I'm more partial to the lifestyles of the 1960's. When my grandparents built a bathroom on their farm, I considered that a huge improvement over the outhouse. There are several more modern conveniences that I embrace:
1) The automobile of the 60's with power steering and brakes. Sturdy, simple, and so easy to work on.
2) The light bulb...one of our greatest inventions unless one prefers the dark....which many do. LED bulbs may be the pinnacle of technology.
3) Propane/gas heat is so convenient. It is chilly in the morning for a few hours. Perfect time to fire up a little propane heater and place it in the area.
4) Chain saws are just fun, efficient, and oh so manly.
5) Televisions and home movies (now we are talking 80's technology).
6) Quality rifle scopes. I try to secure my own meat instead of hiring agents.
7) Refrigeration...is anyone doing without this? Seems pretty challenging.
8) Fork lift...perhaps there are similar ways to get things done with gears and chains. When I can get my '63 forklift started, I love it. Helps that I can work on the engine if need be.
9) Electricity. I make my own with solar panels. It would be challenging to have quality water for myself and the livestock without power. This is flat land so I can't put a cistern up on the hill and rely on pressure from gravity.
10) Cordless tools. This is my fetish.
Now for "modern conveniences" that I dislike:
1) The cell phone. These things are electronic leashes that are almost required for many business owners. You are simply expected to be available for all emergencies. "You didn't answer your phone so we hired someone else".....this is the threat that we live with 24/7. Our esteemed government has printed itself a license to track our lives, in the most minute detail, via our cell phone.
2) Electronics in modern auto's. A mouse can destroy your $40,000 car by chewing up a bunch of wiring. Yesterdays handyman has absolutely no chance when pitted against the electrical nightmares built into modern cars.
3) The delicate little snowflakes that are the product of the modern lifestyle. They disgust me for a dozen separate reasons.
4) Modern technology often ceases to work within months. Bring it in for repair? "This thing was built over a year ago, it can't be fixed. It is old." Products are generally getting cheaper and cheaper with each passing year. What used to be passed from generation to generation is now replaced every 5-10 years.
5) Rise of the government Thought Cop. They often work for a "private corporation" but their paycheck arrives from government funding. Their job is to gather as much data as possible on every citizen in the world. "Fighting terrorism" is the card that they play whenever questions are raised. Their numbers exceed a million and the aggregate costs are staggering. They spend a large amount of time irritating independent thinkers. They are new age bullies who passed the requirement of being literate. They stalk us 24/7 via an out of touch legislature and modern technology.
6) "Politically Correct".....the parent of the delicate little snowflake that needs campus "safe zones" for protection against politically incorrect words.
7) Guided missiles. Imagine hunting with guided missiles. What is the sport in that? Hundreds of innocents are killed for every real combatant. When the hunter is 13,000 miles away, will they question what they are doing?
8) Privacy is dead unless you take extraordinary measures....like living a 1880s lifestyle. Animals need privacy. Zoo animal longevity used to be measured in weeks or months. They never reproduced. Now that we have given them the privacy that they require, zoo animals are often doing very well. Privacy for humans? Only recently are we learning about the loss of all of our privacy. How easily, and how often, the cameras and microphones on our computers and laptops are turned on. How they obtain our most intimate pictures before they even appear on the web. How Microsoft and Skype and Facebook and Google and cell phones, along with the "internet of things "http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/09/internet-of-things-smart-home-devices-government-surveillance-james-clapper are used to haul in every scrap of data imaginable on absolutely everyone.
http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...-james-clapper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism "Terrorism" comes from the French word
terrorisme,
[4] and originally referred specifically to
state terrorism as practiced by the French government during the 1793–1794
Reign of Terror.
rant over...
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Flintnapping in Brandon
