I'm sure that by the end of my yarn there will be many various opinions here but....
I met a neat primitive skills group thats living it as much as they can. They are living on 30 acre's that borders a VAST national forest. There is a pristine mountain stream that flows out of the Nat. forest right through their property. They are the only ones that live of the water shed.
They live in little "wattle & dob" shacks. That is sapling woven walled structures "dobbed" full of clay then the outside is skim coated or "plastered" over entirely with clay mud. They have have dirt floors and peeled poplar bark roofs. The things are pretty air tight and flea market bought or rock-made wood stoves provide heat.
They just do skills day in and day out or have a slow day if they feel like it- just like the natives did or so I read. They are learning "full survival" together as a slow, enjoyable journey. To supplement their food for now they have a dumpster diving "circuit" they go on monthly or so an end up with "way more food than they know what to do with." They showed me a 5 gallon bucket full of organic & medicinal tea packets they pulled out of one dumpster- all still in the plastic wraps- perfectly good. They are slowly tapering off the dumpster foods.
I asked them what they do for income and they explained that except for just fuel for vehicles and insurance on same- they simply just do not need money. Each member is asked to put $15 in the pot montly- this to cover the property tax for the year and typically fuels the dumpster raiding vehicle for the year, and pays for the land line tele. There's no electricity but a phone is available for member use. Internet is 15 minutes away by road at the library. They explained that the random odd job keeps them in "PLENTY" of money per their way of life.
They tote water from the creek, garden the few level spots and cut/process fire wood manually- starting with cross cut saws. They have folks in the area that drop off good road kill too. The bear hunters appreciate them allowing them to use their land to access the Nat. Forest and typically give them at least two whole bears a year. From what I saw there was a MOUNTAIN of canned foods (LOTS of canned meat), condiments and cooking ingredients all sourced form hunters donations, road kill and dumpsters.
You may or may not agree on how they are getting by, but no one can argue that they are not incredibly resourceful and have ADAPTEd and learned to get by COMFORTABLE on nearly ZERO cash flow.
It's not a fly by night operation either- they have been at it for 12 years. Some come and stay a while and go but a few of them have been there for the whole time. One person lived there for a few years and went on to start a successful wilderness survival school that is doing well today.
i told them I had picked up a wall tent and was looking to move in the forest near them on private property. They invited me to come and stay on a temporary basis with their group and if we all clicked for me to stay a good long time- an offer I will likely take them up on.
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