Agreed. I read all of Nearings books and Mother Earth News back in the 70’s. It’s damn hard work and it’s usually only obtainable if you don’t have a real job, but you still need money.
I suppose the Nearings were paid for their books and articles thus giving them some real money ,unlike the average schmuck who tried to live in that style.
Some other publications seem to have a few prolific writers of how-to-survive-on-nothing but I just bet without the checks from writing they’d be looking for work.
Subsidence gardening and disinclination to have offspring is NOT a long term social survival mechanism.
I think people like the Nearing ought really to held up as example of social misfits who lead people to waste their lives.