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[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

I know an ecologically minded couple (authentic hippies) 
that run a cottage industry and probably live on $5K a 
year. When you look at their living, eating, driving, 
clothing, and entertainment habits of the last 30 years, 
I'm sure they'd rank up there with many 3rd world 
inhabitants on ecological footprint.

However, their roof leaks, their house is falling apart, 
they freeze in the winter without insulation, and bake in 
the summer so they are always sick, they have almost no 
social life, relatives (including their kids) shun them, 
and they get by on charitable help and donations of food 
and clothing from neighbors and a nearby church, which 
they don't belong to. They have no health insurance, and 
last year she had a heart attack, which is costing them a 
fortune now. They will tell you all about their dreams for 
the place, and that they are the happiest people in the 
world, but they are always complaining, fighting, 
depressed, or anxious and blaming others for their 
troubles. I want to admire them, but in reality I could 
not live like that. But then, I would have made different 
choices, even on $5K.


On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:43:58 -0500
 EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
> I've thought about this guy almost all day.  I wondered 
> about his
> family...there are articles out there that mention that 
> he has one, yet
> this states he lives alone. I wonder if he has high 
> speed internet.  I
> wonder what kind of bicycle he owns.  I wonder if he 
> makes his own
> clothes, and how he affords health care if he has 
> insurance.  I looked
> at a few sites, but did not see too many about him 
> personally that are
> recent.  He's probably close to retirement age by now. 
> Here's what one
> of my friends wrote about it:
> > To have all the things that we deem as necessary, like 
> > refrigeration 
> > for our food and access to medical care require a HUGE 
> > interdependent
> > network of technologies that wouldn't be in place if 
> > everybody tried
> > to live on $5000/yr.  I suppose we could all go back to 
> > living like
> > the peasants in China and India, but why would anyone 
> > want to??
>
> Larry, in case anyone is interested, lives in Utah and 
> is as
> environmentally minded as the next person-probably more 
> so.
> Merkel is definitely radical, but I can't help but 
> wonder what his life
> is *really* like.
>
> Bev, wondering why the list is so quiet
>
> Tim Oppenheim wrote:
> > http://www.alternet.org/environment/108461/living_the_good_life_on_%245%2C000_a_year/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Merkel decided not only to quit the business of war but 
> > also to stop 
> > paying federal tax dollars that could fund government 
> > weapons. To do 
> > so, he aimed to live on an annual income less than the 
> > U.S. taxable 
> > level of $5,000.
>
> --
> “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. 
> Anger leads to
> hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda
> http://www.myspace.com/tervetuloa13
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