Considering living off the grid.

[Robson Valley]

I figure that the deal is to walk away from civilization for a week or two at a time.
Find some place not totally crapped up by light pollution (really freakin' dark) and take a long look at the Milky Way.
Realize that our solar system in a backwater arm of the galaxy and the orientation shows us no more that the outer rim.

You want to see something? Go to Australia, get out back. From there, you get to see the whole dang galaxy on edge.
I'll let you be the judge. I dang near fell over backwards, the first time I saw that.

 

[Janne]

That is exactly what I used to do when ( much) younger. Friday evening to Sunday afternoon the week after. Light pack, a fishing line, some packs of Wasa Rye and a couple of tins of corned beef.
Ground coffee of course.

I used to work 70+ hour weeks, and those trips kept me sane.

 

[santaman2000]

.....But we are a bit more expensive for extractions. From $150....

I recently had an extraction and he did indeed charge $150 to my credit card. It included Nitrous Oxide but I didn't take it. I'm gonna have to get that corrected. His basic charge for an extraction (with a local anesthetic) is around $70 but he's not an ordinary dentist; I was referred to an oral surgeon (him) for some reason ( actually because I was contemplating another implant) which means a slightly higher rate. The $35 -$50 fee I quoted varies dependent on where in the country you are. I'm between the coast (high cost area) and the Alabama state line (low cost area) so I get the midrange for this region (which is a lower cost region nationally)

 

[mrcharly]

You want to see something? Go to Australia, get out back. From there, you get to see the whole dang galaxy on edge.
I'll let you be the judge. I dang near fell over backwards, the first time I saw that.

It's one of the things I miss about Oz. I swear you can nearly read by starlight (not really, but it seems that way). You realise why it is called the Milky Way - more like a foggy cloud than a few stars.

 

[Tengu]

<Listens carefully.>

Looks like the OP has scooting in the face of all this Sage Advice from old coots who know nothing...

(As a disabled person I would like to be treated better, particularly by would be employers)

 

[boatman]

Have a look at what a friend of mine does and did while living off the grid. He contributes hugely and is talented.
http://www.acorneducation.com/homepage.html

 

[Klenchblaize]

It strikes me the Op is very poorly served by seeking encouragement or otherwise from this Forum when for a far more meaningful insight into the challenges of his desire for a “a simple life compared to going to work, paying the rent buying the food paying just general expenses week in and week out” he need only pop across the English Channel and ask a Syrian how it works.

K

 

[homesicksteve]

It strikes me the Op is very poorly served by seeking encouragement or otherwise from this Forum when for a far more meaningful insight into the challenges of his desire for a &#8220;a simple life compared to going to work, paying the rent buying the food paying just general expenses week in and week out&#8221; [/IMG]
K[/FONT][/COLOR]

'he's fleeing a war zone & seeking nothing more than a better life for his children ?
A noble cause.

 

[Joonsy]

Oh, is now about a good time to mention the campaigns for a universal income?

Universal Basic Income was trialled for five years in a place called Dauphin in Canada between 1974 and 1979, it was considered a great success and poverty was completely eliminated during those five years and what's more it was found it did not actually kill people's motivation to work, however the trial was ended when a conservative government got back in.

The vital key to the success of Universal Basic Income is that every single person is guaranteed to receive it regardless of their standing in life, no exceptions, and you still get the same UBI if you work. That way it eliminates the rich from demonizing the poor for receiving UBI. With the progress of automation continually replacing people for jobs one day we will end up with millions of people but no jobs for them. We can continue to demonize those in poverty or just accept there are not going to be enough jobs for everybody and do something positive about it. The present system is equivalent to the law of the jungle where only the strong survive, I think society can do better than relegating millions to poverty while a tiny minority's wealth grows ever larger. As for funding it, if the tax system was enforced properly it would work, however the great big hurdle to get over is that many people are inherently greedy and selfish.

 

[Janne]

It strikes me the Op is very poorly served by seeking encouragement or otherwise from this Forum when for a far more meaningful insight into the challenges of his desire for a &#8220;a simple life compared to going to work, paying the rent buying the food paying just general expenses week in and week out&#8221; he need only pop across the English Channel and ask a Syrian how it works.

K

Except those refugees live off what the countries give them. Food, money.
There is almost no possibilty these people can make any money, so to survive in a refugee camp you need to be given the means to survive.

My family spent 2 years in a refugee camp in Italy, between -68 and -70. Lived off the little money we had, the money we got for the car we fled in, then Italian and UN handouts.

Refugees have to be housed, fed and given pocket money, or shipped back to the country of origin where they can take up the previous life.

 

[Janne]

UBI is just a more pc way of giving out social wellfare checks. A different name. In reality we have UBI in our countries.
Everybody is guaranteed a "survival income" and a roof over the head.

