmas shopping with small local businesses and artisans. Reduce your electricity usage with candles, solar power, and non-tech entertainment. Drop the thermostat and put on a sweater. Bring your snacks and drinks in a cooler when you go on a road trip. Stay home – it’s way easier to avoid temptations that way. Shopping should not be a form of entertainment. Pack lunches for work and school. Make delicious homemade treats as a hostess gift. Close your bank account or at the very least, strictly limit your balance. Visit u-pick berry patches and orchards, then preserve your harvest for the winter. Use precious metals stored at home as your savings account. Raise backyard chickens for your own eggs. If you are a smoker, roll your own cigarettes – if possible go one step further and grow tobacco. Brew your own beer, wine, and liquor. Use solar power for lighting or cooking. Collect rainwater for use in the garden Learn to forage. Buy heavy, solid, handmade furniture instead of the flimsy imported stuff At the holidays, focus on activities and traditions instead of gifts. Make your own bath and body products using pure ingredients like coconut oil, essential oils, and herbal extracts Use alternative social media. Get an old-fashioned flip phone while you still can. Drive an older car without GPS tracking. Use a VPN like ExpressVPN to keep your location information masked on your electronic devices. Avoid adding surveillance technology such as Ring or Nest to your home. Will these activities save America from corporatism and government overreach? Maybe not, but at least you’ll be doing your small part to rebel. Like David fighting Goliath, we are small but we are mighty enemies.
How do you Starve the Beast? Do you make an effort to avoid doing business with massive corporations? Do you try to extricate yourself from government controls as often as possible? Please, add your suggestions below.
We make three trips to a market south of us in Lake City, Mi every year and spend a lot to support local farmers.
Defund NPR which is essentially the propaganda wing of the DNC.
Grow your own paragraph breaks.
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We haven't used the U.S. Post Office or bought stamps for about a decade.
If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would ... [be] the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible.
-- Henry David Thoreau
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LOL
Kill the media and Hollywood beast, STOP WATCHING THIER CRAP!
Actually, Amazon lists things for sale by small businesses. My son pointed at an Amazon truck the other day and said, “There is your future distributor!” I do plan to start a small internet business in the near future, and am considering marketing options.
Reminds of my young days. We had a corrupt college president. Students were doing everything they could to oust him - sit-ins, boycotts, protests, etc. But they’d pay their tuition every semester.
Sorry about that...
When possible, get care from naturopaths and healers instead of doctors.
No, thanks. I prefer to get my cancer treatments from actual trained medical professionals.
About the only time it would be non-harmful to go to an alternative to medicine “practitioner” would be if you have a minor ailment such as a cold or a minor injury. Those will heal on their own regardless of whether you seek quackery. Also, those alternative to medicine “practitioners” are only in it for the money, so don’t actually help you spend less. Many people spend a fortune on them.
Much better, thanks.
Don’t participate in Mercantile holidays, for example Christmas... just pray instead.
I have noticed at most naturalpaths and holistic types of “experts” are heavily weighted on the liberal side of the political Spectrum.
“Defund NPR which is essentially the propaganda wing of the DNC.”
My wife is listening to it right now. They really do lie about everything.
I support this ideology. We have enslaved ourselves with consumerism, addictions, and pure laziness in the name of comfort and status. We no longer understand the powerful difference between wants or needs. Wants are slavery, needs are control over and independence from the consumer machine.
Haven’t been to the movies since once in 2011 and once the year before. We do play the cable tv game as that’s entertainment where there isn’t much.
I go out of my way to avoid Amazon. That said, last time I ordered from a site that was NOT Amazon, it came in an Amazon box. Sorry, but when Walmart is about the only game in town, that’s where I shop. It’s also low $$$$.
For many reasons, I rarely eat out so make most meals from scratch. Used to have a garden but physically can’t anymore. When I can get a large amount of free produce, I will home can it. I limit grocery shopping to once every 4-6 weeks (yes, properly stored, fresh veggies will last a while), buy enough to stock up the pantry and freezer and shop sales. Example - bought a paper grocery bag of old bananas for $1 so ate the better ones, made dehydrated chips for snacks and the mushy ones were packaged into recipe portions for the freezer that will carry us with banana bread for a year.
We’re over Christmas gifts but, when we did, they were mainly homemade. Birthday parties were always at home with homemade cakes.
I hate shopping. As an activity, it’s boring. There is a difference between wants and needs. Clothes are homemade from fabric bought at the annual church yard sale. Haven’t bought new shoes in years and those were on sale from the now defunct Payless. The last “thing” I bought was a $10 spiral veg cutter to get away from high carb noodles. The cutter purchase was delayed a couple years because it sort of fell into the “want” category. Most “thing” purchases are delayed a year or two and if they’re still on the list after all that time, I might break down to make the purchase.
We used to use the local library until they decided to ban all patrons who live across the county line. Never mind the library is less than a mile from the county line. They lost this benefactor and volunteer so the joke’s on them. Now, I read online in my robe and have a hot cup of cheapo home brewed coffee at my side so none of my time wasted getting dressed and wasting gas. BTW, I never believed in those silly plastic bottles of water.
We drive old vehicles - knock on wood. We share one old flip phone. Alexa is banned from this house.
Most of the furniture is antique so if it’s held up over a hundred years for someone else, it’ll hold up for us. The only new is the living room couch and chairs and OF COURSE fell apart and had to be repaired first thing. I salvaged a dining table from the curb that I plan on refinishing. Ok, so I don’t need it but couldn’t see it getting tossed and maybe someone will want it once it’s pretty again.
As government control and political correctness infiltrated the private sector, I regard these as steps for the productive people to “lean back” (as opposed to the “lean in” BS they feed feminazis in business).
I’ve compared growing areas of this country to the TV show “Life After People” (where they show how nature reclaims areas after people leave). Widening patches of this country are dealing with “life after white men”; they are filled with relics of a greater past with unmaintained infrastructure, dead churches and civic groups, etc..
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