Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

bobf wrote:

> Never listen to the people who yell "this time is different".
> Really, every time is 'different' and every time it isn't different.

Which is one reason I don't see why you keep talking about things 
returning to 'normal'.  In my mind, there is no normal...it is fluid and 
always changing, always different.

> In the end, a man has to make his own decisions for what he think
> will work best for him.  Property taxes have taken away many homes,
> farms, etc, in the past  -- we have become better at taxing; property
> taxes could take away that which no-one now is even considering.


I think we are all talking, as James says, at cross purposes with you. 
You talk of maintaining wealth, we talk of maintaining life and lifestyle.


> Things might be different this time, why does one man need more than
> five acres (or 3 acres or whatever), maximum?  Maybe a federal
> property tax on 'excess' acreage is what people will think we need to
> pay off our debts.  Since the vast majority of people live on less
> than an acre , the vast majority of people would not have a problem
> voting for people who would enact such a tax.

In GA, there was a bill on the ballot to remove the conservation 
covenant for really large landholders, like those who own several 
hundred acres.  It is to keep developers from acquiring last clumps of 
land, sitting on it for 10 years essentially tax free, and then 
reselling it at a profit.

As to why one needs more than 5 acres,,,,animals...In these parts, a 
horse needs 5 acres minimum.  It is hard to grow your own food(animal or 
vegetable) on a postage stamp sized piece of land.


> Now, personally, I would not have done as he did.  I can say that
> with certainty, becuase everything that was going wrong with his
> Krona is going wrong 'worse' with the USD, and I haven't even
> considered doing what he did. The only difference I see between the
> dollar and the Krona is that one is backed by the world's largest
> arsenal of weapons and the other isn't. I still have money in all
> sorts of varied investments. With me,  Gold is included, but not
> exclusive.   So , regardless of what happens , I'll at least have
> enough to eat and move about.

Bob, pardon me for asking, but what good does it do if your wife won't 
move?

  The main
> thing is for a man/ woman to know that it is his life, his future,
> and to do what he thinks is best for himself and his.  I think what
> is best for me is to be rural, whether times become as awful as some
> are predicting, or whether this is just another bad recession , as
> others are predicitng.  I think I still have time left to make my
> exit from the city more efficient, and my time afterward, more
> enjoyable.  So I will take that time.

To me, your 'being rural' is about location only, it seems, a temporary 
solution, a retreat.  I don't see you 'living' rural, I see you 
returning to the city when you see things 'returning to normal'.



> You are smart on this issue and ,as impotant, you are very good at
> putting your thought to paper.  I am terrible at writing what I am
> thinking.  Prepare the best you can prepare, but don't forget to
> continue to have fun.  Sometimes people get so caught up in the
> survival aspect , they forget the fun.  That might be surviving, but
> it isn't living......


So when are you making your move, Bob?


--
"The world is my country, all mankind are my
 brethren, and to do good is my religion."
 Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)