Will The Economy Collapse If Everyone Starts Homesteading?

pancho · #81 01/07/12, 10:36 PM

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Originally Posted by fordy

.................I'd just make one small point.....Anyone owning their homestead can BE completely debt free , and , should they come upon hard times and NOT beable to pay the Local Tax Authorities , You will Lose your Property under most circumstances ! So , NO ONE truly Owns their property , You're just renting IT from the local Property tax Entity in your state . , fordy

It sure is a lot easier to make a tax payment rather than a land payment and a tax payment.
Not all taxes are high. In some areas it is possible to double homestead your home. In an area with low taxes it is possible not to have a tax bill.
In other areas the tax base is very low. It is much easier to make a one time a year payment of a couple hundred dollars than a monthly payment of several hundred dollars.

highlandsman · #82 01/27/12, 08:04 PM

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Originally Posted by plowjockey

Make no mistake about it.

If the U.S. economy truely "collapses" - when the Govt not only has no "money", it no longer even have the ability to print more - those who do not have, will take (by force if necessary), from those that do.

We will not become a nation of Homesteaders.

It will become Armegeddon, just like in the movies, only it's real.

It won't be a modern version of Grapes of Wrath.

I agree plowjockey and its not a question of if, its a question of when. They will come in drove to try and take form us. From everything that I have been reading its just around the corner.

wvstuck · #83 01/27/12, 08:48 PM

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Originally Posted by haypoint

If the price of Solar Panels goes down or the cost of electricity stays low, the rich guy still has his money.

And if the grid goes down and the financial markets collapse.... The homesteader still has lights... The rich man has nothing... Each side could make an argument and no one will ever change their mind.

I am homesteading, farming, back to the land, self reliant or many of the other flavors of the week. People who want it can have it. There are ways to become quite self reliant / sufficient... Some people will always be there to nay say the ones who are going at it.

I can live on much less than $600 a month, my land is mine, the equipment is mine, the seed is mine, the crops are mine and the crops and pasture feed the animals.

I still need a few things, sugar, salt and other bare basics, but we live like many other American Families, just without the tv and cell phones and without the new cars lining our big paved driveway.

I splurge and pay for Internet, but I'll make it without it too when the time comes. We are frugal Christian people who don't mind answering to the orders of the one true God... Not a bad life and not as filled with greed and desire. We're not Amish, but we serve God in the same way.

It's amazing how many people on a homesteading forum seem willing to crash the enjoyment of people who are taking a journey towards a more self reliant lifestyle...

I don't need you to agree or even care how well I'm doing with so little in my life... I wake up every morning facing the challenges of running a self reliant farm... I laugh when I see posts that say it can't be done... Because, brother... I'm doing it everyday and loving it.

I quit my 50k+ a year job just to live like a poor and happy man on my own ridge.

For anyone who wants to learn and do for themselves I say Go for it... and don't let anyone tell you what you can't do!

Sweet-Pea · #84 01/27/12, 10:56 PM

The homesteader still has lights, good point wvstuck. I liked your post, it made me feel good, much like that book... On Walden Pond. Nothing wrong with feeling good.

oz in SC V2.0 · #85 01/28/12, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvstuck

It's amazing how many people on a homesteading forum seem willing to crash the enjoyment of people who are taking a journey towards a more self reliant lifestyle...

Weird isn't it?

hippygirl · #86 01/28/12, 11:14 AM

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Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

Countries where the vast majority of the populace are "homesteaders" - in other words, attempt to seek out their own food, clothing and shelter - are called Third World countries.

Ah, but if all the big economies collapsed, what would they be called then?

As for whether our economy would collapse if a disproportionate number of folks stopped spending money like it's water, I believe certain sectors of it would, but not the economy as a whole. It would be a mess for a while until we "re-tooled", so to speak.

Coloneldad5 · #87 01/28/12, 12:23 PM

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Originally Posted by hippygirl

Ah, but if all the big economies collapsed, what would they be called then?

The big bang or a black hole?

willow_girl · #88 01/28/12, 12:41 PM

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Exactly! I wonder how many others, like me, have to work a job just to pay for their homesteading habit?

Oh boy, I can relate to that!

My husband likes to regale me with visions of how I could have a new car, go shopping at the mall, get my hair and nails done, etc., if I were to give up my farm.

