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I'm sorry, but you must have read a different story. There is no mention of being "independent." He only set out to "live without money" and with one exception,
by chipsy 17y ago
I'm sorry, but you must have read a different story. There is no mention of being "independent." He only set out to "live without money" and with one exception, did so.
His goal was never the off-grid cabin-in-the-woods situation. That much should have been apparent because he was interacting with his local community in many ways.
- ghshephard 17y agoBut almost _every single thing_ he had was a result of a vast, vast, vast chain of money. If all he was trying to do was exist without cash soiling his hands, then he could simply have engaged in a barter existence and done very well for himself. I hate being such a negative on this one, because, in general, I'm enthusiastic about people trying new things, and living differently - but I read that article _twice_ just to see if I could understand what the heck he was trying to accomplish - I just didn't get it.
- chipsy 17y ago> If all he was trying to do was exist without cash soiling his hands, then he could simply have engaged in a barter existence and done very well for himself. Well, yeah, that's what he did. That is the point. He forced himself to deeply - even intimately - engage with the markets for every good he used, on a level that is unattainable through the largely anonymous transactions made with money. Money only communicates price. Barter tells you about the other dependencies. Since his purpose was to learn about forms of waste in society, I think his strategy is quite good.
- ghshephard 17y agoWell, true if everyone was engaging in Barter - but that wasn't the case here. Ideally you find something that you are good at - Firewood, Jams, Honey, Art - make lots of it, and exchange that for the stuff you need, using other people as your proxies for cash.