Mensch

Ha Ha Ha -- if it was not so sad -- that is just about what will be in the offing

Waiting is hard, but so far I have not heard of a solution that is viable. There was the mention of "somebody with money". Who? People with a lot of money do not need a gulch populated by a bunch of people who depend on their money. Building this dream would require enormous funds no matter where it would be. The more remote, the more funds are needed. Funds that can not be created by a few people living on a barter system (which it would have to be) in their gulch. This dream exists in a vacuum.

Maybe you should look at all the responses carefully. Might it be that there is a clue for you? Going off on your own and living in the woods is great if you like to do so, but apparently there were no people here that would like to join you. Each person has their own preferences, so don't be disappointed if nobody wants what you want. Just because there are many here that strive to live by the same philosophy does not make us of one mold. So, have fun building your place and maybe along the way you will find some like minded people. Be the pioneer if you wish and provide the first steps to your very own gulch

I too am sad when animals have to die needlessly, but humans come first. So protecting us is more important than weeping over a few mammals that might die in order to make our lives more safe. Same old story with the irrational Viros that emote otherwise.

Never watched the show, but judging from the snippets of the ads or the ends of the show while waiting for another, the House character seems very self conscious with a forced wit. I do not care for the character.

Oh my

Yes indeed. This idea of a gulch is unrealistic and should not occur to people who claim to have adapted reason as their guide for living. It is a wish that sounds so very nice but is ignoring reality and how things are changed

Welcome Timeless You will be glad to find many like minded people here. I also joined just recently and find myself at home already.

Exactly

I actually always liked the idea of living isolated in the woods where I would have to rely on myself to do all things, but only for a short while. I pretty much have the skills that are required, I learned those just in case. But knowing how to do such things does not mean that I want to do so permanently. For me knowing those skills is like an insurance policy, that is all. I do not dream of living primitive. A plane would not help either. I love shopping. I love having a hospital near by. I love buying my food and not having to grow or gather or raise or hunt it. If you live the way you describe there is nothing else possible, time would not be there to do much else. Galt's gulch really was more of a metaphor, the book is fiction, remember? I had a friend back in Germany who took AS very serious without understanding the philosophy behind it. In the end he committed suicide because he got so distraught by reality, he could not take it any longer. He kept calling here night after night to build a gulch. Of course he was very irrational and would not understand that self sacrifice is not a base to build an ideal upon. I admire the way the pioneers endured the hardships they endured and some of them even succeeded. I was born right after WWII in Germany. We had hardship plenty. I would not wish this on anybody and certainly would not willingly give up what I have gained. Working from within is really the only option we have. Going into the woods or onto the sea without having huge funds to get all equipment and personal that one might be needing is only a dream that makes you feel good for a moment. But reality of what that means is in the end your master

Gaming is fun, it keeps the child in me alive. It can also be challenging in a fun way, there are no responsibilities that I have to win, although I fight for it every time I also agree with JMeganSnow that simply hanging out for small talk is just not my cup of tea.

"Mystics never die". Great title for a book I think…

Joe the Plumber might. But he has a real streak of "get the darn Government off my back" in him. So I would not agree with you in this assessment. It is true that to a great extent people have accepted that it is their duty to pay taxes and follow the rules about gun ownership and drugs and look at people like us as outsiders or even anarchists (since they do not really know what anarchist means). But there are a lot of people who wait in the wings to seize an opportunity to change things. I live on an island, here most people are more freedom loving, as most people who choose to live on islands are. Maybe that would be a solution for you, to move within your country where you find more of an agreement on those issues. I also have no problem dealing with people that have another ideology, most still have some values that are appealing. It happens to be though that I love being by myself, so there is not much contact anyway. I find it much better to be here where I live than going through all the trouble settling where I "might" find what I would like to have. My husband and I have discussed this often, we are independent job wise (internet), but we decided against such a move because we do not want to give up what this country has to offer still, as bad as the raping of us all is. Sure does But is that not the case for thinkers and creators anyhow? I have looked into that, but oh the discomfort and inconvenience for a gain that is not all that great. Those attempts are limited in scope, they are not a real example of what countries of a larger size would have to do to achieve this freedom we all dream about. I stick to working from the inside, hollow out that old rotten wood and make it collapse. I do that by engaging young people, make them aware that there are options other than what they know. Agree with you Zip. Libertarians do not have what it takes to defend their ideas, there is a vacuum where philosophy needs to be. I would never join them to start a country, they base their decisions on pragmatism and would not hesitate to initiate force against their fellow man (taxes). Can you imagine the tariffs they would put on goods that we all would need living on one of those rust buckets? -------------------------------------- I do think that we should never give up our dream of having a truly free system in our respective countries. But going away and scraping a few pieces of land together so we might all suffer in unity is not the way to go. In developed countries there are enough rational people to carve out a decent life, even if those people do not share our kind of ideology. There is enough of an economic base to work from and eventually reason will have a chance. I have made myself independent enough to work from any place on earth, but I have chosen to stay in the US, because with all its flaws, it is still the best life that I can imagine to have. I have not amassed wealth, but I can live a very comfortable life here. I could not do so if I were to choose one of those ideas of separating into an enclave where any day some power lusting thug could come in and take all. Look at the waves of pirates now stealing anything that floats. One could defend against those people, but the cost would be prohibitive. Playing with the idea of starting a country from scratch is a great exercise, it might give us a chance to work through all the possibilities and how to set up such a thing in reality. Those principles can then be taken and applied in the real word. Do not forget that romantic notions often are lacking what it means to live within reality. Reality has a way of cutting down fantasies and wishes.

I think to retire for me would mean that my world would fall apart really. I have set up my life in such a way that I do what I love most. I have supported myself with this work for three and a half decades now. I never gave up, never took on a job, I bit myself through obstacles so that I could concentrate on improving my skills while also earning a living. At the beginning of my career I worked in big industry (car design), but the politics drove me nuts. So when I had the opportunity to quit I did just that. With the knowledge of how bad things can get working for a corporation, I planned on never having to do so again. I watched the other designers from back then as our lives flew by. They stuck it out and many are retired now. They all said that they wanted to have the security of a job, the benefits. They all said that they would in retirement do what they could not do on the side and wished they could. Most had big plans. And then reality hit. All the skills that were necessary to fulfill their dreams were not there. Life of leisure got in the way, illnesses started to pop up. Many became also just dull people, the daily grind of holding a job that became routine wore them down. There was a giving in to mediocrity for the sake of security. The fire went out. That is IMO the reason to really think about how to step into the world of jobs when young, life can grind people to a stump. Dreams get lost in this process of making enough income to have all the things one likes to have to live in comfort. It can be a vicious trap.

It is not going to be that bad. Obama will be a real pragmatist like Nixon was. Some of his collectivist ideas might be implemented, but even he (and his cohorts) can not see where the money for all of this is going to come from. They also know that they can not just print it and get away with it. Remember that Obama wants to have 2 terms, so he will be careful. Just because the new administration is left leaning does not mean that they are stupid. So it is not all just gloom and doom.