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Well, I was sort of generalizing for sake of simplicity. Fort Yukon is mainly where he goes during the summer to be with people after he's been out in the bush the rest of the year, and to get some supplies. I guess that is also where he sells off what he has trapped. Kaktovik is kind of a craphole.... as are most arctic towns along the coast which are largely baron tundra wastelands. How people deal with living in places like Barrow, I'll never know.
I would not call it a "craphole". I have been to Kaktovik, and while it is not someplace I would care to live, every place has its own charm. It is certainly an improvement from the sod houses they use to have. They also have snow machines, ATVs, and firearms, and strongly support (79%) opening up ANWR for oil development. The Inupiat do not understand why lower-48ers want to deprive them of the same standard of living that lower-48ers already enjoy. They have a good point.
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Originally Posted by FreedomThroughAnarchism
Well "lots" of Alaskans live off the grid, and off-the-road. Though more to the point I guess it is sufficient to say that there are a lot more people who live like that than people in the lower-48 realize, as the attitude is almost universal in the lower-48 to assume that nobody lives like that anymore - except people do.
I can certainly agree with you there. Most just lump them in as "rural" Alaskans, which is not the case. I am a "rural" Alaskan because I live on the road system. Bush Alaskans not only live off the grid, they live off the road system completely. If they have an emergency of some sort, they have nobody to rely on but themselves. It is very risky living in the bush.
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Originally Posted by FreedomThroughAnarchism
Moreover, there are even some people who are "technically"connected to the road system, but as a matter of practicality, they are cut off from the road system for many months during winter because the roads don't get plowed in many rural areas... so these people have no access to any form of civilization for months on end (and they are probably too remote for even snow machine to be of much use).
We are not cut off for months at a time. About the longest I have been cut off outside of Wasilla is three days. I sold my snow machine, so I had to wait for my neighbors to pack the snow down enough with their snow machines in order for me to drive out in my 4x4.
Weather plays an important role, year round, in Alaska. You have to learn to be flexible, because the weather can turn suddenly and cut off any means of leaving for days at a time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreedomThroughAnarchism
Anyway, there are obviously different degrees of disconnectedness. It all depends on what kind of lifestyle one chooses to live. I chose Heimo as an example because he is arguably towards the far end of the off-the-grid spectrum in terms of he isn't simply just trying to be "off-grid" since lots of bush dwellers are. But rather, people like Heimo are in it for the "whole experience," for lack of a better way to put it. He's not a luddite, but he definitely goes pretty light on the amenities and frills, and his supplies that he gets from the outside are arguably somewhat minimal in comparison to a lot of other off-grid folks who load themselves up quite generously with supplies and other more creature comfort amenities.
I could not agree more. I am no "survivalist" by any stretch of the imagination. I do not own lots of firearms, or feel the need to dress up in camouflage, and I do not have a large cache of food stashed away. I love being outside in the wild all alone (except for my dogs), but I also enjoy other amenities such as indoor plumbing and central heating. At my age, it would be a real pain to have to chop up nine cords of wood just to heat my little cabin through the winter. It is much easier to simply adjust my thermostat and pay the natural gas bill each month.
The regions of this country that regularly contribute volunteers to the armed forces tend to come from the conservative regions of the country, not the west coast and the northeast, our liberal bastions. Liberals that can shoot are a distinct minority.
NEWS FLASH..... NEWS FLASH....
All liberals, this one in particular, do not hail from the West Coast or the Northeast.
The second news flash is that I have found that combat experience has a way of liberalize quite a few veterans that I know.
The third item on todays triad of news is that considering the percentage of Chicken Hawks, and Laptop Commandos who have permiated the ranks of conservatives from Ronnie Ray Gun, to Dick "Five Deferments" Cheney, your argument doesn't hold much water with me.
PS - There is some mighty fine elk, white tail and black bear hunting up here in the vast Northeast.
All liberals, this one in particular, do not hail from the West Coast or the Northeast.
Of course not yet those are the main areas of liberal thought. You are a product of that culture.
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The second news flash is that I have found that combat experience has a way of liberalize quite a few veterans that I know.
