Comments

Episode-1059- The Evolving Meaning of a Self Sufficient Lifestyle — 20 Comments

  1. Jack
    I am in NJ but considering a move to PA….I see the writing on the wall. What part of PA did you live in? I am looking around the Coopersburg / Hellertown area …5+ acres with a surface water feature….
    Thanks for all you do!

    • PA is better but it isn’t what it used to be. You can get a carry permit a lot easier then NJ and they are not likely to pass a state level ban on anything but the idiots in Philly are dragging the state deeper into liberal idiocy on a daily basis.

      Keep in mind this is a state where coal is a major industry and 1,000,000 people hunt deer every year and these idiots have now gone for Obama twice. Obama is no 2A friend as we know and he has practically declared war on coal. How the state could swing for him twice staggers the mind.
      They also voted for Kerry, Gore and twice for Bill Clinton. The last time PA went republican was 1988!

      Now you know me I think the whole thing is a scam but most voters don’t, if you have a state with 1,000,000 deer hunters along with being a state that is also majorly dependent on the coal industry and they vote democrat in 6 election cycles you really have to look deeply at that.

      PA is full of blue collar people many of whom were beaten down over the last 4 decades. Full of people on food stamps and disability checks. It is sad for me to admit, some of the people there are the best people in the world but it has fallen a long way since my high school days. My dad calls his area a “white man’s ghetto” (his words not mine).

      There is a lot of good in PA but a lot of problems too, they keep raising the state income tax, the capital city (Harrisburg) is bankrupt and the dependency roles are very deep. I can’t tell you how much it hurts me to say this but I would not move back to PA today.

      Again it is better than NJ and if you can pull off that move I can understand why you would. If you can pull off PA but can’t do say NH or WV, I would say it is a good move over NJ but I don’t highly endorse it.

      Let’s talk about the good though for a minute.

      Soil Quality – Some of the most fertile soil in the world.

      Farm Land – Tons of it, many farmers are very welcoming to responsible hunters that ask permission as well.

      Game Land – millions of acres of public hunting lands

      People – despite my above comments rural PA is made up of some of the best people in the world. Even those on the dole are just flat beaten down on the way blue collar economy was destroyed in PA.

      I grew up in Minersville and Pottsville both are in Schuylkill County. Amazing hunting and fishing, great people but half the people are great and half are living off the government.

      Just understand it is better than where you are and that may be good enough but I would seriously consider other options if at all possible.

      If I was personally going to move back to PA I would consider Central Western PA between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh or northern PA around like Cameron or Pike County. Those areas are very rural and made up of people that still know how to live off the land. If it all goes to shit most of those people likely won’t know or care.

      To me the real problem for PA and all north east states, including NH is no matter how hard they try to stay liberty minded they are surrounded by the worst idiocy in the US. NYC, Maryland, NJ, CT, RI and MA. Hell not to mention OH to the west.

      Again I don’t mean to insult anyone in those states, I know amazing folks in all of them, they are just vastly outnumbered by people that believe in big government.

      Part of me will always love the coal region and the mountains I grew up hunting and fishing in. Again I can’t tell you how much it really does hurt me to admit the current direction of my home state.

    • Jack, it might be interesting to do in-depth shows with real estate agents from various states that specialize in working with preppers who are looking for property. I don’t know how common it is, but I’ve heard there’s at least one agent in Maine who does this.

  2. Jack, you made a statement that we shouldn’t turn our backs on technology because if we do then we’ll be like the gallant Polish cavalry that gave the Polish people the reputation for being so dumb when they (cavalry) charged a German tank brigade with their wooden lances. You really should do your research before making these kinds of statements. What you’re doing is propagating a myth about the battlefield action which took place that day as well as labeling an entire nationality as dumb because of it. Do the British have a reputation as dumb for their cavalry’s Charge of the Light Brigade? Please check out these reference links:
    http://www.historynet.com/1939-polish-cavalry-vs-german-panzers.htm
    and: http://www.polamjournal.com/Library/APHistory/Cavalry_Myth/cavalry_myth.html
    You’ll also note from these articles that Polish artillery pieces were in some instances better than their German counterparts. Additionally, the Polish Maroszek WZ35 anti-tank rifle had a muzzle velocity of 4000 feet per second and could penetrate the armor of any German tank. After the fall of the Polish government, these rifles were appropriated by German soldiers and used by them because these Polish rifles were SUPERIOR to their own. You should know, more than most, that the victor gets to write history ( and spread propaganda), and as a result, this is what we get….70 years of it.

    • @Tom get off your bullshit! The facts are the cavalry fight tanks and men were on horses with lances in this fight, sorry you can’t change that and it was a bad move. Second I never labeled anyone as anything, I said history did so, and it did.

      I’ll tell you what when people disagree with me I don’t mind, tell me I am wrong I don’t mind, etc. But you are putting words in my mouth and that pisses me off. When did I say the Polish where stupid people? I never did and frankly you are flat out lying when you claim that, if we were face to face such things likely would result in more then just words.

      It actually appears that are correct about the charging being a myth. Wow great I learned something I always thought that was true, I even was taught that in high school so blame the education system not me. But for pete sake, you know you are full of shit claiming I labeled anyone as anything. I almost didn’t even research your links due to your need to put words in my mouth. VERY few things piss me off more than that.

