Waylon 5

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/business/15prices.html?_r=1&hp

This article puts me in mind of what my cousin and his fiancée are doing out on the Little Applegate in Oregon. They’ve started a communal farm with the goal of becoming totally self sufficient and independent of, basically, the United States. If it sounds like a combination of hippie and survivalist, that’s because it is. But there’s nothing pejorative about the way I think of their project. In fact, I think it’s absolutely crucial, and every time I go out there or talk to him, I try to learn lessons for my own life.

They’ve gone to the extreme, living in the country off the land, and relying as much as possible on the barter system with their like-minded neighbors. I don’t have that option travelling around the world getting degrees at academies and making theater. In fact, I need the population centers that they’ve eschewed if I’m going to have an audience for my work. The question that I ask is, “How can I be as independent as possible from a culture that prefers short-term personal gain and the acquisition of commodities to human well-being?” It’s a question that Autumn has never been able to verbally answer to my satisfaction, so I’m left to looking to his and Erin’s example for helpful hints.

What I’ve come to is that, as much as possible, we should grow and gather our own food. That means plant a garden and hunt if you’re in a location suitable for that. As long as we depend on the corporations that sell us processed food (which often crosses the line from food to poison) for this basic necessity, this dehumanizing consumerist culture has us by the balls. I believe it’s possible to grow at least some of your food anywhere. It’s easiest in the country, of course, but even if you’re an urban dweller, you can still put some potted plants on your window-sill. It’s even possible if you life a semi-transient lifestyle like me: a contributor to my Farmer’s Almanac writes about how she used to travel a lot, but she grew a few potted food plants and packed them up and down the Eastern seaboard with her. All it takes is recognition that, as habitual as our corporate culture has become, it is far healthier to start moving away from it. Few of us can go to the same extreme as Autumn and Erin out on the Little Applegate, but we can all begin the process towards health and independence.