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I could do it, if I didn't have to pay property taxes every year after I bought the land.
That's one reason I whine so much about big government. They make it very hard to be self-sufficient. Of course, it's to their disadvantage if you are self-sufficient.
It would be nice if there were a bit friendlier political/economic climate for those who wish to do this sort of thing and 'live off the land.'
Depending on small-scale farming and mother nature for food, warmth and shelter is difficult, and I don't know why anyone would want to get back to that lifestyle unless they have been living away from it for so long that they forgot what it's like.
Why on earth would anyone want to get back to a system where we all had to grow our own food. So much land would have to be cleared to feed people that the forests would suffer, and the runoff from clearing the land would destroy the few clean waterways we still have left in America. We can't eat most forest trees or their fruits, but we do need trees to Clean the air, Purify groundwater and prevent erosion!
I think the idea is that if people want to produce their own food, that we harness technology to allow people to grow fruits and vegetables INDOORS in a compact space. Self-sufficiency does not work and I would argue has never worked to help human communities survive. If it weren't for the help of the government, many americans would not have been able to survive the depression for instance. IMO those guys did not survive because they could grow turnips or whatever, they survived because the government intervened on a massive scale to make sure the citizens had food, employment and shelter.
(ranting because I am peeved)
One of my neighbors burns firewood to heat his house. In a few years he will probably have chopped down half the trees in the woods around our houses so he can be "off the grid"! That doesn't make sense to me. How is that better than using natural gas? Something just seems to be wrong with clearing even more of American's forests. I don't even think we have any old-growth forests left in MD,but hey let's just chop down a tree that took 30 years to grow.
I think the idea is that if people want to produce their own food, that we harness technology to allow people to grow fruits and vegetables INDOORS in a compact space.
Some of us feel that 100% reliance on technology and 'the other guy' is not always a wise thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kinkytoes
If it weren't for the help of the government, many americans would not have been able to survive the depression for instance. IMO those guys did not survive because they could grow turnips or whatever, they survived because the government intervened on a massive scale to make sure the citizens had food, employment and shelter.
And where did the government get that food?
My grandparents survived the depression precisely because the could grow their own turnips (and whatever else they needed for food). The government was never part of their lives at the time.
Your post is argued from the perspective of a 'city-dweller.' I am, at this point a 'city-dweller' as well (hopefully not for long). But, I did spend part of my childhood and teen years in a rural setting. It was long enough to see the advantages that the lifestyle offers. I'd have to say that unless you've spent some time in that situation, it is very hard to see those advantages.
The concept of self-sufficiency is being dismantled starting in the early grades, and replaced with the concept of interdependency. It takes a village, they are taught. Self-determination and -sufficency is not good, dependence on others is.
that's true european settlers brought it over and it wiped out the native populations because they wear not immune to it
There are no credible descriptions of smallpox-like disease in the Americas before the westward exploration in the 15th century AD. In 1507 smallpox was introduced into the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and to the mainland in 1520, when Spanish settlers from Hispaniola arriving in Mexico brought smallpox with them. Smallpox devastated the native Amerindian population and was an important factor in the conquest of the Aztecs and the Incas by the Spaniards.Settlement of the east coast of North America in 1633 in Plymouth, Massachusetts was also accompanied by devastating outbreaks of smallpox among Native American populations, and subsequently among the native-born colonists. Smallpox was introduced into Australia in 1789 and again in 1829 and caused devastation among the aborigines, but quickly died out on both occasions.
per the OP
i think there were huge Aztec civilizations in Mexico, the ruins are still there, where are the people?
they planted the seeds, then went on their way. They may or may not pass this way again. ---If they do, they will not be impressed. we have made a mess of things. Greed has yet to be eradicated.
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