Posted on 08/03/2017 10:21:02 PM PDT by Lorianne
It’s always interesting reading when someone smug and sanctimonious writes a clueless diatribe about another group of people being smug and sanctimonious. So when I saw that an economist for Moody’s and Forbes had written an op-ed calling self-reliant homesteaders “delusional,” I knew I’d be in for some misinformed hilarity.
The article, entitled, “Dear Homesteaders, Self-Reliance Is a Delusion” was published a couple of days ago on the Forbes website. You’ll be forewarned that the article won’t be deep in the first paragraph, when the author presents his claim to knowledge about self-reliant living comes from the fact that he is “a big fan of shows about doomsday preppers, homesteaders, survivalists, generally people who live off the grid.”
And the well-informed opinion of this arbiter of self-reliance?
…there’s a central delusion in these shows that is never far from my mind when I’m watching these shows: off the grid people are not self-reliant, but instead are mooching off of the civil society, government, and safety net the rest of us contribute to…The people in these shows often describe a very romantic vision of the lives they have chosen the ethos underlying it. They describe themselves as fully self-reliant, and criticize the rest of society as being dependent and lacking in this self-reliance. It is morally superior, the story goes, to provide for yourself, take care of your own needs, and often, be prepared to survive if society collapses.
(Excerpt) Read more at theorganicprepper.ca ...
Ozimek seems to think self reliance means the same thing as homelessness.
And he thinks homesteading people don’t have families, churches, investments or savings to rely on, not to mention he forgets they pay taxes too...
Maybe he’s just jealous because he has no idea what he’d do if the power went out for three weeks.
Well in all fairness, they are creating a lot of CO2.
I like this guy.
The author, Adam Ozimek, did some in-depth research on the sybject:
Sitting in front of a TV watching staged “reality” shows.
“You didn’t build that” ALERT!
Prez for Prison BUMP!
He is part of the societal net. He is at the bottom of the food chain when his urban dream collapses and his getto neighbors get hungry. As he is well practiced at wagging his finger with a mouth full of sharp opinions I am sure he will be able to defend his boyfriend.
They contribute to it as well you nitwit.
There was this guy who was going to prove that he could live completely independently. One day he walked into a swamp completely naked. No clothes, knives, guns, cooking apparatuses, etc. Nothing.
He survived, and quite well indeed. He made his own clothes and shelter. Was able to fashion tools with which to fish and hunt. The whole survivalist nine yards.
The rub of this story, however, is that before he walked into the swamp naked he spent years reading up on how to survive in swamps, and took numerous trips to the swamp to hone his skills. Also, the swamp he walked into was not teeming with drug dealers, paramilitaries, etc.
So yes he was able to live off the land, but only because hundreds (or more likely millions) of people before him had developed the skills necessary to live off the land, and dozens had written books about it. Also, hundreds (or more like thousands) of people were responsible for this swamp being relatively free of dangerous humans. All he had to worry about were the critters.
So yes he is more independent than most and should get lots of kudos for surviving the swamp, and he most likely has a lower welfare-footprint than most ... as most survivalists do.
But neither he, nor anyone else, can claim to be truly and fully independent.
And who would want to be anyway?
Prepper Ping?!
Those who are "self" reliant doesn't mean that they do things ALONE.
The Amish are a great example. Someone's house or barn burns down, the Amish community gathers together to build another.
Self reliant people look to other self reliant people to learn from and to get AND GIVE a helping hand.
It's people like Ozimek who have absolutely nothing to offer anybody else.
When a neighbor has a problem, it's the self reliant person, with a shed or garage full of tools, that comes over to help.
Go to a church with self reliant people and it's these same people who help others in their church, putting a new roof on, or a door in, or wiring a faucet, or plumbing an outlet.
The last few years, I've gone out to Iowa with my buddy. We go in together with his cousin and the three of us buy three pigs (not little). Then we spend the day butchering them together. It's hard work, but satisfying. We enjoy each others company. And save A LOT over what pork would cost at a store.
Meh
A Canadian woman who tried farming in no Cal....a so called prepper....
She ought to try growing food in some place without good soil
Is that the guy that lived alone in Alaska?
Trailer of Dick Proenneke in Alaska:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss
The guy was amazing. I bought his video one year and gave 3 for Christmas gifts.
Even as "self" reliant as he was, he still needed his friend with the bush plane.
No man is an island.
For no particular reason?
Self reliant people don’t end up in a pig sty if someone doesn’t pick up their garbage for a month. Reliant homesteaders can exist without cities. Cities cannot exist without the produce, “stuff”, and financial subsidies - taxes - paid by these homesteaders.
Self-reliance isn’t an all-or-nothing gamble in anticipation of a Mad Max scenario. Many aspects of being self reliant are simple risk management - why have some important part of your life affected by labor strikes in Bangladesh?
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