| �If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.� --Henry David Thoreau Preamble In the middle of my life, in the middle of the year 2003, I find myself moved by both passion and intellect to make changes that will seem, to many, wildly insane and totally without cause, but which are, in my mind, completely rational and absolutely necessary. I seek here to lay down these transformations and to outline the rationale behind them. In the near future I hope to live a generally self-sufficient existence on a rural piece of land. This may seem�at first glance�unrealistic, antisocial and odd, but I hope that this essay convinces readers that it is, in fact, none of these. Such a lifestyle is being pursued by thousands of people who, for various reasons, seek to distance themselves from the dominant culture of western civilization. The last similar wave, in the early 1970s, is generally referred to as �the back to the land movement,� while today it is commonly called �homesteading.� Addressing the Deeper Questions Before attempting to discuss the specifics of what homesteading involves, I will try to explain the line of thinking that leads me to conclude that making a simple home in the woods is something that I must do. What is important to me is not that readers accept each point that I put forward or every belief that I hold; rather, my goal here is to make it clear that I have considered these issues at some length and that I have followed a reasonably well-thought route to its natural conclusion. Most people, myself included, move through their lives without giving too much thought to many of the deeper questions that are raised in the course of a day, a year, and a lifetime. We are generally focused on providing for ourselves and our families, on some medium of entertainment and/or escapism (movies, sports, literature, celebrity gossip), and on generally surviving the �rat race� without being pushed over the edge by any of the myriad small annoyances that fill the modern world (traffic congestion, telemarketing, reality television, price inflation, car alarms that go off at 3 a.m., junk mail, the cost of a plumber, etc.). Beyond such time consuming, mind numbing and frustrating matters are issues that we rarely take time to think about, read up on, and discuss. Occasionally, such topics will capture the general public�s attention and that will lead to some heightened level of media coverage, (1) but that interest fades quickly, with people�s attention moving on to some scandal or celebrity trial. The issues that I refer to can be difficult to comprehend and overwhelming to consider. For example: the destruction that has been wrought upon the environment by human beings since the industrial revolution; the virtual eradication of the family farm by agribusiness corporations; schools that produce complacent workers rather than provide inspiration and a platform for critical thinking and creativity; the power of money in the political and governmental processes; the consolidation of media outlets by a handful of giant corporations; the careless use of the United States military by the country�s leaders; the frightening, and sometimes violent, ideology of religious fanatics of all denominations; the inequality of the distribution of wealth and resources throughout the world. These issues, and others like them, have a large and lasting effect on the world and all of the creatures who inhabit it, yet they seem too big, too complex, and too uncontrollable for each of us, as individuals, to deal with. In the meantime, those with the power to take on such problems�governments and corporations�refuse to do so. That is no surprise since, in most cases, those are the two entities that have either caused these situations to develop or profit wildly from their existence. In many cases, it�s both. The reaction of most people to this status quo is understandable. The world around us is constructed in a certain way and it often seems to make the most sense to learn how to navigate what is already there than to pull over and question any of it. First of all, such inquiry can be time consuming, and we all have more things to do than we have time for as it is. Secondly�and this is the obstacle that really gives pause to the notion of looking beyond the surface map�we aren�t quite sure what we�ll find out if we probe too deeply. Maybe, like good lawyers, we don�t want to ask questions to which we don�t already know the answers. Or is there more to it? Could it be that, in the deep recesses of our minds, we DO know the answers. Are we afraid that, if we ask the hard questions and the big questions and the complex questions, we will arrive at some truths that scare us more than we want to deal with? Are we concerned that, like Dorothy, we may pull back a curtain that reveals not an all-knowing and all-powerful wizard, but a mere mortal pushing buttons and pulling levers? If that is the case, then do we not suffer from excessive pride in our refusal to admit that have been wrong all this time; or excessive greed in our refusal to rethink the way that the world is, thereby protecting our comfort; or excessive sloth in our refusal to even bother? I have been unable to dismiss these issues. Instead, I have thought about them�some, in fact, a great deal. I have thought about these larger issues, and read about them, discussed them with others, and thought about them some more. I have been thinking about them throughout my life, searching for the truth, and I have reached some conclusions. I am certainly not the first person to arrive at any of these suppositions, but I accept them based on my reasoning, and�even when the conclusion that I reached spat in the face of what I was raised to believe, or what those around me believe, or what western civilization has always believed�I always came down on the side of the truth as I saw it. |
| The Homestead Manifesto By Jim Correale |