Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:
> > > By the way, I read y'alls comments about survivalists...it was 
> > > enough to
> > make me want to unsub since I came to this list as a survivalist. 
> > You guys aren't very tolerant of us survivor types and you forget 
> > that people can change.
>
> Very Obamist of you, Bev, the change stuff.


ROTFLMAO!  Yeah, I suppose it is...
Perhaps, I too, have the virus...(NOT)  :)


> Survivalism/escapism is not only not the same thing as homesteading, 
> it is the polar opposite.  Survivalism is looking for a general 
> cataclysm (as escapism is looking for a personal one) before it goes 
> into effect then its is to survive to the other end of that cataclysm
>  until times are "normal" again and life can resume more or less 
> unabated.

But what if during that time, while you are learning and waiting, you
begin to see things differently, your eyes are opened to something new
that suits you and feels less fearful, but feels right?



 Homesteading is waiting for nothing.  It
> is a lifestyle that works during "good" times, bad times, and 
> cataclysms. Homesteaders are not waiting for the end of anything.  If
>  times change, we continue homesteading as always.

I think everyone on the list knows that now, but not everyone in the
general public is even familiar with the term or our existence.  If they
drove by and saw our place, they would just think..poor person...they
would not think...smart person... do you know what I mean?



> I've lurked on many, many a homesteading, farming, gardening, 
> frugality and preparedess site.  People attach homesteading as being 
> kindred spirit or even part and parcel to a great many things ranging
>  from white supremacy to polyamory.

I think that is because so many anarchist/separatist types don't fit
well with the population at large.  I don't think we have any white
supremacists or polyamory types on the list, but we do have anarchists and
others who live away from others because they are not a good social fit.
   On this list, most of the homesteaders are back to the land hippie
types, but I'm pretty sure there are some who are following a religious
mandate to store food for the end times or who are gleaning information
to hedge their bets during the coming rough economic times.  They may
not be buying into the homesteading dream that we all live, but they may
be here to learn more about gardening and frugality, for instance.  I
just think that in many ways, homesteading is about survival...economic
survival, personal survival, familial survival (how many homeschool to
protect their children from the crazy world out there), etc.  I just
think there is a continuum of embracement of homesteading and that it is
not as clear cut as some of you on the list would make it seem.  Perhaps
it is that people like you and Gene who do see things in such a black
and white matter(figuratively speaking) are at one end of that continuum
and people like Bob and I are at the other.  It is certainly not worth
arguing about, because he is entitled to his or her own opinion, but it
is hard to think about just where you draw the line on why someone is
interested in homesteading.

> Bev, I'm glad that an interest in survivalism led you to look into 
> homesteading.  But you did not, did you, come to the list insisting 
> that survivalism was the same thing as homesteading ... or worse, 
> play the troll by telling homesteaders that they had no room to 
> comment on your suvivalist tendancies because they were disingenuous 
> fakers themselves?

You know me now...I can't keep my mouth shut for one day, but believe it
or not, I lurked on this list for almost two years before I ever popped
up and started talking and asking questions.
The way I recall things happening was that I was involved in usenet
newsgroups..misc survivalism and others...I got into some
conversations/arguments about guns and such...developed some
'friendships' from there...I recall meeting Holly/Sojourner there, I
think.  I know I met Rob there, and it was Rob (Becida Rob) who led me
to Homestead back around 1994 or so.  At that time, I certainly was not
aware that people like the Nearings existed..had never heard of Carla
Emery, or knew that there was a 'normal' segment of the population who
had rejected the Jones' mainstream.  So no, I did not come to the list
with any preconceptions, and certainly did not tell anyone anything or
make any comparisons..  I came and stayed for the reason I am still
here....for learning, for education, about practical matters and
philosophical matters. I am still learning, still exploring, still
experimenting, and yes, still trying to ensure the survival of both
myself and my family.  If I can learn a different way, then I can teach
that way to my children and to my grandchildren.  Just seeing DH come
around to "growing your own" idea...after all these years...that alone
has made me rethink why I believe as I do.  I just believe that there is
always more than one path to anything.

Oh, and James, you might wonder why I got into survivalism to begin
with.  I have always had these dreams...post apocalyptic like dreams of
myself surviving in a forest...in many of those dreams, I was an
herbalist of sorts, a medicine woman.  I don't know if they were dreams
of the past or dreams of the future or just dreams, but I have had
'scary' dreams since childhood, and I felt the need to act on them, to
prepare for something, to gain knowledge so that I could help my family
survive.  It called me.  On that path, I met you guys, and you all have
made me interpret the dream a bit differently.

Bev





--
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone
are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race"

~ Calvin Coolidge