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Good points you make. For myself, ‘shrugging’ consists in all of these kinds of expedients. Part of it was obligatory: I am too old to be really employable in the city but was able to find a relatively low-paying job out in the country which really amounted to the same thing as whatever I could have drummed up otherwise. The difference was a shorter commute and very lowbrow environment. I also have no provided health care and few benefits. You make do when you have to.

All of this amounts now to ‘getting off the grid’. It need not be total, but every bit that we manage improves the overall condition and prospects. But the difference is that in getting off the grid, I am specifically trying to avoid going Galt. I believe that is an expression of despair and I believe that is a very self-destructive sin.

"Good points you make. For myself, ‘shrugging’ consists in all of these kinds of expedients. Part of it was obligatory: I am too old to be really employable in the city but was able to find a relatively low-paying job out in the country which really amounted to the same thing as whatever I could have drummed up otherwise. The difference was a shorter commute and very lowbrow environment. I also have no provided health care and few benefits. You make do when you have to."

You said it better than I did, and I have followed the same path. I can build a house on income from digging ditches (work to begin again very soon, after this last ground freeze occurring right now). Most people would be shocked at what we can do on extremely less income than what they are receiving.

"All of this amounts now to ‘getting off the grid’. It need not be total, but every bit that we manage improves the overall condition and prospects. But the difference is that in getting off the grid, I am specifically trying to avoid going Galt. I believe that is an expression of despair and I believe that is a very self-destructive sin."

In my opinion, you're doing the right thing. ...hope you're getting out and getting physical exercise as much as possible. That's important for us aging folks, as others can use our help and examples.

I moved away from the City a few years ago and am literally going off of the grid (no power or phone lines for over a mile). We'll be in communication by other means (wireless, radio, cell, etc.). It's interesting, learning about and testing small power plant equipment (a little expensive--requires frugalities and patience) and alternative heating equipment (homemade and very low cost).

Agreed on "going Galt" being an "expression of despair." I hadn't thought of it that way. Being truly "objective," I'm deciding to reserve some "altruism" for those who are nearly apathetic and falling. We would do well to educate and help those who arrive around us from the dreamy world of the middle class, anyway, when they're ready to be neighborly.

While waiting in a local business office a few months ago, I met one of the newcomers and introduced myself. ...asked him what he had done for a living before coming here. He hesitated, seemed a little frightened, then he said that he had been a tax lawyer. I smiled and welcomed him. ...told him that others will be coming.

As they come here and settle in, they become more in-touch with more of what's really going on. Some of them are even getting together with us, little by little, on our firing ranges, ideas for greenhouse gardening and the like. We "Neanderthals" are truly "diverse" in behaviors, dress, and some of us, in language, but we're not so scary after all. ;-)

Ruralization is a good thing, IMO. Over 100 years ago, there were over 60,000 people on our mountain formation. Now there are probably less than a couple thousand, but people are starting to move here and build again (mostly the thinking, concerned kind).

As for what some have called, "first settler syndrome," I own a certain number of acres and don't tell others what to do with theirs. Let them build.

I shrugged in 2006, and found the despair disappeared when I got out of the Fortune 500's and began running my own stupid little business.

No tie. No commute. No enriching management parasites. No permission needed to buy materials. No one else to blame, no excuses, no credit stolen, no "reviews", no meetings, no pointless airline flights.

Less money, less spare time, more hours worked, much more fulfillment and happiness.

I wish I had done it twenty years sooner. I had no idea how miserable I really was. Talking to others who did the same, "It was like an abusive marriage-You had no idea how bad it really was till it was over."

We’ve been in that scenario for over 30 years. In the past year, we have cut back even further on expenditures and while we still work and run our businesses, we do so at a lesser volume and a leaner environment, not all of which is voluntary.

Both of us seem to consistently find various other sources of income derived from using our tools and skills to make something/fix something/provide some service for others who are just like us. We all need cash for property taxes, fuel, energy. We provide our own health insurance. While not off grid, we have contingency heating, power, food and water sources that at least help reduce our dependencies.

But lowbrow is as lowbrow does, IMO. We read. We have friends with active minds. We do not feel culturally deprived.

We have tinkered with our toys to make them more affordable. The skills we have learned are now paying off in terms of working for others who want to continue their activities on less income.

I disagree that going Galt is a sin. But not all of us can do so and besides, we have no magic valley and no Ragnar to provide us with gold. We are just denying the rulers as much of their tribute as we can by producing less without becoming dependents.

Our quality of life is just fine. We will work as long as we can. The work itself keeps us fit and mentally agile. We have luxuries. We have our pride and our self-esteem. We are not isolated. We are more in control. Above all, we do not whine. It takes too much energy and is self-destructive.

If/when SHTF, then the rulers are going to suffer more than we are. I think it will happen and I think millions of us will then be in a position to pick up the pieces and rebuild the country in which we grew up.

Such an excellent thread !

You said...

...trying to avoid going Galt. I believe that is an expression of despair and I believe that is a very self-destructive sin.

This is one line that I do disagree with though. If we continue doing what we have been doing, knowing that it will ultimately lead to our own destruction, wouldn't that be a sin?

I believe that 'going Galt' is an act of taking responsibility. Shrugging is not any easier than working your regular job, indeed, it is probably more work but you benefit directly from your efforts and, as a bonus, you starve the beast.