You can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a veteran. My personal experience is the military doesn't seem to "liberalize" many of them.
Quote:
The third item on todays triad of news is that considering the percentage of Chicken Hawks, and Laptop Commandos who have permiated the ranks of conservatives from Ronnie Ray Gun, to Dick "Five Deferments" Cheney, your argument doesn't hold much water with me.
I was in boot camp when they signed the peace accords with north vietnam. I didn't see combat but I have vivid memories of being in the mediterranean sea on an old rustbucket of an aircraft carrier surrounded by soviet missile cruisers while we took on and then armed and fueled aircraft destined for israel to replace their losses during the yom kippur war.
Does that make me; a chicken hawk or a laptop commando? In regards to how you feel about my argument, I don't care. I'm not here to convert you. I just feel it's important you understand there are other's out here with different values than you people possess.
Quote:
PS - There is some mighty fine elk, white tail and black bear hunting up here in the vast Northeast.
That's nice. I'd hunt them while you can. Many/most of your culture don't seem to approve of hunting. here's the website for peta. You should really get with the program or the other liberals will start making fun of you.
LOL the way you guys are discussing the issues seems like you read the book The Stand by Stephen King and think that most of the population will die from a disease and the rest will have to hash it out frontier style.
I would not call it a "craphole". I have been to Kaktovik, and while it is not someplace I would care to live, every place has its own charm. It is certainly an improvement from the sod houses they use to have. They also have snow machines, ATVs, and firearms, and strongly support (79%) opening up ANWR for oil development. The Inupiat do not understand why lower-48ers want to deprive them of the same standard of living that lower-48ers already enjoy. They have a good point.
I can certainly agree with you there. Most just lump them in as "rural" Alaskans, which is not the case. I am a "rural" Alaskan because I live on the road system. Bush Alaskans not only live off the grid, they live off the road system completely. If they have an emergency of some sort, they have nobody to rely on but themselves. It is very risky living in the bush.
We are not cut off for months at a time. About the longest I have been cut off outside of Wasilla is three days. I sold my snow machine, so I had to wait for my neighbors to pack the snow down enough with their snow machines in order for me to drive out in my 4x4.
Weather plays an important role, year round, in Alaska. You have to learn to be flexible, because the weather can turn suddenly and cut off any means of leaving for days at a time.
I could not agree more. I am no "survivalist" by any stretch of the imagination. I do not own lots of firearms, or feel the need to dress up in camouflage, and I do not have a large cache of food stashed away. I love being outside in the wild all alone (except for my dogs), but I also enjoy other amenities such as indoor plumbing and central heating. At my age, it would be a real pain to have to chop up nine cords of wood just to heat my little cabin through the winter. It is much easier to simply adjust my thermostat and pay the natural gas bill each month.
I love the saying "if you starve in Alaska you deserve to die"
it is so true. there is so much here to survive on it's ridiculous. though moose hunting this year is going to be pretty sparse :-( so the mister is going for caribou instead.
I love the saying "if you starve in Alaska you deserve to die"
it is so true. there is so much here to survive on it's ridiculous. though moose hunting this year is going to be pretty sparse :-( so the mister is going for caribou instead.
I love the saying "if you starve in Alaska you deserve to die"
it is so true. there is so much here to survive on it's ridiculous. though moose hunting this year is going to be pretty sparse :-( so the mister is going for caribou instead.
Someone should have told Chris McCandless that saying. Hollywood was also apparently ignorant of that Alaskan adage when they glorified his stupidity.
As far as moose and caribou are concerned, my best luck as always been in GMU 13. I do not really count shooting caribou as "hunting." More like giving the Park Rangers in Paxson a call to see when your meat will be arriving.
The fiddlehead ferns I picked fresh that spring near Talkeetna, and the potatoes came from a friend's garden in Palmer. The caribou came from the previous year.
You are a liberal. I can only assume you will defend your family with sticks and stones as we all know just how liberals feel about gun control.
There is a faulty assumption, I am a liberal and I am well armed.
YOU are a """Conservative""" so I ASSUME you won't last longer than your supply of Keystone
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