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If your idea of living off the grid relies on the products of a complex industrial society, then what's the point? Just to create the illusion of total individu
by chrismealy 9y ago
If your idea of living off the grid relies on the products of a complex industrial society, then what's the point? Just to create the illusion of total individualism? If you want sustainability (and I do!) just be sustainable, and leave phoney hermit play out of it.
- davedx 9y agoNeedlessly harsh. This guy started his project way before current large scale energy storage was even being considered. He genuinely tried to do his best to minimise his footprint. It's so easy to read the story from the comfort of your chair and criticise, isn't it?
- hn_throwaway_99 9y agoJust commenting on the discourse - I actually agree with you that GP was needlessly harsh. That said, given that sentiment, your comment would have been a lot more effective if you left out your last sentence.
- colordrops 9y agoThe last sentence serves a purpose though. It urges the commenter to reflect on their own industriousness or lack thereof perhaps causing them to modify the standard by which they judge others.
- ImSkeptical 9y agoInsults tend to make the recipient defensive. If you want the commenter to rethink things, there's not much benefit in insults.
- colordrops 9y agoIt's hardly an insult though. You have to have at least the slightest thickness of skin to survive on the internet or to even just to practice self reflection.
- ImSkeptical 9y agoThere are two, not exclusive ideas here. First, when you are reading comments, you need a tough skin. I agree. Second, when writing comments, you can try not to be needlessly antagonistic. I hope you can agree with that.
- jodrellblank 9y agoIt's so easy to read the story from the comfort of your chair and criticise, isn't it? Yes, and often the validity of the criticism bears no relation at all to the comfort of the chair of the author. Weird, huh.
- trophycase 9y agoPrivacy, getting away from sensory bombardment of cities and things that constantly vie for your attention, sustainability, a feeling of purpose, an excuse to live a healthy lifestyle of hard work
- blazespin 9y agoI don't buy this, except for the very rare case .. the vast majority of people are social animals and enjoy the company of others to a certain degree, even if it means cracking open a laptop in a starbucks. And very very few really wants to do things the hard way for long periods of time. Living off the grid is very practical. There is land on the big island or in the desert where you can get really cheap. Imagine owning a house (quality depending on effort you put in) in a warm climate for 20K. It's actually possible.
- ethbro 9y ago> even if it means cracking open a laptop in a starbucks I would probably go with "Saying hi to the owner of the local general store" as a minimal amount of human contact. But then, I'd rather talk to shopkeeps than baristas even on a social day.
- ionised 9y agoYou said it yourself, the majority as in, not everybody
- rubatuga 9y agoThe author has probably romanticized the concept of a hermit, as literature and media have countlessly done in the past. Or possibly this is the author's way of being counterculture and edgy.
- gknapp 9y agoI would argue that this particular character was actually very receptive to the idea of still being part of society - he certainly doesn't come off as a individualistic idealogue. He set a goal of being totally self-sustained, and achieved some amount of it, while eventually recognizing that the cost of such an experiment was higher than he had initially thought. The whole article ends with him coming to terms with the fact that society is necessary in so many ways, and that we can perhaps achieve sustainability easier as a collective, than as an individual.
- missbit 9y agoWaa? Only way to live outside is naked with dreadlocks?
- blazespin 9y agoThe goal of living off the grid is not individualism, it's utilizing all that freaking cheap real estate..
- brianwawok 9y agoYou can buy 10 acres of land in randomtown Michigan for like $15,000. Power hookups included. The US has lots and lots of cheap land with utility hookups if you don't care about things like high paying jobs.
- ghaff 9y agoI expect your overall cost of living is going to be lower in a random Rust Belt town (or for that matter in a far flung suburb of Las Vegas) than in some middle-of-nowhere property unless you're really willing to give up a lot of modern conveniences.
- blazespin 9y agoMichigan! Blah! I'm thinking somewhere a bit warmer.
- ghaff 9y agoYou can get pretty cheap real estate relative to prime coastal locations while still having at least electrical hookups. Broadband, water, and septic are less widespread but still pretty available at reasonable prices compared to really prime locations.
- grogenaut 9y agoCan you name some locations?
- scotty79 9y agoWithout products of complex industrial you are pretty much this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lykov_family https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lykov_family I'm not sure if any self-sustaing fan would want that.
- ljf 9y agoGreat article with some photos, about the same family: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-40-years-this-russian-family-was-cut-off-from-all-human-contact-unaware-of-world-war-ii-7354256/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-40-years-this-russ...