More thoughts on going off the grid ( with some useful links )

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Another in the series about going off the grid.

Did Ann Barnhardt give me the idea for going off the grid?

Not exactly, but she appears to be at war with the culture, which seems to be where I am in a theoretical sort of way.  She went confrontational, I have decided to go another way, which is to find a solution that works.

She is too self destructive.  To protest this culture doesn't require one to destroy oneself.  What is that woman doing to herself?  She gives up a successful business in protest.  She says that she couldn't continue with it and keep her integrity.   Instead of being in a more powerful position ( not broke ) where she could do something useful, she has become a manual laborer.   Okay, maybe you can admire her for her principles and the willingness to uphold them.  Not to fault her for wanting to keep her integrity.  But is what she's doing a good way toward that end of promoting what she believes is right?  Couldn't she do better?  Perhaps she could have gone off the grid as that would keep her from having to pay much in taxes.  She could have sent a message to those money masters in DC.  They couldn't do much about it either, as it would be legal.

With her tax strike, she appears to be at war with the government.  This is a losing strategy.  A needlessly self destructive one that will accomplish nothing except her own destruction.  She may not care about that, but she should.
   
Barnhardt once said that people love their money too much, and she proved that for herself.  But you do need money, and she still needs it, and you do need a government.  You can't fight "city hall".  You have to make some compromises with it in order to live with it in peace.  Therefore, this idea of living off the land is a reasonable solution for someone like her, I would think.  It would accomplish what she said she wants to accomplish without ending up in jail or in a morgue because she decided that violence was the answer.

Clarification:  As far as I know, Barnhardt has not explicitly called for a violent revolution.

However, the $64K question for Barnhardt:  would she rather fight the system, or find a reasonable place within it?  One that wouldn't require big compromises.  Maybe a small one or two, though.  Perhaps the compromises would be too much for this woman.

Indeed, if enough people would do this, the government would have fewer funds and would have to shrink because the people forced it to shrink.  This is a way for the people to get control over their government.  Instead of having the government get in control of us, which is the track we are on right now.

In order to make this concept work NOW for my own self, I would need some cash flow.  I can buy some stuff and get things started, but I cannot live on my capital for all that long.  The property will need to get productive quickly if there's no cash flow.  A cash flow will enable the capital to last longer until the property is self-sustaining.

I was figuring on social security.  But that is more than 3 years away still.  Those 3 years can be used for preparations.  I could still buy the property and make payments on it until I'm ready to move in.

Some extra links ( as if I needed more.  This concept of living off the land can work---even in a near desert condition in West Texas. )  I've compiled these links and others to reassure myself that I could make it out there.  But that doesn't mean that it would be easy.

•   Love Your Home youtube channel has a lot of videos on how to grow stuff.
• Blueberries for Texas
•  A money crop for the farm?  Growing grapes in Texas.
•  How to eat cactus: Opuntia And Prickly Pears
• mesquite beans nutritional value and other useful info  ( this link has a lot of info! ) also: food facts
• The Ubiquitous Mesquite, more about the mesquite, the wonder tree
• Mesquite beans for sale
• rock salt for salting game for storage
• javelina as a game animal
• javelina clays in west texas ( may be useful for making adobe bricks )
• adobe bricks may be possible with the dirt that is available on the land
• practical primitive:  a valuable resource

It has occurred to me that there will have to be some digging.  That would be for a septic tank and possible shade from the hot sun.  Here's some info on what to expect when you start digging--- soils in west texas.

You need a water source.  I have already figured a way to solve that problem.  Collect rainwater.

There is a problem with the hot sun this time of year.  The power requirements would be a killer.  Instead of a conex, maybe I could park an RV in a cool spot that I dug out of the ground?   Why a trench?  It would be cooler in the trench than out there in that relentless sun.   A conex is cheaper, but this is prefab.  Anyway, I found this site here that has used RV's on sale.  Here's one with a shower and a toilet.  What do you do with waste water?  You can "process" the black and gray waters by building the septic tank.  The RV will be home until I can build an adobe hut with all that dirt I would be digging up.  I can dig a septic tank while I'm digging the trench.

nice little trailer you got there

How to dig your little trench so as to park down there with your trailer?  Use a mini excavator.

Maybe I may need a bigger one.

The trench may flood in the rain.  Hmm.  That may be a toughie.  I've got to think about that one.  One possible solution would have the drain field for the septic tank in front of the entrance to the trench.  This would slow down the water as vegetation will grow in the drain fields.  In the case of needing to drive over the drain field, don't.  Drive around it.