Off The Grid News Better Ideas For Off The Grid Living
June 7th, 2010
As our readership grows, we’re hearing from folks all over the world reporting the same kinds of problems we’re witnessing here in the USA. A reader from Australia writes:
Dear Editor,
The idea of growing vegetables in containers is great, and I am already doing it. However, I use old rain water tanks that are cut in half, taking off the bottom and tops and putting them on the ground. Why do I do that? Because the block where my house sits is not big enough, and on top of that, it is very, very rocky and on a slope. I level the tanks by putting concrete blocks in the lower part, plus bricks and other rocks on the inside up to where it gets higher. Then I order a full truck of composted cow manure. I put cheaper soil in the first 20 cm at the bottom and then fill it up with this magnificent composted cow manure.
You have no idea of the amount of vegetables I get. I could share it with three families. Tomatoes, (and I made 25 jars of tomatoes sauce for mixing with pasta until next season. Simply the best sauce ever!) silver beets, radishes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, parsley, even rock melons.
The beauty of it is that neither rabbits nor possums are getting to them (yes, we have that problem here and the prohibition to kill them). We have all the kind of restrictions you mention in your newsletter as far as opening a side street stop to sell produce—we are not allowed. Everything needs permits. Even fishermen are allowed a minimum quantity (very, very little) to keep for their family. Everything has to go to a center which sells the best to the Multi-Nationals and we then have to re-purchase from them the worst quality, mainly from the polluted waters of southeast Asia.
You may not know, my friends, but Australia is beating the USA as far as extra government rules to restrict our freedoms. We had Codex Legislation passed 6 years ago and we cannot import supplements from anywhere (penalty: $60,000). Our weapons were taken from us a dozen years ago after a government-organized massacre of 44 people in an outside coffee shop in Port Arthur, Tasmania. They framed a poor, mentally- challenged young man who was not even there. Witnesses who could dismiss the charges against him were never heard in court. An ex- Australian superior officer of our army, present during the event, said in an interview with an independent reporter that he had never seen such precision shooting in all his years of training soldiers. The one who did it must have been an “imported,” extremely efficient sniper because he did not use a fully automatic weapon. Every shot was a precise killing shot (not an in injuring one) and then he disappeared. The entire police force on that day was 200 km away, seemingly in a conference (something that never happens). In fact, it took hours before the police arrived and the sniper had already disappeared. They framed this poor young guy who was living 20 km away and living with his mother and, of course, he is still in prison. Our Prime Minister, John Howard, lost no time to use the outrage of the people to get rid of all weapons from them.
And our petrol costs us $1.40 a liter, equal to $5.60 a gallon (or 4 liters) and we have great distances to and from work. All our fresh prime produce is first sold to Multi-Nationals and then, they sell us back cheaper quality coming from China at outrageous prices. We cannot buy raw milk, not even from a dairy farmer. He is forbidden to do so. The penalty? The closing down and loss of his farm. All milk must be pasteurized and homogenized.
I don’t know if you heard the last news from USA – through the Internet of course – that there are 2 billion people in the world who go to bed hungry every day when 4 million tons of fresh produce is either incinerated or dumped into the ocean every day in order to maintain their high prices. 4 million tons equals to 4 billion kilos of fresh produce! Those 2 billion hungry people in the world could have 2 kilos each of fresh food per day if it wasn’t destroyed purposely.
No one of us eats 2 kg of food each day, do we?
Yes, it is the Multi-Nationals who will be causing famine everywhere because they almost control the entire food production, in collusion with various governments. They can withhold the food or destroy it and do what they want.
New Zealand had to accept Codex also, but it is not yet in the same situation as Australia. Australia has been used as the guinea pig of what is to come to see how far the government can go without people revolting. Actually, how can we revolt without weapons?
You better allow the Mexicans to get into the USA and you go and live there until this clears out, or in some of the Pacific islands, but do not consider Australia as a refuge. It is not!
Best wishes to all of you,
G.
Tasmania, Australia
Editor reply: The challenges we are facing will be global in scale. It is foolish to think that just because you live in the U.S., the UK, or in Australia, that things will somehow be safe from suffering. In fact, those of us in the “first world” are likely to see a greater change in our lives because we have such a high standard of living and are so accustomed to the benefits of technology. Additionally, the threats from our governments are greater because of their greater reach, funding and organization.
Those of us in the developed world do have one advantage—information. We can see what is coming, and we have the means to prepare ourselves and our loved ones. Many of you email each week thanking us for the information, but unless you act, this information does nothing but give you a false sense of security that you are somehow more prepared than you were before. Please, make it a point to do something (anything!) every day to prepare yourself. Every little thing counts in a crisis!
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