Off The Grid News Better Ideas For Off The Grid Living
Dear Editor:
We really like your articles and the information you provide on getting off the grid. Articles such as gardening, canning, hunting, and other forms of energy are always helpful. However, my wife and I wish that you would just delete politics from your publication altogether. Let’s just stick with getting “off the grid”—okay?
Apolitical in New York
Dear Apolitical,
Thanks for your email and voicing your concerns. However, there are so many facets of our daily lives (and our response to them) that affects our preparedness plans, that to leave them out would be burying our heads in the sand to reality. If we feel a government-run healthcare system is going to adversely affect your quality of life and health, shouldn’t we report on it? If the government is going to institute some regulation or tax on you that will make it harder for you to live, shouldn’t that information be provided? If an action by the government will curtail your freedom of association or faith, or any number of other provisions in the Constitution, that’s something we feel our readers need to know. Whether it’s economics, food, weapons, health, politics, or religion, nothing happens in a vacuum. We respond and react based on a belief system. Ours here at Off the Grid News comes from a conservative Christian worldview with a libertarian bent, one that strongly believes in the founding documents of this nation.
The Editor
Dear Editor,
My husband has decided that since we’re trying to get off the grid, we should start doing away with technology and modern conveniences altogether. He wants to do away with cell phones, Internet, cable television, water and power provided by the public utilities, buying anything from the grocery store, and is even suggesting we get rid of our newer vehicles and get something pre-computer chips and electronic ignition! Don’t misunderstand me, I believe in being prepared, but do we really have to revert back to the stone ages in order to be prepared?
Bummed in Ohio
Dear Bummed,
There is a world of difference in utilizing modern conveniences and depending on modern conveniences to sustain us. That’s the difference in a prepper mindset. Let’s be honest – I love my Facebook page and smartphone. It enables me to keep up with the lives of my children who live in another state and helps me navigate modern life more easily.
However…
Unlike those victims of Hurricane Sandy who were actually going through “cell phone withdrawal” (as reported in the news), I would never allow myself to be that dependent on a modern electronic device. I would never allow myself to become so helpless that I couldn’t function without some computer-operated machine telling me what to do.
That being said, perhaps there’s compromise between convenience and your husband’s vision. If you can afford it, it wouldn’t hurt to own a vehicle that was pre-computer chip or electronic ignition. If you’re happy with the public utilities, that’s great. It wouldn’t hurt to have a backup well on the property, however (if you have the room), as well as a solar generator on standby for power outages. The issue isn’t whether we use modern conveniences—it’s how much we depend on them. If dependence isn’t an issue, then enjoying the conveniences of the modern age isn’t either.
The Editor
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