living large

LIVING LARGE


Let’s revisit the “Jim is always correct” theme that I immodestly drag out pretty much every other day. I had two loyal minions e-mail me with three very good article suggestions ( thank you very much, gentlemen- the rest of you suck ), to which I will reply in a few days. But for now I will address the nasty comments circulating which in effect state “wasting your life living for a future that may never happen”. I understand that the vast majority of my readers are always elbowing the crowd, trying to move in closer, reverently chanting my name and trying to touch the royal fabric of my tunic. Kind of like an Obammy visit to the ghetto. But a few of you might become prey to the propaganda of my enemies and actually fall for the deceitful lies. So I must write these articles for your own good. In a nutshell, what harm could here possibly be in living off grid, without debt, surrounded by buckets of wheat and tins of ammo?

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Why is it so desirable to live in a huge sheetrock and green wood McMansion with a SUV in the driveway? Granted, the living is soft and easy physically. But mentally you are in effect living in a velvet covered rat cage. To benefit from the electrical/water/sewer grid, you must live in very close proximity to your fellow man. Rats crowded into the cage. You want for nothing, the food pellets tumble down on command, the heating and cooling automated. No enemies are allowed in. It would seen to be the pinnacle of mans achievements. Soft and gooey marshmallow bodies, their every whim catered to with very little effort on their part. Can’t you see that you are now domesticated livestock? You are taken care of, but completely vulnerable. We aren’t just sheep because we follow the herd without thinking, we have also earned the title by trading independence for easy food and protection.

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Am I safe from those kind of vulnerabilities just because I cut the power cord? Of course not. At one level we are all interdependent. I think the most important difference is that you must stop relying on luxury. Try to enjoy it, if you can, but in small doses rather than just not being able to function without it. Commuting by car weakens not only muscle but resolve and resilience. But, this is not really the point. Practicing for doing without still counts as living for the Apocalypse. So how are you effected if nothing bad happens? You have become debt free, learned to live off a lot less, become semi-independent rather that totally reliant on others, improved your physical and mental health. These are bad things? So what if the collapse never happens! Just because we all value different things doesn’t mean any but the minority are content with a lifetime of debt for pretty, shiny bobbles. Not all of us want to live in isolation, but how many truly enjoy a crowded, dirty, noisy city? I think a city is a compromise, not a desire.

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Who likes being in debt? It is fine when you are twenty and your brain is warm and protected by being shoved up your butt, but as soon as the reality of being overextended hits ( I believe pushing student loans is akin to asking a retarded child to look after a book of matches and can of gasoline ) they start to wise up. For many, the nightmare never ends. Student loans are replaced or augmented by credit card marriage and thirty year mortgage and never ending car payments. You might think it is an acceptable trade off but I don’t think anyone really likes it. But all that can go away when you decide to simplify and go the junk land route. The trailer can be permanent or a temporary shelter as you build your own cabin. Nothing is free, my friends. If you want to get out of debt, you must get out of luxury and soft living. But it is easy enough to do, since you need resolve rather than resources.

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Learning to live on less means you need to devote less of your life to providing the basics. It also means that you have the flexibility to weather financial storms. Needing to pay a grand for a mortgage means you can only work at a salary of thirty or forty grand and no lower. If those jobs are shipped over to India, you are left screwing the pooch. If you are paying $100 a month on a lot payment, you can handle a 40% cut when you live on unemployment, or go from two to one income, or go part time, or whatever. Flexibility. Living in a trailer in a park, saving up for a cash payment on land, and a hurricane comes along ( assuming it doesn’t take the trailer ), you can hitch that bad boy up and get out of dodge. The homeowner is trapped and at the mercy of FEMA and Mother Nature ( and the insurance company- a moral, friendly and reliable bunch, I’m sure ). But, since we have pretty much adopted a money based caste system to determine our tribe affiliation in modern times, no one wants to be seen as living below their means. A shame.

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None of us will ever be truly independent. It is in our nature to be one with the herd and support one another. But there is semi-independence and then there is total dependence. Today, most of us are totally dependent. Semi-independence is desirable, and not just in a survival situation. It allows you the freedom to choose. It gives you options. You want to be creative rather than commercial? You can’t do that being hooked to life support on the grid. You want to just relax and enjoy life? Either you need grotesque amounts of money or you need to learn to live on almost none. And last, your well being. Soft and gooey will kill you faster, even if the lack of effort was desirable. A bit of adversity is good. Not enough to kill you from stress, but enough to strengthen your mental and meat muscles. You can’t build up immunity without taking in a bit of the germ first. So, relax. You simply won’t waste your life by living like the collapse is tomorrow. Not only do you sleep soundly, you build up a better way of living if nothing happens.

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