      Either quote me verbatim stating that I am saying all Poles are stupid or apologize for it.

      • Jack; a belated response to your reply. At 15:44-15:58 you said (and I am quoting you verbatim), “If we turn our back on technology then we’re like the gallant Polish cavalry that gave the Polish people the reputation for being so dumb.” I heard no words from you indicating that history “said” this. Where are the references regarding what history “said”? You have to realize that when you repeat a myth, you are reinforcing it in the minds of your audience. Prior to your rendition of this battlefield action, I was unaware that the Polish people had a reputation for being dumb. When I think of Polish people I think of Pope John Paul II, Marie Curie, Thaddeus Kosciusko, Casimir Pulaski, Frederick Chopin and Lech Walesa. Hardly a bunch of dummies.

  3. You talk about where to live a lot lately. One way this can make a huge difference is if one goes bankrupt. The homestead exemption, where you live now, Texas, you can keep your house if you bankrupt. In Missouri, where I live, you only can keep up to $15,000 worth of value in you home.

    I know no one wants to go bankrupt, but it happens and this would make a huge difference.

    Check my facts, but I think I am correct.

  4. Good points. We are looking at property now and find it difficult to find a house in a decent area with a few acres that has high speed Internet without an HOA. It can be found but is rather difficult. I have seen some of the rules that HOAs come up with and we want none of it.

  5. We moved this past October…and I cannot begin to count the times I stated that I didn’t want to do it (pack) anymore…I was not even half joking, I meant every word, I just didn’t have a choice (or so I thought). After all was said and done, I swear, if I ever have to move again I’m having a ‘make offer, open house garage sale’ what I can’t sell, or give away, I’m going to set on fire!!! The garage is STILL full of full boxes.

  6. Jack or anyone else out there in tx

    So I’ve been itching to move out of seattle area for reasons jack stated. I’m thinking of the edges of San Antonio. I work in medicine so I need to be within 40 mins of my work. Any suggestions from anyone on where to look around San Antonio? I don’t want to be I the San Antonio city limits.

    • Don’t know that area well, Texas is a BIG state as you may know. All I can say is San Antonio has “THE ARMY HOSPITAL” in the form of Ft Sam Houston. Don’t know if that matters but they employ a lot of civilians.

    • my mom lives in New Braunfels. It is between Austin and San Antonio. It is a great little town. You can get to San Antonio in about a half hour I think. Also you can get to Austin pretty quick, a bit more then a half hour though. New Braunfels has two rivers. It is a vacation type town. My mom loves it there.

      hope that helps some

    • Steven, I’d say look at the Houston area. There is the largest concentration of hospitals in the world in the Texas Medical Center and many, many jobs in the healthcare field in the area—of course, it helps that Houston is one of the largest cities in the country. I know Houston and Harris County, being so urban, scares a lot of people, but I work in Harris County (as a paramedic) and live in Montgomery County. You can probably work anywhere in medicine in the Houston area and still live outside Harris County.

      Listening to this episode, I thought of many, many areas in outlying Harris County and in some of the neighboring counties that fit Jack’s description perfectly: neighborhoods with some land, good neighbors, no HOA, and already full of independent people who lean in the self-sufficiency direction.

  7. Have not listened yet, but I had to add my 2 cents on fantasy of returning to a low tech world.

    To add to some of what Jack has already said several times, basements across the nation(and world) are littered with college science and engineering text books filled with more information than Edison had to work with. It would not take bright people long to put them to use after a Hollywood fantasy style collapse.

    That does not mean we would build it the same way, however. Having worked as an utility engineer for 13 years, I can assure you that the current bulk power and distribution system is not the preferred way to go, it is just what we have to work with now. What we would do, given the opportunity to redo, is a very interesting discussion. Can’t wait to listen.

    – Ben

    • Thanks for just explaining that and not accusing me of labeling all Poles as stupid like a previous commenter. It is surprising to learn things you always thought true to be wrong. Hell I was taught this in school. I never doubted it as the history teacher didn’t “walk the line” he often said, this is the story in your book, here is what we know really happened. Just shows we can all be wrong at times.

  8. Jack
    Thanks for all the insite. My biggest problem is I need to be close to Jersey…I just don’t want to live in it anymore. I really like Ottsville or Coopersberg area. I looked up in Wayne & Pike….farm land is harder to find and the temps drop a lot. Any PA TSP members that have any thoughts on the area? I also agree that a show on states and their pluses and minuses would be great.
    Hope you are settling in well in TX

  9. Great episode. I loved your rant about HOAs. I lived under the control of one for about four years and I thought Hitler had returned from the grave! We moved WAY out of town to 40 acres to get away from the control. You’re nailed it when you said some people love being controlled and love controlling other peoples’ lives.

    Now, my family are all-in for prepping and doing the most we can to be able to live without government (or HOA) intervention. And heck no, I will NOT answer or send in the agricultural survey that states “required by law”. BS, there is no law that states I need to tell anyone what animals I raise, what plants I grow, etc.

  10. “Ever since a man with a sack of grain met a man with a sack of meat- there’s been commerce.” – Jack Spirko
    love it