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Shawn
Shawn
12 years ago

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!

BeninMA
BeninMA
12 years ago
Reply to  Shawn

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.

Tom
Tom
12 years ago

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
Tom
11 years ago

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.

steve
steve
12 years ago

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.

carl
carl
12 years ago

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.

Head Farm Steward
12 years ago

When you think of the good old days, think ‘dentistry’.
-P. J. O’Rourke

Doodle
Doodle
12 years ago

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.

Steven
Steven
12 years ago

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.

steve
steve
12 years ago
Reply to  Steven

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

Samuel Kordik
Samuel Kordik
12 years ago
Reply to  Steven

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.

Ben
Ben
12 years ago

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

Tim_NZ
Tim_NZ
12 years ago

Great show as per usual.

Just a heads up however. Polish lancers never attacked tanks – that was just a piece of German propaganda. See:

http://www.historynet.com/polish-cavalry-charges-tanks.htm

or try Google. Even Wikipedia has good coverage to this (With references):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_cavalry

Cheers

Shawn
Shawn
12 years ago

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

Eric
Eric
12 years ago

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.

lisapaintergirl
lisapaintergirl
12 years ago

“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