The future might be the past

I recently read a great blog post from over Texas way of a person I catch up with via this great medium. Their blog in called Off Grid Terlingua and their entry, much like most of mine, was posted from an idea that stemmed from someone's comments, or some one else's blog. Or just daily experiences and thoughts.

Rather than put my lengthy reply and thoughts down on his blog, I don't want my long winded replies to take over and be longer than the actual blog entry itself. Hahaha. I thought it would be better posted here so the small but dedicated audience I do have can have a read and see what I think. So here's my reply;

It's great that your daughter is thinking about such things. I was once down in the dumps after my bike accident and the economy here in Australia wasn't great. When I couldn't find work, I made excuses to move to another country. But my mother stopped me by saying "When you get there you'll still be you."

No matter where you go, you will end up the same. You must change for everything around you to change.

A great quote I have always lived by but only discovered who said it a couple of years ago is "Be the change you want to see in the world"

On the survival front, you just don't know do you? I'm not sure about the US, but here in Australia we have compulsory superannuation funds that we put a percentage of money into from our wages and salary which basically goes towards our retirement fund. With the economy where it's at now, a lot of people lost their money and are about to retire with nothing.

Your barter idea is great. I love barter. I often trade some IT support for some plumbing work. I recently got an entire new toilet system put in and the old one was there for 60 years, so it was stubborn to come out. The plumber that I used was one who uses me to make sure his PC's are running fine. We exchanged skills, and as much as I love it when there's no money involved, food is another thing. I grow my own chillies, tomatoes, lettuce. Next year I'm trying out corn. I'd love to head over to the farmers market I go to every Saturday and exchange my food for theirs.

You're right, it isn't intruding, it's banking. They'll eventually look out for you one day. But in a modern world, everyone seems to think that if you help you obviously want something in return. Even when you reassure them, they have this doubt. I know this because my friends tell me that when someone helps them, they are suspicious. I tell them to get over themselves, there are still people out there that help and do it for free.

Sorry for the really long reply. One question I have though, it what's the attitude for off-gridders? Are you guys considered hippies or something? Scum of the Earth because you don't have the same possessions as others? Or something like that?

I hope not, but I did live in the US for a while and one thing I didn't like was how people love to categorise you and put you in a basket because you're a certain way. We're all a certain way, we're all human. And this was one reason I came back to Australia. I grew tired of being eccentric, off tangent and being told that I'm something I'm not based on their assumptions only because of the way I look or the way I dress, or the way I talk, or the way I do things.

I guess the thing here is acceptance. Accepting that we're all different. Accepting that my IT services which mean nothing to me, are worth their weight in computer parts to the plumber. And his services are priceless to me (well, at least $400). But I have helped him out for nothing and he helped me out for nothing. It isn't the value of the product or service we compared, but the value of how it will make our life easier, you can't put a dollar figure on that.

Recently, I went to a concert, it was over 2 days and in a part of Sydney I like because it is populated with weirdos. Why is this a good thing? Because they don't discriminate. Anyway, across the road from the area where this 2 day music festival was held was a small food co-op. Now, I'm not sure how it works. I believe you pay a membership fee and come to get whatever food you need. You might need more, you might need less, but everyone pays the same, because we all need the food equally. The produce is brought in from local farmers, so there is the least amount of transport involved. And the entire place is run as a not-for-profit. I loved the concept. I loved that everyone was treated the same. I loved that it was 2 minutes away from our Sydney city where tall sky scrapers and offices where suit wearing humans make more money in a year than both my wife and I combined will ever see.

But what happens to them when something like what happened in the US effects us here? What happens if you just lost billions of dollars? I tell you what, the people like me living off some of my land, helping my neighbour get their mail or bring their garbage bins in will continue to live on like we always did. And the more off the grid you go, the less likely you are to be affected.

I once went camping to a spot I go to once a year. A small country town in the middle of New South Whales. The town has a population of about 12 people. They have their usual setup like most rural towns in Australia. A pub, a general store, a hot food shop that sells fish and chips, burgers, etc.

Once in the pub, we were all drinking and talking to the locals and there was a blackout due to a massive storm just over the mountains (The Great Dividing Ranges), one guy was so drunk he didn't even realise there was a black out and kept talking. When one other guy started to swear at the juke box because he just pumped $10 into it, picked his songs and when the black out was over and power was restored 10 seconds later, his songs were gone and so was his $10. One guy I was speaking to say that this was his first blackout he experienced in 10 years. I said "don't get much power shortages out this way?" he said "no, my house runs purely off solar and wind"

And that was my start of my passion for living off the grid. Not so much for the services going on you, the reliance on them. If we rely on them too much, you won't know what to do when they're gone. Then you will truly be living in the past.