What is the appeal of homesteading??

[Julia1996]

Hi everyone.  My dad likes shows like homestead rescue, life below zero and the last alaskans. I've watched this with him a few times. I just don't understand how anyone could prefer a primitive environment to the comfort and safety of modern life. Some of these people had very well paying jobs and nice homes and just gave it all up to live like people in the 1800s. That's totally insane! These people live in home made " cabins". They have no electric, no plumbing, no cell service , and no WiFi. The use the bathroom OUTSIDE in these wooden portapoties they built themselves. That's nasty! No plumbing means they can't bathe regularly. EEwwwwwwwwwwww! !

They have to grow their own vegetables. They have to hunt if they want meat. They kill animals and then slaughter them and eat them! OMG! That's so dangerous! I can't even imagine what kind of germs and diseases some wild animal might have. Meat should only be eaten from processing centers that are sanitary and the animals don't have diseases. Then these people run the risk of being snatched up and eaten by a bear or other wild animals every time they step outside their cabin.These people say they are glad to be free from the modern rat race. They spend all thier time chopping wood so they don't freeze to death in the winter, picking their vegetables and putting them in bottles and hunting and fishing so they don't starve to death in the winter.

How is that freedom? I mean if you get hurt or sick you're boned because there are no hospitals or medical care out in BFegypt. The have no cable, WiFi or cell service. The world could be ending and they wouldn't know it. And some of these people take their young children with them. I'm sorry but that's criminal. They can't even go to school, they do home schooling with their parents. If you want to move to the middle of know where and live like hill people that's your choice. But don't drag children into that kind of sad, miserable life, it's messed up.

[Kylo]

It's freedom because you don't have the government breathing down your neck - at least in theory. People should have the choice. Most people are not in a position to have the choice - they have to exchange their time and labour for money just to exist within the system and the system increasingly makes it difficult for people afford their own land and their own home and feel like they actually achieved anything. 

I don't see the problem if someone doesn't want to watch TV or use the web. If they want to live the hardcore life, more power to them - at least they have the option in some parts of the world. Why does no plumbing mean a person can't bathe? There's water or they'd be dead, and they can wash in it.

What's wrong with growing your own vegetables? Have you ever thought about what you'd be dealing with if tomorrow there was some incident somewhere that meant the supermarkets were empty? Could happen. Does happen in some part of the world where stability isn't guaranteed. You'd be without food and those people wouldn't. They'd be self-sufficient. Also, slaughterhouses ain't too sanitary. You can kill your own food and cook it just fine to get rid of the diseases in it. Farmed animals are just as likely if not more so to harbor nasty disease. Remember where the swine flu and the bird flu and the foot and mouth disease and the BSE comes from? Yep. Farmed animals. Farmed meat isn't automatically disease-free just because it's got a few regulations slapped on it by the government.

If you choose to live your life that way then yeah it's freedom. If I wanted to live in the wilderness and eke out a living that way, it's not freedom to force me to work a 9-5 to pay for a house that I don't own, which is what most people are doing. It would be freedom for me to go and do that because it would be what I wanted to do.

As for the kids - plenty of "non-Amish" kids get homeschooled and there's nothing wrong with doing that. In fact, having looked at some of the things the government here is thinking of teaching children I think some conscientious parents could do a much better job at raising people to be independent and decent.

If I wanted to go live in a log cabin and get my own food and not be on the grid I don't see it as being a miserable life. It would only be a miserable life if you were forced to do it against your will, or you were woefully incompetent at providing for yourself.

[KathyLauren]

There are different appeals.  Some people are "preppers", and want to be ready for the apocalypse, in whatever form that takes.  Others are neo-hippies or old hippies, and want to get "back to the land".  Others just want to practice a low-impact, low-tech, low-waste lifestyle for ethical / environmental reasons.

In all cases, the idea is self-sufficiency.  If you provide for all your own needs, then you do not need money, which means that you do not need a job.

There is a lot to be said for self-sufficiency, and I was drawn to the lifestyle (as an old hippie).  My wife wasn't that keen, so we still had electricity and most comforts.  But I can sure see the appeal.

[Devlyn]

I'll just look the other way and pretend it isn't a home schooled kid that wins the National Spelling Bee every. single. year. 

[davina61]

I wish I had a garden to grow veg , spots bumps and all as it tastes so much better and no chemicals

[Megan.]

I've always imagined retiring to a small isolated freeholding in somewhere remote,  but I'd certainly use every technology at my disposal to make life comfortable,  and would still want things like Internet access. A physical remoteness with a modern connectedness certainly appeals.

Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk

[Julia1996]

I'll just look the other way and pretend it isn't a home schooled kid that wins the National Spelling Bee every. single. year. 

When I said home schooled I wasn't implying that home schooling is in any way inferior to kids attending schools. That's totally not true. I meant that those kids didn't attend school which added to their isolation.

[BT04]

As someone who is actively planning on living this way in the next decade or so, the appeal is very real.

It's an escape from the rat race, from chaining yourself to some soulless corporate office in exchange for fiat currency with which to buy meaningless consumer garbage. It's an escape from nosy, judgmental neighbors who'll get nasty with you for not having a perfectly manicured lawn. It's an escape from having to rely so heavily on big box stores to supply you with the stuff you need to survive, and hope that they're not jerking your chain about where it comes from or how it was made or what's in it. It's an escape from the needless complexity of the overwrought-ness of modern "civilized" life.

For my husband and I, it's about resilience and responsibility. If we want meat, we'll have to take it upon ourselves to end the life of an animal to earn that meat. If we want vegetables, we'll have to learn what our land can and cannot give us, use our wits and our knowledge, and eat humbly. Our house will be small, and it will be simple.

