THE LUXURY OF TIME
Remember the saying, “Youth is wasted on the young”? By the time you have achieved wisdom, you no longer
have the stamina or the luxury of time. And
right now, our Empire is in old age. It
didn’t last very long, being dependent on a non-renewable resource worse in
longevity than any other in history. Not
that our leaders have achieved wisdom- the farthest thing away from wisdom
would be a compliment to whatever action taking place in DC could be termed. But it will crash must faster than most in
history ( for those thinking we have a gentle decline of two hundred years
ahead of us, try to think where our food is going to come from to feed our
billions who don’t have enough petroleum to farm industrially ). And it is going to take down most of us. We have achieved old age as far as preparing for
this, no longer having the luxury of time.
The time to prepare was when first warned in the Seventies. But let’s stop waxing philosophically and get
to the brass tacks. You more likely than
not can not follow the excellent and envious example set by Rawles and our very
own minor celebrity Idaho Homesteader.
They did not waste their youth wallowing in the luxuries of western
civilization but instead began the decades long process of investing in a
self-sufficient home. You WANT to do the
same, you know it is the smart move. But
can you?
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I for one don’t think so. I could be wrong. I look around and I see so many ways we are
already headed toward disaster and all I can say do is shake my head in
wonderment that we’ve kicked the can down the road this long. All the fundamentals that led to the 2008
crash are still in place, and not only that but the idiots doubled down on the
very same derivative silliness. The Ukrainian
situation isn’t the start of the end of the dollar hegemony, but rather the
end. The groundwork was laid long ago,
Eastern European conflicts are just what woke up a lot of folks. Frack Oil is wonderful for keeping the empire
chugging along but as already noted will peak no later than 2017, and that is
if there is no other drought like the one wiping out our once legendary food
production ( it won’t recover like it did from the Dust Bowl, the soil long go
infertile ). Look at me. I’m siting on a little slice of heaven right
now, prepper-wise. No encumbering relationship,
and no debt. I can piss away 70% of my
income right now if I want, and I have already doubled my savings. I could easily move to a more productive
piece of land, the only worries being finding an area that offered a minimum
wage job. But I won’t. I simply don’t think we have time before
really, really, much worse than ever before since the Yankee Whores invaded the
independent Southern States, bad things happen to us. Call me paranoid.
END
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I think your perfect hair covered mind has it a bit back asswards...If I understand properly,you live in the high desert where a tumbleweed can't grow.No water,sewer,power,other than your homemade stuff. So,would it not be better to move now,if you can find a min wage job,than to wait until shtf when there will be no jobs? I'd rather be unemployed with a garden and chickens,than eating gruel for the next year.While I commend your lifestyle and hair,living in a rabbit hole isn't my survival fantasy! And no,I do not own a black plastic POS rifle.A 12 g and a 10/22 is all I need!
ReplyDeleteDean
I have MANY issues with the farming thing. One being, the land I have now, crappy as it is, is paid for. If I moved to better land, there would be debt. Which would be okay, trading worthless greenbacks for future food, except I'd then lose the land to the banks.
DeleteI must admit, things are looking a lot more real right now. For me it's been a matter of focusing on projects that can be accomplished in the near term. Long term I might be popping a big batch of popcorn and looking for a good seat.
ReplyDeleteTimes are interesting, to say the least.
Yup, there's probably only 5000 of those black plastic guns in the townfolks hands, in Elko......
DeleteHi Paranoid (sorry couldn't resist).
ReplyDeleteWell, I am ever the optimist and barring some Black Swan event, I still think there is time to get a pretty decent set up.
Unfortunately, it takes the one thing that people don't have. If you answered money, you lose. The one thing you need is determination.
Most folks are so side tracked by all the fun bells and whistles of society, that they have no concept how to be single minded.
For example, I know a family (mom, dad, 5 kids) that have major money problems. They do have skills however. They hunt, butcher, and know how to garden and raise animals but they have no space in town.
However, they owe 2x what their house is worth, they are behind in their monthly mortgage ($1,100?!?!) and their utility bills. The mortgage is a govt program that adjust the interest based on your income so the more you make the more you pay in interest. In other words, you will NEVER be allowed to get ahead.
A 10 acre piece of property is available by me that has a cabin. Yeah, it needs some work. No power, no water, no phone. But it does have space for animals and a garden. Also, trees for lumber and firewood. And remember, we get a lot of rain so a dug out pond and cistern could supply your water needs. Plus, we would be their neighbors. (as in neighbors with a tractor, a sawmill and knowledge. Native guides so to speak)
The asking price is pretty good for this area $69,000 with an owner contract. Our friends could pay it off in under 5 years. Now this family just received a tax return of around $7,000 and the dad is making $50,000/year working in North Dakota.
