Apart from producing some of my own power and growing more veg (and having chickens and a goat, but that's a whole other thing) I think I've become just about as Ish as I want by moving up here.
I've managed to leave most of the commercial and social pressures that living in a town and city can have.
But chocolate would definitely have to be on the list and the internet - how else would I be able to fulfill my occasional (and I'm pleased to say increasingly rare) need for retail therapy and chat to you lot of course
We always value your honesty MMM
Maggie
Never doubt that you can change history. You already have. Marge Piercy
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. Anais Nin
Actually, we're about to take a plunge to try to be far more SS than we are now. We're selling our cosy little 'semi in surburbia' (albeit with 1/4 acre of organic garden) and buying a 5 acre patch with a semi derilict 'house' on it!
Even so I still don't expect that we'll be more than 50% SS. I don't think indiviuals or individual households can be more than that. A whole SS comunity might be possible, but if I grow carrots & swap them for a bit of the sheep you just slaughtered are we not then inter-reliant?
ISH is by far the way to go, only taking those things from the world that we really need, (& yes for me that DOES include chocolate!)
Internet. So useful for finding things out quickly, much easier to search than books (even if you have the right books), and so good at putting us in touch with like-minded people (so, so good for unsociable weirdos like me).
Oh, and I'd miss the kids and the OH as well, 'cos they said if I go and live in the middle of a field somewhere, they won't come with me
Precisely - isn't this the whole point of Ish? Middle ground? Isn't the idea that if everyone was Ish, enough energy savings and environmental repair would take place to ensure that we could retain the real advantages of modern life? I'd be completely lost (and very poor) without my computer (and the Internet, to a lesser extent). And I don't see anything wrong with coffee farmers selling me their wares - it doesn't have to be flown here and solar/wind-powered shipping will arrive soon enough (once we get rid of the the horrible Just-in-time concept). And we do need the car, although it does less than 2000 miles per year (but I wouldn't want to walk that far).
So, what would I miss? The car, the coffee, the computer. And the frogs, because the pond takes up veggie-growing space. And the wood pigeons, because we'd be eating 'em, but I think they're beautiful. Most of the birds, in fact, that we've lovingly encouraged to take up residence, because a lot of the trees would have to be felled (we now have a thriving starling colony, greenfinches and goldfinches, a pair of woodpeckers, all manner of tits (if you'll pardon the expression), not to mention the various species of LBT, blackbirds, robins and thrushes. They're even reaching the point where we can approach them within a few yards). And, I'm afraid, the butterflies because we'd be waging war on them. And the voles would have to go because they're buggers for digging up seeds (as are the red-haired mice, still a mystery). The dog would also have to go because he's a net consumer. The pub - oh, the pub!!!.
Oooooohhh no! No total self-sufficiency for me please.
Mike
Last edited by MKG on Sat Sep 19, 2009 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
The secret of life is to aim below the head (With thanks to MMM)
Ask someone who has had to live on the streets because they have been forced to do so and you will know that food, clothes, clean water, shelter and warmth are the essentials of life.
Having come close to that a couple of times, I know that I can manage without everything except food, clothes, clean water, shelter and warmth. I hope it never comes to that again.
Totally self sufficient has never happened in the history of man - trading can be traced through most of our doings along with travelling to find that which we do not have but want.
Flo wrote:Ask someone who has had to live on the streets because they have been forced to do so and you will know that food, clothes, clean water, shelter and warmth are the essentials of life.
Having come close to that a couple of times, I know that I can manage without everything except food, clothes, clean water, shelter and warmth. I hope it never comes to that again.
Totally self sufficient has never happened in the history of man - trading can be traced through most of our doings along with travelling to find that which we do not have but want.
Hi Flo, I agree, there are essentials and luxuries. I also agree that being totally SS would be almost impossible and if people had to be more self sufficient they would still (hopefully) pull together in a community to share. However, if I imagine being totally self sufficient, it makes me feel lucky for the 'everyday' luxuries that some people take for granted (my cup of tea tastes better!)
must add id also miss a running toilet..no offence to all who use eco toilets my hats off to you...but the amount of poop my family produce just does not appeal with the emptying etc
I'm with russian doll; can i add toilet to my list please? i have just managed to get james into the habit of peeing in a jar for my compost, but he still doesnt like doing it.
oh how I love my tea, tea in the afternoon. I can't do without it, and I think I'll have another cup very
ve-he-he-he-heryyyyyyy soooooooooooon!!!!
(thanks)