I don't really want internet, but the husband does, so we'll have to figure that out. I've abandoned social media almost entirely, I no longer have a smartphone, and the difference in my quality of life from that alone is phenomenal. Who needs to keep in touch with people they never see? Get updates on distant relatives' kids that you'll never meet? Be inundated with pictures of new manicures or fancy cocktails or selfies with the same smile, taken from the same angle? Not me! I really don't care what you did last weekend. I don't care what new car you have, what great deal you got on X, Y, Z. I really don't.

As for the seeming comforts and safety of modern life, it's debatable. If you're really interested in the subject, I'd recommend a book called 'Why Things Bite Back'; it's all about innovations that were originally designed to improve peoples' quality of life and wound up making things worse - and these are things that we encounter every day. A philosopher and historian by the name of Paul Virilio said it pretty succinctly: "When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane, you also invent the plane crash; when you invent electricity, you also invent electrocution..."

But, YMMV. It's freedom if I'm allowed to live how I want to live. Being chained to a soul-destroying 9-5 so I can pay bills for things I don't even want (but are required by law for me to have) is not freedom. If I'm gonna be busting my butt to provide for myself, why not remove all the middlemen who want to take a cut? Or at least, as many as I can?

[Kylo]

Considering unless some severe upgrades are made to our means of generating energy, food and recycling waste soon, modern life is basically unsustainable with an ever increasing population on the planet, I think getting back to figuring out how to survive with only the basics will be... useful.

[BT04]

Considering unless some severe upgrades are made to our means of generating energy, food and recycling waste soon, modern life is basically unsustainable with an ever increasing population on the planet, I think getting back to figuring out how to survive with only the basics will be... useful.

Haha, yeah. I really tried side-stepping the collapsenik thing in my post (it doesn't go over well with most folk) so I'm glad you said it...

[Dena]

While most of the time I have lived in the city, there have been time my life is similar to what you describe. My father shot deer to fill the freezer. We had a garden which provide much of what we ate. The internet is relatively new. Medicine has greatly improved from when I was a child and you might want to look up sponge baths. I enjoy what I have but life isn't that difficult when you have less. There is a freedom not having to depend on others for what you need or what you want. Oh and by the way, you might be surprised by what you can learn from books and a good multi band radio.

[Lady Sarah]

I have lived off the grid, out in the sticks, for a few years. People there hated outsiders, and there was no way to prove I was worthwhile. After hearing a bullet fly past my left ear, it was time to get out. Keep in mind that I was pre-HRT at the time, and looked androgynous, and about 10 years younger than my actual age at the time.
I enjoyed the solitude, and the pure nature was even better. Seeing foxes, mountain lions, deer, and bears in their raw element was the bomb. Harvesting natural plants and small animals for food seemed like that was the way life was meant to be.
I only miss the good parts of that life. Building my own shelter and outhouse, was no big deal, and I lived comfortably. Porting water, and using oil lamps, was just fine with me too. At night, I could watch the stars, or read a good book.
I'd rather face down another bear, than deal with the people that lived around me tho.

[Cenna]

A note on the TV shows. They are soooo fake - source I went to high school with a kid who's family was on one of those shows in Alaska. He came to school every day and no he did not have bear for lunch. 
Watching them was amusing though because you knew when the town was juuuuusstt out of frame.

[Siobhan Amanda]

I like the idea, maybe not quite so extreme but if I had someone special with me then I'd consider it, not only would it be low impact and hard but it would be rewarding and more than slightly romantic.

[Zumbagirl]

I would do it but I would prefer a nice warm island in the south pacific. With just enough equipment like solar panels and some ham radio equipment it's possible to enjoy connectivity without any neighbors or hassles.

[2.B.Dana]

The last four years my wife and I operated a small heritage animal farm. While the experience was different in the end than what we expected, it is one of our greatest experiences together. You quickly realize that supermarkets are filled with nearly fake food.

Anyone wanting simple vegetables in an apartment etc should check out friendlyaquaponics.com . They provide free plans on how to grow many veggies indoors with simple supplies from a walmart etc.

[Colleen_definitely]

Growing vegetables and fruit really isn't that messy.  Depending on the climate it can be challenging. 
My girlfriend and I have a garden every year, we buy hogs from local farmers and butcher them with her uncle at his farm (the meat is so much better than that in the store), and are going to do a goat next.  Yes it's more work than going to the store, but the meat is superior, and it's WAY cheaper.

[Julia1996]

Growing vegetables and fruit really isn't that messy.  Depending on the climate it can be challenging. 
My girlfriend and I have a garden every year, we buy hogs from local farmers and butcher them with her uncle at his farm (the meat is so much better than that in the store), and are going to do a goat next.  Yes it's more work than going to the store, but the meat is superior, and it's WAY cheaper.

All I have to do is look at plants and they die. I wouldn't be able to grow anything to eat. OMG, killing and butchering animals, no,no,no! I would starve to death on a homestead. If I lived long enough. More likely some horrible animal would end up having me for dinner. I think those people are nuts. A bear can rip doors off of a car. If a bear is in the mood for homesteaders I totally doubt a wooden cabin is going to keep it out.

[Colleen_definitely]

If a bear wants in, it's going to get into just about anything short of a bunker built to survive a nuclear blast.

Butchering an animal is kind of like biology class with less formaldehyde smell and you don't throw it away when you're done.   

[Jin]

We lived that way when first married. There is a satisfaction to being responsible for you own welfare.
As far as safety, have you ever read the stats on shopping center kidnapping or multi-car pileups?
Or drive-by shootings and terror attacks?