re: #94 Targetpractice

“I’m prepared to go off-grid in case things go bad!”

“So what are you planning to use: solar or wind?”

“I ain’t usin’ none of that hippie crap! I got a diesel generator with a huge tank and…”

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Yup, subsistence farming. (Grown just for the farmer and his family.)

That means dropping out of the cash economy. No ability to buy diesel fuel or repair parts. Or the vinegar, or bottles required to preserve food for storage. Get sick or old and they can no longer work land. If they had any land, they have to sell it to survive for a little longer. Aka rural poverty.

I knew of a bunch of folks from my grandparents’ generation who couldn’t get out of the rural poverty trap. Anyone who grew up in rural areas probably remembers folks on the margins. There was always a bit of sharing with them. But also often they were ostracized because of concerns that they might drag one’s own family/support group down through the very thin margin of survival.