How many "self sufficient" will end up on gov't roles?

Frogmammy,

There are "users" among homesteaders just as there among non-homesteaders. Virtue is not guaranteed by lifestyle. It would be unwise to generalize anything from a single example.

I'd be willing to bet, however, that the proportion of "welfare homesteaders" is far lower than "welfare urbanites or suburbanites".

The case you cite involves a person who is on welfare (in whatever form) only fifty percent of the year. Is the same common for urban welfare recipients? If it were, welfare costs would be reduced by fifty percent.

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Whether you believe you can or you believe you cannot – you are usually right.

This does not include flying or moving mountains unassisted or attempting to prove the existence of an “afterlife”.

There are plenty of folks who "move to the country" that are really nothing more than suburbanites on very large lots.

Homesteading is a lifestyle choice and it is generally antithetical to being dependent on the government.

Of course there can be unexpected hardship or even just plain really bad luck, but in general homesteading is antithetical to being dependent on the government.

.....Alan.

I doubt that anyone can accurately answer those questions. There will always be some who are successful..and others who are not successful.
I do believe that just knowing how to plant seeds..or raise chickens/pigs..is not going to guarantee anyone financial freedom. No way!
The key is not how much money a person makes..or doesn't make. Nor is the key related to how people "MANAGE" their money..because even the best managers may experience unforeseen circumstances.
How one 'spends' their money is much more important than how much one earns. Even the poorest of poor often times find a way to amass more financial wealth then some of the richest people are able to amass. Buying wisely..investing wisely..saving wisely..these things add up. Everybody needs a way to pay taxes..to pay medical expenses..to pay for basic necessities. If they cannot afford even the barest of necessities..they will eventually lose their homestead anyway..no matter how expert they might be in growing veggies. If they think they can live with no money..then they will eventually wind up on the government roles..paid for by taxpayers like you and me.

Yes..there are some folks right here in Homesteading Today who will eventually end up on the government welfare roles..or worse.

and while people are bashing the welfare recipients don't forget that it was THEIR dollar's as well as everyone elses that funded that program.. So don't even get started down that path.

You paid into it you should be able to use it without guilt.. end of story.

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

First..what is a "natural" death?

Second..Dying is not as easy as you might think. More often..people go through a whole lot of very painful and/or expensive suffering before they die a "natural" death. Take the case of a severe stroke..or of an accidental amputation (or gangrene..tentnas..frostbite)..or of some forms of cancer.
The body just has an uncanny way of staying alive..it most often doesn't just 'die' a natural death.

I've read and reread the entire thread..and have not seen anyone 'bash' welfare recipients. I guess you must be reading something else???????

Not always. My sister-in-law hasn't worked a day in her life yet. She has three kids from two different guys, and neither of them pays her child support. She has been attending college part time for 5 years now, mainly because she can take out extra on her student loans to pay for her vehicle, insurance, fun gadgets, rent ($7 a month), and whatnot. She lives in a condo where the government practically pays her for living there. She gets every kind of assistance you can imagine. Someday, I hope, she'll realize the deep pucky she's in and have to start working to dig herself out, but until then she and others like her are just a drain on the economy and the pockets of hard workers like us. With the hole she's dug, I doubt she will ever come out on top without major assistance from friends and family... but we're all sick to death of supporting her so I don't see that happening too soon. It's just too easy for her to stay in entitlement programs.

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Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Mark Twain

granted there are exceptions to every rule..

Q: I never said anyone was bashing..Just the undercurrent I hear in some of these post..

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

One that is not prolonged by invasive and expensive medical procedures or life support equipment. That is jnap31's definition others may differ

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

I don't know why but I keep hearing the theme song to Green Acres when people talk about urbanite farmers. Maybe you're too young to remember that goofy tv show with Arnold the pig.

I agree for those who have paid into it by working. But, then you do have the people who were raised from infancy on welfare, had half a dozen kids, that went straight out & got their own welfare check/stamps from the time they were old enough to leave home. I've seen it happen. Not everyone has put a single penny into the welfare program & it's their "living". The only taxes they've ever paid was to cash their welfare check & go into a store to spend it paying a few cents tax on what government money they've just spent. Even with welfare reform I still see people who have never worked a day in their lives still on the dole. Those are the people that disgraces the welfare system. This is where welfare recipients get's a bad name. Not the working person who has fell on hard times. In that case I think it's totally appropiate if they've worked, paid into it & for whatever reason they are no longer able to hold a job. The welfare system was designed to give people a hand not a handout. There's a difference. jmho

I totally agree.. But the general additude if you are on welfare is that you're a deadbeat.. To me that says something about our countrys "better than you" additude.. But then again I have socialist leanings.

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

I do consider those who make an art of living on the dole deadbeats. I have no respect whatsoever for someone living off the system that a working person gets turned down for when they need help when so many are getting it for free & not even trying. I do not in no way feel this way towards those who are deserving of government funds. You have two kinds of people. 1 those working hard to make a living 2 those who make a living out of never working. jmho

Here's an interesting thing. The area I live in has always been pretty much folks who grow much of their own food, live frugally, stock up, and have little debt. During the depression, this area was virtually untouched by the depression. People traded back and forth, took care of each other, and life changed very little during that time. I also know of many others rural communities that this was typical of. I think that says something for having the skills to be as self sufficient as possible and having a network of like-minded people.

I need also need to post this over at the frugal burden thread for MC to contemplate...LOL!

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"Challenges are what make life interesting -- overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

exactly karen.. If that could be implemented again then it would again work.. But we don't want to say that to loud..Someone will start screaming commune.. Which some think is "EVIL".. Just change the termonlogy and the stigma goes away.. Idiocy!!

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

My TSHTF plans include zero reliance on the govt. and any of it's handouts. My retirement plans (which I consider myself already in, 20 years before normal retirement) include no govt payments...

One of the thorns in my side right now IS the govt. The amount of money I pay the bloodsuckers (so that shiftless immoral good-for-nothing scumbagggs can live better than I do) each year would is more than it costs me to live... (does that make sense?)

If I get 'down' I have good will credits built up in my community, and know that someone will be available to stop by and help out with whatever needs doing...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

LOL are you mocking me! LOL

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

Sounds like yuo have a lot of wisdom

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

That is how it was when my grandpa grew up thru it in eastern KY, carter county as well.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

So nice to read your reply about dying Qwispea. My MIL trying to die naturally. However the amount of pain she has been in for several years has cost many thousands to diagnose and treat. She certainly can't be left screaming in agony and doesn't believe in ending her own life so she simply wants pain relief. In todays world the drs prescribe all kinds of expensive tests before prescribing anything. Luckily she has ins to help out or we tax payers would be helping her out. We may still have to as the way it is going she won't be able to do anything to care for herself soon and despite her wanting to die naturally and at home she may end up in a nursing home.
PQ