When our ancestors gave up being hunter-gathers for farming, surviving became more of an individual thing, as opposed to a group effort. Different people in different lands worked out various schemes of how farming should be done, and it modified and changed through the ages.
As late as the early part of the 20th century, people in America (for one example) had figured out that if you had about 40 acres, 1 horse, 1 cow, some pigs and some chickens, and a large garden you could survive. You would have very little money, but you would never go hungry.
Anyone who thinks that he / she, alone, could "survive" by living off of the land, is, in my opinion self-delusional.
As I see it, only a small farm as I have described above will suffice to allow you to "survive."
"Bushcraft" is merely a set of skills that have accumulated through time. Some of those skills go back to when we were all hunter-gatherers, others to the time when we were, for the most part, farmers, some to the relatively short "mountain man," era. Still others such as having and using a gps to the era we live in now. I don't see a gps as being fundamentally different that an iron pot. They are both tools, period.
I'm reminded of the old joke that says:"Good health is best defined as dying at the slowest possible rate." What I mean by this is; all the bushcraft skills in the world, will not allow you to "live off the fat of the land." Turns out the land is actually rather emaciated. Yes, there is no doubt they will make your life easier, warmer, and more comfortable. They will slow down and forestall the inevitable. But, you are simply not going to have enough to eat.
Read the responses to AdiOO7 thread"Hypothetical Question - Living off the land." Particularly the post about how much food it takes to survive. Very enlightening.
I love all of these skills and would like to learn as many as is reasonably possible. I feel certain they could save my life in a short-term emergency situation, but not for the next 20 years. Pessimist? no. Realist? yes.
Consider all the recent armed conflicts around the world in recent history. It doesn't matter if you think of the Balkans or Sub-Saharan Africa, tens of thousands of refugees are created and They cannot and do not live off the land. They are herded into refugee camps and housed, clothed and fed by relief agencies, without which they would certainly die. Living off the land is not possible for almost all individuals. (yes there is the occasional Robinson Crusoe.) It becomes totally impossible when the numbers get large.
To get back to the original post, This is not pessimism, and it does not apply to bushcraft as such. What it does apply to is the idea of living off of the land in some idealistic and solitary hunter-gatherer style. You will not become a "noble savage," but rather a lonesome, cold, wet, miserable, hungry and soon to be sick individual. As far as bushcraft skills, most, it not all of them can be practiced today. Perhaps not all, in all areas, but most in most areas. Some may have little or no application to your day to day existence, but that doesn't mean they are not fun, and worthwhile.
- and have a very strange interpretation of events...
