how in the heck are we supposed to live these days

[Reinbeau]

Quote:
The cynic in me will try to explain - it's not being developed because there's just not enough money in it. How can the current energy industry make record profits off of water?

Efficiency? That would come with development. Nope, it's pure profit they're looking for, lots of it, and it isn't there in water.

 

[spook]

A Dairy farm that I once worked for, actually grew up on, as it was the neighbor, milking cows, painting, haying and shoveling you know what...I was rich as a teen, making $2 an hour. As time continued, now I'm 43, was 12 when I started there, eventually graduating high school, going out in the great big world, to only yearn for the old farm, but times have changed so drasticly.
The once promising farm, hired a man that was raising his family, yet he needed more money, not just free milk and hay for his own critters and kids, eventually even for his love of cattle, had to go and work where he could make a buck.
Pretty soon, we saw other farms go down due to cost of meds, feed, vets, computers, GAS, equipment and the list goes on, most every one of you hear me loud and clear. The kids grew up in the neighborhood (his step children looked at us like slaves-I understand now more then ever how much they missed), a rights of passage was milking cows! Sadly, the government became involved, kids can't work more then X amount of hours. Then kids deserve to earn X amount of dollars. Then kids refused to 'stink'.
What a mess. Two years ago, our dear friend and farmer had to sell his cattle, the same line his dad raised for his lifetime or prideful work.
When will "we" learn that someone has to grow our food, that we need to help our neighbors with animals, to atleast watch out. What happened to the day you saw a horse, cow, goat or chicken loose, you found a gate, barn or something, took them into a safe place with water, feed and a note saying is this "critter yours?" and knowing your neighbors, could call them by first name to have them come over, or walk it over to their home.
Respect and pride have become an old fashioned. Farms have become old fashioned. How can we change this? How can we yell to the government that we need help, farms should be tax free, not churches.
Excuse my rant, you have all said basicly the same thing. Have a wonderful day.

 

[countrygirl4513]

I only go to town when I have numerous errands to run. I don't even go to the office anymore since real estate has basically stopped. I just can't afford the gas to get there.

In talking with others, the point was made that it feels like they are trying to weed out the weak and poor (poverty and middle class) by raising the prices of everything. I have to agree it feels like a conspiracy is going on.

We are a spoiled nation! Growing up we didn't have A/C, we ate what we raised and only went to town for the bare neccessities. But in essence we have been conditioned to expect more...not less. This new generation isn't being taught how to grow your own food, clothes etc. It's a generation of I want it now and I want it all! I won't compromise! I'm afraid we are seeing the end of the breed that took care of it's own and did with less than needed.

I kept making this statement a couple of years ago when gas started creeping up "They are conditioning us little by little to accept the prices, that way when the price hits the extreme we will think we've done something great by finding gas 2-3 cents cheaper and filling up. What joy we will feel!!!!!!!!!!"

This is a wake up call to us all. But I do feel that they are conspiring against the little people in the nation!!

 

[patandchickens]

It does not take a large gardenable area to grow a significant fraction of your family's food. People in many parts of Asia do it, commonly, on TEENY TINY plots. The soil is built up with lots of enrichment, and the crops are tended intensively and yeild quite a huge amount from such postage stamps of land. Even containers on a balcony can be gotten to grow a considerable bit. If you have room for a few chickens for eggs, then so much the better.

This *does* however require a change in our mindset as to what constitutes a meal. No (or few) gratuitously-large slabs o' meat. No out-of-season veggies or fruits, and relatively few ones that are grown in a climate far far away. A whole lot more greens than many people now eat. But you can get Good Food that way, and it can support a family pretty well, and it does NOT take much space at all.

We've just gotten really used to doing things with maximal inefficiency and expense

Pat

 

[spook]

A comment to one of the folks that said we need to call out of work because we can't afford to drive...we need higher wages...this is what made the farmers go under. No one can afford to pay the wages and the demands that employees need. I'm afraid to say that the only one you would be hurting is yourself. Why bite your nose spite your face? Where you called out, there is always someone equal to you, or trainable that is desperate for a job, even if the wages aren't perfect, it puts some food on the table.
I have often complained about all these fools in Maine that refuse to "Litter" our state with wind turbines. Shame on us. It seems like we would rather see nuclear energy then wind turbines that make no waste, leave open area for hikers, animals to graze and very little sound.
Where are our priorities?
The last comment about growing our own food. So many people do not know what a chicken looks like other then KFC or on a styro plate with plastic wrap. Or chicken that has soaked in brine.
We wonder why our kids are ill, we all have hypertention or diabetes. We need to put our hands on the pulse of America.

