151–160 of 493 posts
Something has to happen. I can't imagine anyone believes there will be CocaCola and McDonalds on Mars.
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>Come now, people also used to die from toothaches Last time I was in America (about 20 years ago) there was an item on the news about a child that had died because of an untreated dental problem.
If its on the news its because its interesting due to its novelty.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/07/americans-he...
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I have a very low material quantity of life, but my spiritual quality of life is pretty good even as I live homeless with a disability in a minivan in the United States. Americans are way too materialistic and there needs to be a reckoning of this if anything is going to change. Even people I meet that live in other minivans or RVs want to have every single creature comfort they had when they were living in a house.…
> I decided that in my van I would only carry what I need for the van or things I can easily put in the backpack and walk away with. Would you be willing to share the list of what you have?
For cooking I have MSR rocket and camping cookpot and a set of utensils.
Also a gym bag with a towel and my shower stuff.
Most of the things that take up space in my van or things that I need for the van, like shades for the window and tarps to keep the van cool when I’m in the desert. Also tools, of course. I also carry about 18 gallons of water with me so I can stay out in the desert for extended periods.
Basically, I have clothes, food and shelter so I’m OK. I just wish the shelter was not a van.
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>I am somewhat surprised that there aren't more cheap-living communes in the US. A few thousand dollars could probably pay the living expenses of a few dozen people – assuming they are all on-board with such a materially minimalist lifestyle. A monastery of nuns or monks is something like that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosed_religious_orders Even though the members live a minimal lifestyle of near-poverty, ma…
One thing everyone forgets is that the Amish people benefit from police and national defence, like everyone else. Their simple, peaceful life would not be possible if they comprised their own sovereign nation in a region surrounded by hostile actors. With no military of their own, they’d be annexed instantly. This means they aren’t truly independent. They’re dependent in a way they could never afford to pay for thems…
The monastic community of Mount Athos, Greece. It's free in the sense you don't pay anything, but you have to become an Orthodox monk, with whatever that entails
Actually there are many orthodox monasteries (including in the US) where you can live for free and are open to women too. You have work whatever they give you, and of course obey the (pretty strict) rules.
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Is it possible to make a system that sustains itself? Right now I've got a worm farm going that produces viable compost pretty often, but the Berkely Method would be faster. I have four chickens that produce yards and yards of compost every 3 months and require about a cup of corn a day. You'd need to scale the chicken operation to cover whatever your three month compost needs are and you'd need people to eat or use…
> Is it possible to make a system that sustains itself? Oh, definitely. We are doing it on a universal scale right now. If you meant smaller than that, then what are you restrictions?
You can burn your furniture to stay warm, and congratulate yourself on how well you're doing. But it doesn't take long to run out of furniture.
The fact that "long" here means less than a century or so doesn't alter that point. It just turns it into a generational problem rather than an immediate personal one.
in fact more and more people are being affected by climate damage, food shortages, and pollution with lasting effects. But apparently most of suburbia won't notice until it starts happening there too.
Looking back at the millennia of human history, we've always formed communities, always assumed more-or-less specialized roles, and always used some form of debt to manage the social fabric and facilitate the exchange of goods and services.
The loners, the hermits, the "self-sufficient" seem to be outliers, doomed for a hard, brief life. Personally, I'd much prefer to live in society, and contribute part of my efforts towards sustaining it. That, to me, is living "for free" -- it's so much more of a free ride than trying to manually hack it and provide sustained food and shelter for decades.
Took me a minute to recognize that “City bus in Alaska” is a reference to Christopher McCandless of “Into the Wild” fame. Honestly if I decided that I wanted to withdraw from society, I’d probably go to Alaska too. Not that I have any reason to believe I would fare much better than McCandless.
I hiked into the bus [1], and eventually spent 4 years living in the Yukon. I've ventured all over Yukon and Alaska, and met some very, very interesting people. There are absolutely people living in the middle of absolutely nowhere, doing as they please. Growing their own food, hunting their own meat. Summers have incredibly long days and an abundance of food, winters are cold, dark and long. Plenty of people work so…
OP's premise of "living for free" seems to mean "not pay taxes" and "use what resources are available". I wonder what the motivation is here, I've heard this sentiment expressed many times. It usually seems to imply "away from others". Looking back at the millennia of human history, we've always formed communities, always assumed more-or-less specialized roles, and always used some form of debt to manage the social f…
It's interesting how quality of life baselines have increased so much in the last century. If you wanted to have the QOL of someone that lived in the American West a hundred years ago, it could be done today for probably $100 a month all-inclusive of food, clothing, and shelter. But you'd be eating the same 5-10 things repeatedly, wearing the same clothes, have a few books for entertainment, minimal or no electronics…