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I gradually went freegan. Every dollar I do not spend is one less item pulled off the shelf, one less item restocked from the case, one fewer cases pulled off t

I gradually went freegan. Every dollar I do not spend is one less item pulled off the shelf, one less item restocked from the case, one fewer cases pulled off the pallet, one less pallet delivered from the warehouse, one less order placed to the factory... A little bit less diesel burned by all the trucks and ships delivering it... A little bit less of my biome stripped for the resources. I live somewhere with an over-abundance of items and food and shelter, so why not reduce my complicity to the processes I don't like, while also reducing the work required for my upkeep? (Freegan means avoiding the use of currency, instead relying on barter, gift economy, gifts from above, unsubscribing, etc.)

cinntaile 5y ago
What's freegan? Some sort of conscious consumption?
- forgotmypw17 5y ago
  Freegan means avoiding the use of currency. Living without the use of money, instead relying on barter, gift economy, and help from above. I still use money for domains and hosting, which works out to about 20-30 bucks per month, on average. I also sometimes travel by train or bus for my FOSS project, which gets paid for by people who support me. That's about it, I don't use money for shelter or food, with occasional minor exceptions, e.g. last month I bought a can of sweet carbonated beverage because I really really really wanted one... Combined with meditation, optimistic outlook, minimal desires, I feel so much better off than when I was working six-figure tech jobs, I don't even know how to quantify it.
  - cinntaile 5y ago
    Ok I get it. That wouldn't even be legal here, helping others and getting something in exchange would count as illicit work. How does it work for when you reach retirement age though or when you get ill, do you have a monetary fund you can tap into if needed? I guess you don't technically retire when you live like this but at some point you'll need outside help.
    - forgotmypw17 5y ago
      I don't have answers to your questions, because I'm not there yet, and I'm not following someone else's path. The short answer to your questions is: I don't know. I've found a system which works for me today, whereas the "default" did not work for me at all, and itself resulted in health issues. Sure, I had "support" for them, but I learned that modern medicine is often over-confident, and the best medicine for most ailments is still adequate sleep and rest and not getting hurt in the first place, which is difficult to come by when you're doing the full-time-job thing. What I CAN tell you that I've seen many play the game by the rules and still lose, not getting the support they need when they're older, getting crap medical care after grinding themselves down for decades, and often ending up on the street when they're most vulnerable, because once the money runs out, so does the relationship with "the system". I am much more confident in the relationships I am forming today with actual humans and non-money organizations than I ever was in the corporations I worked for. Perhaps if I was better at paperwork and figuring out all the best ways to whittle down the taxes I pay and filing the 401k properly and investing in the right things it would bring me more comfort. But I detest and abhor that stuff, and I've never been competent at it. It was one of my primary motivators to quit initially. I spent five years working for a business which received close to 100K every year just for reselling my labor to another business, but if I approached them the next day and asked them for a spot to sleep in the office for a night, the best case scenario I can imagine is them laughing me out the door. Where is the safety and comfort in that? I find much more comfort in serving the Highest Power, the goodness which permeates the very fabric of our reality, the one who answers prayers. It's not a popular path in the compsci world, but I have found it to be very effective. We tend to think of past generations as idiots, but if you look at their writing, they're ALL SAYING ALMOST THE SAME THING: Consciously find the time and make the effort to be grateful for what you have; Think about what you've done and seek forgiveness for any wrongdoing; Ask and you shall receive; Do good and good will be done to you. If only the same people who spend hours figuring out how a computer works spent a few minutes figuring out the computer that they live inside of...
    - forgotmypw17 5y ago
      Where do you live where helping someone voluntarily is illegal? I do that much more than straight "tit for tat" bartering.

cinntaile 5y ago

What's freegan? Some sort of conscious consumption?

forgotmypw17 5y ago
Freegan means avoiding the use of currency. Living without the use of money, instead relying on barter, gift economy, and help from above. I still use money for domains and hosting, which works out to about 20-30 bucks per month, on average. I also sometimes travel by train or bus for my FOSS project, which gets paid for by people who support me. That's about it, I don't use money for shelter or food, with occasional minor exceptions, e.g. last month I bought a can of sweet carbonated beverage because I really really really wanted one... Combined with meditation, optimistic outlook, minimal desires, I feel so much better off than when I was working six-figure tech jobs, I don't even know how to quantify it.
- cinntaile 5y ago
  Ok I get it. That wouldn't even be legal here, helping others and getting something in exchange would count as illicit work. How does it work for when you reach retirement age though or when you get ill, do you have a monetary fund you can tap into if needed? I guess you don't technically retire when you live like this but at some point you'll need outside help.
  - forgotmypw17 5y ago
    I don't have answers to your questions, because I'm not there yet, and I'm not following someone else's path. The short answer to your questions is: I don't know. I've found a system which works for me today, whereas the "default" did not work for me at all, and itself resulted in health issues. Sure, I had "support" for them, but I learned that modern medicine is often over-confident, and the best medicine for most ailments is still adequate sleep and rest and not getting hurt in the first place, which is difficult to come by when you're doing the full-time-job thing. What I CAN tell you that I've seen many play the game by the rules and still lose, not getting the support they need when they're older, getting crap medical care after grinding themselves down for decades, and often ending up on the street when they're most vulnerable, because once the money runs out, so does the relationship with "the system". I am much more confident in the relationships I am forming today with actual humans and non-money organizations than I ever was in the corporations I worked for. Perhaps if I was better at paperwork and figuring out all the best ways to whittle down the taxes I pay and filing the 401k properly and investing in the right things it would bring me more comfort. But I detest and abhor that stuff, and I've never been competent at it. It was one of my primary motivators to quit initially. I spent five years working for a business which received close to 100K every year just for reselling my labor to another business, but if I approached them the next day and asked them for a spot to sleep in the office for a night, the best case scenario I can imagine is them laughing me out the door. Where is the safety and comfort in that? I find much more comfort in serving the Highest Power, the goodness which permeates the very fabric of our reality, the one who answers prayers. It's not a popular path in the compsci world, but I have found it to be very effective. We tend to think of past generations as idiots, but if you look at their writing, they're ALL SAYING ALMOST THE SAME THING: Consciously find the time and make the effort to be grateful for what you have; Think about what you've done and seek forgiveness for any wrongdoing; Ask and you shall receive; Do good and good will be done to you. If only the same people who spend hours figuring out how a computer works spent a few minutes figuring out the computer that they live inside of...
  - forgotmypw17 5y ago
    Where do you live where helping someone voluntarily is illegal? I do that much more than straight "tit for tat" bartering.