Not to mention not having to work 10 hours a day!

Umm, no thanks!

Smolt · #89 01/29/12, 12:18 AM

Sometime in the next 100 years we will run out of almost free energy ( fossil fuels ), then there won't be a choice. If you look at the increase in the population of the earth from 2 billion to 7 billion it has all happened in the last 200 years because of almost free energy and the ability to use it. When it's gone all our great grand kids will be homesteaders.

CountryWannabe · #90 01/29/12, 11:24 AM

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Originally Posted by willow_girl

My husband likes to regale me with visions of how I could have a new car, go shopping at the mall, get my hair and nails done, etc., if I were to give up my farm.

I always say that if it weren't for my critters I would be driving a Lamborghini while dripping in mink and diamonds. Then I remember that it is too hot in OK for mink, so I go hug a goat.

Mary

GoldenCityMuse · #91 01/29/12, 04:31 PM

I think one of the keys is living under your means. If more folks did that, there would be a change in this consumer driven economy. It is certainly not sustainable, but whether it will continue past our lifetimes is good for a lot of conjecture.

RE solar panels, they don't just 'die' after 20 years, their output goes down, but they will continue working.

Sort of like autos, they don't 'wear out' and stop functioning after 3 or 5 or even 7 years. They may require additional repairs and maintenance, but it is still cheaper than a new car with new payments.

Ultimately, no one is self sufficient with out the benevolence of God & his provisions for us all.

unregistered168043 · #92 01/29/12, 04:38 PM

I think the current economy, the one built on spending borrowed money, is unsustainable and will collapse anyway. If everyone started homesteading it would hasten that collapse IMO since the whole current system is based on consumerism.

The bright side is that the new economy, centered around self reliant individuals, would be very steady and sustainable. It would lack the bubbles, the booms and busts, that make people very rich and very poor----but it would be sustainable over the long haul.

texican · #93 01/30/12, 03:10 PM

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Originally Posted by haypoint

If you believed that the Nearing’s were approaching self-sufficiency through their garden, then what you saw and read was false. If you thought that, without outside help, the Nearing’s were food independent, they failed to live up to that.
If you thought that someone could grow their own food and support themselves with books about their gardening methods, they were a great success.

The "Back to the Land" movement of the 1970s had many successes and many failures.

If part of your homesteading plan involves being energy independent with a wood cook stove, but if you buy a chainsaw to cut firewood and a truck to haul it, what do those things run on? Some folks got away from the electric company by using kerosene lamps. Simply trading one dependency for another.

Others wanted to cut their food costs and raise their own beef. Soon they were buying grain and hay from someone instead of going to the grocery store. Plus they had to buy a freezer to store it. Some bought haying equipment to do their own. But they didn't do it by selling vegetables at the farmers market.

You may grow all your vegetables, perhaps enough to sell. But are the receipts enough to pay for the inputs. Aren't you also dependent on fossil fuels to till the soil?

Each person can pick the area that they want to be independent/self-sufficient. But it is unrealistic to be totally independent in all aspects of homesteading.

Now you just need to stop it! Bursting so many 'bubbles' in one post!

I know quite a few folks who only look at 'one side' of the equation, thinking they're making a difference, or a profit, or a .......... (insert whatever here)... but they fail to see the other side of the equation, that either balances out or negates their equations.

I don't plan on being totally independent, until all the other options are gone... and then I'll be independent, without a lot of the pleasures of our current civilization. I like my diesel and gas powered tools... have the hand tools, and know how to 'use' them... however, I'm not foolish enough to think I can compete with a diesel powered engine. Hopefully, when 'oil' disappears, there'll be enough hungry folks runnin around willing to work like field slaves, in exchange for a bowl of thin soup each day!

bergere · #94 01/30/12, 04:20 PM

To the original question......
Nope, there are too many people that live in cities and have no interest in Homesteading. They like walking into stores and buying things in pretty packages.

Pony · #95 01/30/12, 04:53 PM

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Originally Posted by edcopp

The economy has already collapsed. The only thing that remains is the "Con Job" that says nothing is wrong.

I'm with you, Edcopp. We are just living in denial at this point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldencitymuse

Ultimately, no one is self sufficient with out the benevolence of God & his provisions for us all.

I agree with this. IMO, we are none of self-sufficient. We are God-dependent.