121–130 of 233 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is the landscaping around single family homes like then? Or do you just have urban & rural without an in-between?
I'm the EU, most homes are terraced. There may be a back and front yard, but they will be tiny compared to a US home. Single family homes are both expensive and uncommon as land is generally more of a premium.
Wow, sounds large. But fitting dropped word for such a big generalization.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And today I am reminded that people in many places must get the state’s permission to build, repair, or improve their shelter, to grow food, to collect rainwater, to dig a well. On property they “own”. You’re literally asking the states permission to have the basic things needed for human survival- shelter, food, and water. While this makes sense to me for a business or an organisation, it strikes me as unconscionabl…
On property they own Ownership that is regulate and enforced by the state; if you own it according to the rules, you use it according to the rules. If you want to do something else, you can step outside the rules and best of luck to you.
This is why I cannot understand how the 'sovereign citizen' nonsense is at all appealing to anybody. If I'm my own boss and not morally subject to society's rules, how is it not fair game then for society to completely ignore my desires and needs? Like, ok, lets say our courts have no jurisdiction over you, but then it also follows that we can just shoot you dead where you stand and move on with our society. I get that it feels unfair to be born into rules you didn't agree to, but a second's reflection makes it obvious the other alternative is not at all a good one.
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The first week I came to live in Guatemala from the USA 3 brothers from a nearby village dies of asphyxiation at the bottom of a hand dug well which had a generator running too close up above. Don't risk it. Confined spaces are dangerous.
These wells are a few inches across. There's no risk of falling in.
This ignores the most difficult part...getting a permit
And today I am reminded that people in many places must get the state’s permission to build, repair, or improve their shelter, to grow food, to collect rainwater, to dig a well. On property they “own”. You’re literally asking the states permission to have the basic things needed for human survival- shelter, food, and water. While this makes sense to me for a business or an organisation, it strikes me as unconscionabl…
This ignores the most difficult part...getting a permit
The house I live in has a well. 400 feet deep (why? long story). The thing to be aware of is that there's a few different kinds of additives you might need for well water. The most usual is water softener. Ours isn't too hard, but what we do have is hydrogen sulphate from bacteria in the soil - it requires hydrogen peroxide to make the water smell neutral and palatable.
Why do you need any conditioning for irrigation water?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And today I am reminded that people in many places must get the state’s permission to build, repair, or improve their shelter, to grow food, to collect rainwater, to dig a well. On property they “own”. You’re literally asking the states permission to have the basic things needed for human survival- shelter, food, and water. While this makes sense to me for a business or an organisation, it strikes me as unconscionabl…
> it strikes me as unconscionable for a private individual to have to get permission from the state to survive. It would be nice to be free of the state. But how do we deal with the Tragedy of the Commons? How do we make hidden externalities visible & accurately priced? It seems like the population is too high in most places to be able to tolerate people doing their own thing, with their own property. Not sustainable…
This ignores the most difficult part...getting a permit
And today I am reminded that people in many places must get the state’s permission to build, repair, or improve their shelter, to grow food, to collect rainwater, to dig a well. On property they “own”. You’re literally asking the states permission to have the basic things needed for human survival- shelter, food, and water. While this makes sense to me for a business or an organisation, it strikes me as unconscionabl…
One book that covers the history of water projects in the US is Cadillac Desert [0]. We have this cultural myth that all we need is a little more water to make the desert bloom. And as a country, we've wasted trillions of dollars diverting rivers for agricultural use. Agricultural users of water pay almost nothing for their water while using enormous amounts of taxpayer funding to do so. Utah and Arizona have recently had droughts where water consumption by private citizens was limited.
There are several crops that use enormous amounts of water, the one receiving attention is alfalfa. 82% of Utah's water is consumed by agriculture. The UT governor owns a farm that grows alfalfa for export. Instead of cutting back on his own farm's water consumption, he's been on radio & TV telling Utahns to pray for rain. Arizona has had some recent news stories about Saudi companies growing alfalfa in AZ and exporting the hay to Saudi Arabia. Alfalfa consumes so much water that growing it in Saudi Arabia is illegal. Amusingly, `alfalfa` is an Arabic word. The issue with AZ & UT is that there is plenty of taxpayer subsidized water to grow alfalfa for export while simultaneously rationing residential water consumption.
0 - https://www.amazon.com/Cadillac-Desert-American-Disappearing...
My grandfather was a "well witcher" (Appalachian roots here). Many believe that's woo woo or some kind of super power. The man was incredibly intelligent and resourceful and he had a reputation for finding water every single time he dropped the drill into the ground. When I was a kid I used to go to sleep listening to stories of my dad and his dad driving around on a 2 ton truck with a 3 ton drill and how the brakes…