Well, they used the tax money to get ALMOST caught up on their back house payments and other bills. Now they are back to being broke and can hardly afford groceries.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, they decided to pull their kids out of school last week and take them to an amusement park to the tune of $200-$250?!?!?! But they don't have any money. Riiiiiight?!?!
So instead of looking at their main problem -- their ship is sinking -- they decide to do a little bailing but other than that it's full steam ahead.
Idaho Homesteader
I paid $6k for my one acre, so in actuality that land is a far better deal than mine. BUT. Without a job in that area, it might as well be a million bucks. But I get what you are saying about that family, and not being willing to let go of on-grid living and having no long time frame, or determination. And I get you are an uncurable optimist. Or is that "in"curable. Anyway...
DeleteYou could get a job in the area. You just can't be picky. You could work at a gas station, cafe, odd jobs, etc. That's how most of the old timers make it. Pick huckleberries and sell them for $25 - $45 a gallon to make extra money.
DeleteMy husband drives school bus part time (and gets summers off). And we have 3 small businesses. Two are Very small and bring in less than $1,000 a year. The other one keeps us really busy for 2 months out of the year. So we work hard for 2 months and then part time for 10 months. Once our 3 kids leave home, we'll be able to scale back even more.
Most folks in the area are in the same boat so we trade, barter and help each other out.
Idaho Homesteader
Oh, I know all about Small Business. Average $150 a month-with that eaten up by expenses ( ok, mostly books ). Oh, I'm not weeping. Damn good for so few minions and a simple blog. Just not what will relocate you to Idaho. Tomorrow I'll write up how I could go farming tomorrow with no debt or job- if I had the courage.
DeleteThe finely coifed one is right The totally self sufficent homestead isnt going to happen for most of us in the time we have left.
ReplyDeleteThe numbers however, for the foundation of a MOSTLY self sufficent homestead that can be built in the time we have remaining might work.
Assume an annual take home pay of 40k for the family as a whole, and that money can substitute for time, if you live just above the poverty line of about 20k and 5k for the luxuries necessary to keep the family together in our society you should still be able to shake loose 15k per year. The rough numbers below are very rough and possibly optimistic.
5k for junk land
10k for utilities and excavations
that is your first year.
the second year you spend 15k on a mobile or trailer and garage.storage building to have on the land- and boom suddebly your 25k per year expenses falls to 15k in expenses freeing an additional 10k.
that is your second year.
Now you have 25k to work with, spend an extra 5k this year keeping everyone happy with the move (total of _10k_ for fun!)and then get yourself some usefull stuff- fences, excavators, put in a garden, a green house, a storm cellar, a root cellar, and a chicken coop or other lite livestock. A lot wont work out well this year but you can throw money at it to make it stick or find alternatives.
that garden/greenhouse/chickens should reduce your produce bills a little but the necessary harvesting and preserving tools will set you back this year - next you will get a bonus.
That was your third year.
Now you need to address the utilities and other deficencies and dependencies you still have on your land. There will be quite a few, maybe you couldnt afford to fence the whole parcel, maybe you need a berm and windbreak on a side, maybe you want to generate your own cooking methane, or put up solar or wind or a ham radio system. Maybe you have to spend some extra to keep the family happy. do it. And of course start filling that cellare and storm shelter with supplies - food, water, water filters, etc. Dont forget to enhance your security- thorny hedges, shallow ponds (for firing positions) lines of sight, harden the home, etc.
That is the fourth year- note that by this point there is few to no missing essentials. You wont have everything, but you will be much much better off than the people stuck with a mortgage.
I Recomend by the fourth year that you look at any and all health and dental issues (glasses, appendix, root cannals, etc, etc, etc,) in one year do EVERYTHING medical related you can, so that you can use that as the excuse for your bankruptcy- if your Dr's etc are local dont welch on the local bills only the big corporate ones, but stiff those guys best you can- since you will need to break their hold on you. IF you have the option homestead or trust the homestead and essential living assets.
The fifth year is where you look for packing away supplies for the really really long term. seeds, food, water, security etc not just for you but for your children and grand children.
If you are near a community that can pull through the crash you can now begin making certain that the community will and is ready for the worst. if the die off has to happen first you can at least plan for the remainder.
Dammit! Save those long winded ones for guest articles! :)
DeleteGreat post. This is exactly how someone can succeed -- have determination and a plan.
DeleteIdaho Homesteader
Sounds good. Especially the part where you have at least 5 years before the SHTF to put all of this together.
DeleteDoesn't matter if TSHTF hits the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th year. You start with the land so you are ready ahead of the great unwashed. You have a place to bug out to. Every year after that is just icing on the cake.
DeleteIdaho Homesteader