The end of the political era.

[bvar22]

9. DURec....Well Done!

"Vote with your feet. Vote with your bicycles. Vote with your gardens. Vote with your renewable energy. Vote with your every purchase. Vote with every special skill you have been graced with. Vote with your anger. Vote with your love. Vote with your life."

Something as small and easy as this can be an act of revolution:


In 2006, my wife and I sold everything, cashed out everything, paid the penalties,
bought pristine, bubble-proof, inexpensive rural property with a spring, surrounded by National Forest and protected wilderness and move here from the Big City.
We carry no debt or mortgage. We have one debit card at a locally owned bank,
and Wall Street can live or die without our money or concern (only our contempt).


If we can avoid it, we buy nothing NEW or imported, buy 2nd hand or salvage and make it work....or do without.
We participate in a surprisingly active rural Black Market, bartering labor, expertise, produce, or unneeded items.

We build everything ourselves (no inspections, permits, or taxes). If it falls down...that is on us (literally).
We grow a good percentage of our own food (no GMOs, no herbicides, no non naturally occurring pesticides or fertilizers), and any excess is shared with less fortunate neighbors. We also keep chickens and honey bees. Local Honey is GOLD on the Black Market.

We have refocused on local Humanitarian Issues, but I'm still addicted to the disappointments and betrayals of our political system, something I pledged to leave behind, but have been unable to completely do so.

Our yearly goal is to produce MORE, consume LESS, and decrease our carbon footprint.

This is not for everybody. We have no dependents, good health and strong backs, and a complimentary skill set that makes this fun (most of the time).
We have been very lucky, but have aged over the last ten years, and the labor involved is becoming harder every year. The fact that our endeavors here are time limited is becoming very real.

----bvar22 & Starkraven
Living well on a LOW taxable income
and stuff we learned in the 60s.