Over the last year, I have really started to notice a growing trend. At first, it was a news story here or there, usually talking about someplace far off. The news was disturbing, of course – people being forced to do this or that for violating some rule against what they could do on their land.
Then, I heard a story about a lady in Canada who had her sheep slaughtered by the authorities. They had to be killed to be tested for diseases. Let me repeat that: they had to be killed to be tested for diseases. None were found to be infected but all her livestock was dead. Her whole herd, wiped out. Zero compensation. In fact, she has thousands in legal fees to pay, plus all of her normal living expenses. Getting a flock of sheep back, same breed, is out of the question at this point (years later).
I wrote an article a while back about the illegal outdoor clothesline. People who live in HOAs (Home Owner Associations) know what I’m talking about. Many in the city also have laws that don’t allow clotheslines in yards, or have rules about not being able to see them from the road. Don’t even get me started on the rules against having food gardens in your front yard! I can understand why some municipalities would want to limit it: untended gardens can cause real pest problems. What I am talking about are blanket laws passed that limit what people can do on the property they own.
It’s like there’s an all out war against living independently from the grid.
I grew up in Alaska. You can still buy land here that isn’t part of any municipality and that means you truly own the land. No taxes, no restrictions (other than state safety and sanitation regulations), and no one to tell you “You can’t do that on your property!” Growing up, I thought that’s how it was. That was my normal. Imagine my horror, learning that people could get their land taken from them for not paying taxes or because the municipality decided they wanted to build a new road, right where your house is. You have no rights, no authority. You are responsible, but you have little authority against government (local or otherwise) entities.
Now I’m seeing people who are being kicked out of their homes because they live in tiny houses. I read about people who have their own grid with water, sewer, and electrical being forced to tie into the grid. I see people who are being told they have to remove a pond off their property because of some new law (never mind that the pond had been there over 100 years with fish and wildlife depending on it). Oh, and they had to pay for the removal, too.
It’s like there’s an all out war against living independently from the grid. It’s almost as if you’re a criminal because you don’t need what the government provides. You don’t need the electrical company’s power, you have your own – and you’re a criminal for it. Recently, here on my home island, the local utility company decided that everyone must pay water fees, even if there is no one living in the domicile. What that means is if you have a vacation home or a duplex, and no one is living there or using the water, you still have to pay. And there is little anyone can do about this ‘legal’ theft.
“If we aren’t being taught how to grow our own food, how to take care of ourselves and our families, and how to live without the need for huge governments, banks or corporations – as our ancestors once did – then we aren’t being educated; we are being indoctrinated to be dependent and subservient to the system~Gavin Nascimento.”
Of course, on top of all of that, there’s the requirement for licensing on everything from marriage to hunting, fishing to using the national parks set aside for our use. And though we have “the right to bear arms and defend ourselves from those who would do us harm,” we have to effectively get permission and go through hoops from the government to do so. The laws get more and more strict for the law abiding citizens, making it harder for us to exercise the right while the criminals are toodling along, bypassing all the red tape and still getting as many guns as they want. The “Gun Free Zones” are prime target areas to create victims, too. The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun and that is a time tested truth. To stop the bad guy, you need a good guy with the same or larger ‘stick/rock/etc.’ But I digress.
There are raids on homes for growing food and raising livestock. I recall an article about a couple who bought growing equipment for an indoor hydroponic set up and were raided by police, SWAT-style. It was believed they were growing marijuana. Charges were never filed because nothing was found. The leaves found and tested in their trash, on 3 separate occasions, were found to be tea leaves, not cannabis.
There was a time in this country when the same government not only encouraged keeping chickens and having a “victory garden,” you were considered patriotic for doing so! Homesteading was patriotic. Oh, how times have changed. Now, you have to perform feats of super human patience and paperwork-filling skills just to get the organic label to put on food you may sell from your homestead/farm to the public. The government is perfectly OK with all these chemical sprays and dusts put onto our food as it grows but you have to go through some crazy stuff to prove you aren’t using any. The system is completely backwards and I strongly believe that is a direct results of Big Agra and their lobbyers.
“We can’t let these people grow and make and do for themselves! Then we lose profit! We lose control! Our investors will suffer!”
The world is so angry now, or perhaps I am just more aware of it due to social media and instant information. In many ways, instant information has decreased the value of knowledge. It’s so easy to just look something up that committing anything to memory isn’t done the same way.
I used to have dozens of phone numbers memorized when I was a kid. Not so much anymore – just pop open your smartphone and tap the picture! Knowledge is no longer earned, therefore its value has decreased. Now, that is not to say that the internet and social media hasn’t had some positive influences – I learned to can food (both water bath and pressure styles) because of videos and articles online! I learned a great deal about gardening in my zone (7b) and would not have had the successes I did when I started if not for it.
The desire to be away from cities, work the land, and provide for yourself is under attack. Not everyone can just up and move to the country and live the life they truly want. I’m currently one of them (working on it though!).
This article first appeared on Homestead Dreamer.
You may also like:
How to “Winterize” Your Pipes and Prevent Damage
Cheap and Easy to Build Root Cellar in Your Own Back Yard (Video)
DIY Stove Made From Used Tire Rims
How to Make Emergency Survival Bread
How To Make Money Off-Grid: Making A Living From Your Homestead
It is very difficult for government to accept that you don’t need or want their interference or their “assistance” in your life. They also will not accept the notion of a citizen supporting themselves in a manner that limits their ability to tax you.
It’s really no different than paying protection money to thugs. Either pay or they will do their best to make you miserable.