 

[rroven]

That's great, Texasreb! My husband and I are trying to do the same thing and are trying to bring the next door neighbor into the plan as well. We already have a nice sized garden and just bought a bator to get chickens started. Meat rabbits are next on the list. I am thinking about goats as well and have already asked our neighbour about using his back acre for grazing goats. He's agreeable so that's good. If I could get some of the others in the area to pitch in we could all be pretty self sufficent. That's the direction I see us going,

 

[Acre of Blessings]

spook said----The last comment about growing our own food. So many people do not know what a chicken looks like other then KFC or on a styro plate with plastic wrap. Or chicken that has soaked in brine.


The really sad part is, alot of younger kids think that all the food in the grocery store comes from behind the wall, literally. They think veggies ar egrown in a grocery store and meats are grown behind the store. I've heard this. It's really sad. Some people will not know where to start with a garden or any type of animal. They will be the ones huting in the end.

 

[k0xxx]

"The really sad part is, alot of younger kids think that all the food in the grocery store comes from behind the wall, literally."

A relative of mine was driving when a turkey flew across the road. Her son asked what type of bird that it was. When she told him that it was a turkey, he replied that he would have to ask his teacher instead, because she obviously didn't know since "Everyone knows that turkeys are round and they come from the store."

 

[curliet]

It's pretty scary when we realize that we've all been seeing and hearing the warnings that this was all coming "in the future" but didn't see how it would affect us. So we didn't listen. Now it is here, and we are wondering how "they" could do this to us. We not only let "them", we invited them to do it. The big oil companies are reporting record profits, and we all complain about it, but we don't hold them accountable for the unethical practices that allow them to do it. In the meantime, we don't take it upon ourselves to try to do something to change the fuel that we use. You saw the youtube videos, there is also a program that showed a teenaged boy, with no higher education than high school, no special tools or equipment, who converted his own car in his own garage to a water burning engine. If it's that easy, why aren't we all doing it? Because it never occurs to us that we can do something different. Why aren't GM and Ford doing it? Because the oil companies, and the people who run them have too much money invested into the auto companies and won't allow them to do it. And don't ask the Govt to help, many of those people are shareholders in the oil companies. They want to continue to draw in those big profits, at the expense of the rest of us. Another thing that would help are those other energy alternatives that have been mentioned here, the methane gas from landfills, windmills, etc. Why aren't more of us demanding that our communities make a change to alternative fuels? Why aren't we making some changes on our own little piece of the world, our backyards? We've been convinced that we can't do anything on our own. I grew up with the credo that "you do the right thing because it's the right thing to do." I learned it at home, and at school, from the peole who raised me and also lived by that. But too many of the people today who are in charge of things went to the 'Dick Cheney school of low morals and no ethics' and do only the right thing as it applies to them personally. We need to close down that school and make ourselves more accountable for how we live. Sorry for the rant, I'll get off the soapbox, please don't bash me for this post.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I have yet to read all the posts here, but just wanted to say this is an interesting and timely (of course) topic.

I am thankful for this forum, because we can all gripe and offer up our best advice here and it feels a little easier than trying to do it within my own community. At least right now, we live in an area that has a mix of the "haves" and the "have-not-quite-as-muches" (I'm not saying "have-nots" yet, but that may come to pass soon enough). Until there is some consensus among neighbors, we have to pick and choose with whom we voice our concerns.

My husband and I have been trying to prepare for this for years, but never really thought it would actualize so quickly. So even knowing it could happen doesn't make it any easier to watch.

Like others have said, now is the time to get to know your neighbors really well and look out for each other. Also now is the time to either dust off the bicycle, buy a motorcycle, or find a very fuel efficient car.

There are rumors of $10/gallon gas and possible gas shortages, depending upon what happens on the geopolitical front.

Do what you can, while you can still afford to make changes and learn how to live more simply.

Good luck to you all! I suspect you are all better prepared than the average American to deal with what may come.