 

[Janne]

I find it weird that the original poster has not bothered to put more than ONE post in.

 

[BillyBlade]

I find it weird that the original poster has not bothered to put more than ONE post in.

He's too busy watching Bear Grylls.

 

[dewi]

UBI is just a more pc way of giving out social wellfare checks. A different name. In reality we have UBI in our countries.
Everybody is guaranteed a "survival income" and a roof over the head.

That is not the case. The current system is a bureaucratic nightmare that sucks as much money in administration as it hands out, and the money it gives comes with endless preconditions that limits the way people can work/live. In short, the present system keeps people poor and demonises them as some form of underclass, despite the fact that many have been put in the situation they find themselves in by the very government that demonises them.

With a universal income, everyone is equal, there is minimal administration and the money essentially flows back into the economy. That money is then taxed and it returns to sender. Unfortunately it opens a new door of contention which is population control.

As has been said above, when the driveless vehicle is perfected how many will be put out of work? With improvements in object recognition and motorised robots, how many will work in factories and distribution? Even the task of corporate law can be computerised now... so when all the jobs are gone, what do people do? When (not if) it happens, the corporate machine breaks down because even the large corporates can not survive if the minions have no money to spend on cake.

Who pays for healthcare, the roads and schools when nobody has a job? The present system is doomed to fail and any government that doesn't address it meaningfully is asking for trouble. The British government are looking down the right road, but as they always do, they're trying to build the new system on the cheap and it is false economy in the long run.

 

[mrcharly]

If the OP comes back, they might greatly enjoy looking up the Sea Gypses thread.

 

[Tengu]

I was going to bring up the Syrians (who `want` to work and to `pay` tax into our system!) but thought it too depressing.

mrcharlys suggestion is good.

 

[Janne]

Syrians? A very large percent of them are not Syrians.

Most want to work. Some want to live off benefits.
Of the Czechs that fled in -68 and moved to Sweden, the vast majority worked, and only a handful went on the welfare. (Please note that the Swedish wellfare was and is vastly superior to the British one.)
Same with these people. Most want to work and live in peace. Of course, not, if you read Daily Mail.

 

[Janne]

That is not the case. The current system is a bureaucratic nightmare that sucks as much money in administration as it hands out, and the money it gives comes with endless preconditions that limits the way people can work/live. In short, the present system keeps people poor and demonises them as some form of underclass, despite the fact that many have been put in the situation they find themselves in by the very government that demonises them.

With a universal income, everyone is equal, there is minimal administration and the money essentially flows back into the economy. That money is then taxed and it returns to sender. Unfortunately it opens a new door of contention which is population control.

As has been said above, when the driveless vehicle is perfected how many will be put out of work? With improvements in object recognition and motorised robots, how many will work in factories and distribution? Even the task of corporate law can be computerised now... so when all the jobs are gone, what do people do? When (not if) it happens, the corporate machine breaks down because even the large corporates can not survive if the minions have no money to spend on cake.

Who pays for healthcare, the roads and schools when nobody has a job? The present system is doomed to fail and any government that doesn't address it meaningfully is asking for trouble. The British government are looking down the right road, but as they always do, they're trying to build the new system on the cheap and it is false economy in the long run.

Interesting ideas. I recall the same fear for computerisation and robotisation about 30 years ago.
Did not happen, will not happen.
What is worse is the movement of jobs to low wage countries . That is a real problem today.

You write that this new system is easier to admin. Do you really think the byreaucrats will fire themselves only they are not needed?
I do not think so. They will just create new tasks to keep their jobs.

Take DVLA. Have they scaled down since computerisation?

 

[Klenchblaize]

... so when all the jobs are gone, what do people do?

Although this takes the thread even further off topic and approaching the no-go world of politics, I would just like to observe the above statement is nearly word-for-word the question I’ve often posed since leaving school in 1974 but have never received a sensible reply or one that suggested the person/s being confronted had ever considered the possibility! Given all of these people have been highly intelligent I can only conclude it is something they simply refuse to confront. The same people demonstrate equal incredulity when I observe that society cannot be as clever as it considers itself or we would have long ago contrived a system whereby we engage in gainful employment for two days and rest/play for the remaining five.

On this last point I cannot help wonder if the 5-day working week is wholly responsible for the Op’s disenchantment and attendant trauma as brought about by the thought of spending circa 75% of his/her life in toil.

K

 

[santaman2000]

Interesting ideas. I recall the same fear for computerisation and robotisation about 30 years ago.
Did not happen, will not happen......

Robotics did, and does, eliminate jobs, but new jobs were created in the very field of robotics and programming. Not sure if that will be the case with AI though; when the machines can diagnose and repair themselves even those jobs will disappear. (even without the sci-fi fears of machine takeovers)