Yes, the Cabal can’t “control” you if you are independently off the grid. Trump is trying to free us from the Cabal even though the Cabal lies about it on mainstream news.
We must always remember that the government is made up of ‘we’ and that we have somehow, in our ignorant oversight, allowed this to process to the point we’re finding it.
The fees are required because in order to pay the ‘they’ that make up the government, ‘they’ have to take the ‘we’.
I am sad for our future. I am sad for our children’s future. If enough don’t rise up and take it back, we are going to lose it altogether.
Man, time to get off this site. I had no idea it was just gibberish and Qanon, foil hat wearers. Im so glad I live in a small town that is not filled with these Trump crazy people. Lol. Even a “main stream media” comment. I am guessing it was not a joke… c’mon people, wake up…the “main stream” is a thousand times more truthful than your alt-right fake news.
Right!? This entire blog post looks like it was written by some right wing whacko politician, using all the buzz words.
Filled with a bunch of anecdotes and no data.
Alarmist rambling with no names associated with these anecdotal events. Did these events really happen? Any thinking person knows there’s a lot more to these stories than the one-sided opinions in this editorial. Everyone has a choice where to live. If you want to live somewhere with no taxes and risk no police or fire department protections, no healthcare facilities within reach, then move there. I pay taxes so I don’t have to worry about anarchy, so I’ll stay right here. And somehow it’s a problem if I use technology to make some parts of my life easier? You’re going to sneer at me because I don’t walk around with a phone book in my head? Puh-leese. Stick to sharing the nuts and bolts of living self-sufficiently caring for the earth and our fellow travelers and leave the right wing politics to the losers at Fox News.
Is this what this site is for? Conspiracy nut ramblings and pissing matches? Beginning to wonder if I was mistaken to buy a book from folks who would let bigoted paranoids spread nonsense like this.
Hi, Thank you so much for your feedback. I really appreciate it. I am very sorry if this article offended anyone. This was not our intention. Our articles are written by people from all around the country, with different background, views etc. We try to share everybody’s point of view so we can learn from each other. That being said, this article does not reflect the website’s views and we apologize again.
These absolutely reflect the views of your website, that is what it means to publish something on YOUR WEBSITE. Multiple articles are now published here that solely exist to berate “urbanites” and “leftists” or anyone more progressive than Reagan. What exactly is the advantage these articles provide? What does fear mongering about city folk moving to the country do to help me be self sufficient? What does crying about city, state, or federal regulations that protect the water table and cut down on pollutants do to help my family be less reliant on public utilities? What does moaning about “kids these days don’t play outside enough” do to help anyone? I fail to see where these types of facebook post level “articles” fit into the rest of the site’s purpose of providing knowledge and instructions for self-sufficient and DIY projects? Perhaps publish something about urban orchards helping to feed less fortunate communities? Or if you want to be timely and semi political maybe how to survive harsh winters without gas or electricity? I genuinely have enjoyed the DIY articles and the book so far and have many projects for my home planned because of it, but these rambling right wing shock jock articles are incredibly discouraging and feed into the already heightened tensions between urban and rural communities. “city folk” aren’t the enemy of rural communities and environmental regulations aren’t the devil stealing your independence.
I find it unbelievable that people commented on this site because this post offended them… no where was this post political or took the views of the right or left (never mentioned Trump once) but some people find comfort in name-calling and tearing down opinions that differ from their own. Easy to see which political side has major anger problems based off the comments.
The truth holds in this article- many cities do have strict laws/rules that require residents to be reliant on government services and don’t allow freedom of self-reliance. I came from a city that outlawed all rain collection methods, and gardens in the front yard. I came to this site to learn- not read the selfish thoughts of angry liberals who see their world falling apart in front of their eyes.
Here’s a novel idea- if you don’t like the content- DONT READ IT! No one really cares about your opinion… this comment board could and should have been used to help those who want to learn and help each other. God Bless.
Dont read it then…
Agreed! I’m now wondering if I made a mistake in purchasing the book (that I’m still waiting for 3 weeks later), and instead am being used, just like Trump used his supporters for his own personal benefit.
Hi and thank you for your interest in our work.
I am sorry that your book was not delivered.
Please write us an email on support@selfsufficientprojects.com and let us know your order number or the email used when ordering, and we will reply with your order details.
God bless!
I received my copy of the book and have enjoyed it so far, but the articles published on this site make me worry the entire thing is a grift and a con. I see no benefit to stoking this kind of “urban VS rural” and “leftists bad” attitude with articles like this, other than to rile up potential readers into buying a new book on doomsday prepping or gun cleaning or whatever may calm their self induced fears.
I would not be concerned with some of these misguided comments. Truth is that our liberties have been stripped and are being stripped. I personally don’t care if your views align or disalign with the article. We are all entitled freedom of speech and thought. If people want to disagree with you then it’s their right to do so but it’s your right to tell them to pound sand. Don’t let cancel culture keep you from publishing truthful articles. I would rather lose people then compromise and bow to their foolish comments.
These things do happen and there are many news article out there to support it. Look some things up…. All of these restrictions are real, not sure where you live or maybe you dont care. But it’s impossible to live off the land in this country without a big bank account to pay all of the taxes and fees.
Time for the author of this article to put the smartphone down, stop reading so many online articles, living in fear and step outside and get a breath of fresh air.
The post is filled with anecdote after anecdote. There’s a reason things like licenses are necessary – the people before you abused their privileges and now the rest of us have to pay the price for it. That’s the cost of living in a non-anarchic society. No fishing license?