I woke up this morning wondering what happened to the homestead list.
An e-mail list is (was?) a new type of community, a group of people
with almost instant written communication drawn together around a
common theme. In this case a the concept of homesteading.
For many years this was an active & vibrant place to be and then it wasn't....
Did everybody give up the homestead dream? Did the world change so
much that the group was not necessary? I think "not" to both of
those, there are still active groups in the internet world and
somewhat on facebook. The dream (or necessity) of doing it yourself
is still there.
A lack of leadership? Maybe, leadership on a list is hard to pin
down. The leader could be a knowledgeable regular poster or a list
owner who both posts & keeps order it is rarely the totalitarian who
rules with the iron fist, lists have to be at least a little fun to
keep people.
Did one person manage to poison the well? That is possible, people
left the list rather than deal with the poison.
I think enough people left (for whatever the reason, I'm guessing
poison & no leadership) that the dynamic of the list fell apart and
the community that was people, their words and ideas collapsed & is gone. Sad.