Eight or Nine years ago I noticed a huge uptick in the numbers of rural folks around here. Seemed like everyone was attempting to move into the country on a few acres of land, start a garden and raise a couple of goats. There was a new house, trailer or something being put in every quarter mile it seemed and many of the old land owners around here were parceling out all the property they had that faced the roads.
These days a few of these little pre-fab type houses are sitting empty. The trailers have been moved somewhere and the gardens are now overgrown mini-fields.
Perhaps this is just localized to my general area or something. It may even have something to do with the wet, humid terrible conditions we have had this Summer. Lord knows I have thought about throwing in the towel on many things this year it has been so tough and many things I kept up in previous years I have let go but I never thought about selling out and moving.
Prepping, or more to the point homesteading and sustaining is not a cheap endeavor especially in the short to mid term. Many fail to understand that what you are really doing is creating a savings account in many ways. These days sustainers are tasked with living in one world and preparing for another which has some real advantages but some pretty big disadvantages as well.
The main disadvantage that I think many people fail to consider is that we are often using non-sustainable resources and technology to create a homestead that can continue on it's own more or less once those resources are removed. As an example my use of older yet long term unsustainable tractors and implements. While in an extended grid down situation they would more than likely end up rusting away due to a parts or fuel shortage until such time arrives they are invaluable as tools to build and form things that will last long after inputs and resources are so easily obtained.
Bottom line maintenance costs seem to disillusion a number of small scale preppers and homesteaders I see around here. They focus so much on the upcoming long term they fail to account for the short and midterm emergencies that arrive and end up placing themselves in a financial bind before they can accomplish their goals.
Another disadvantage I have seen is an over reliance on current resource inputs that are not under the prepper's actual control. Most often this one, and I have witnessed it happening more than a few times over the recent years, boils down to one family member (usually the Husband) having a well paying job that he loses in this ever shrinking economy. This initially causes the first mentioned failure and then the entire house of cards falls apart.
As I have stated over and over. The largest single factor working against Sustainers and homesteaders today is the fact that we must live in two worlds until one (the current world) releases it's grip far enough that we are forced to move totally into the other.
It's a problem I see playing out around me lately. Perhaps others have noticed this as well in their areas?
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!
I have noticed that people are less interested in the topic, and the pendulum is moving towards prepping being a fringe behavior.
ReplyDeleteTime is sifting out the real homesteaders from the "wanna be" ones perhaps? I am personally at my limit of what I can keep up with as a not-so-young woman whose husband doesn't help with day to day hobby farming chores. He does run a successful business that provides funds for me to develop/maintain my little hobby farm, so I am not complaining. But I see so many MORE things that could be done around my place if someone else caught the vision. Until that happens, I will continue tending my small goat herd, chicken flock, organic garden, and other permaculture to the best of my ability. And don't worry, if my hubby's business goes belly up, I've got a cool quarter million set aside to tide us over...
ReplyDeleteI think it is several reasons, one being the short attention span of modern Americans, another being the "chicken little" syndrome. People have been warning bad things are coming for ten years that I am aware of so when some people see another prepper article they think "yeah, yeah" I've heard it all before. I look at the news and see what is going on and I know now is not the time to slack up, we need to be more concerned than ever. I don't post as much on my blog as in the past, I feel like I am just wasting my breath. When I speak to people in real life, usually they just look at me like I have three heads. I've reached the point I can't worry about everyone else, I just need to take care of my own and let everyone else worry about themselves.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching a prepper show on TV years ago and laughing at how much ammo they wasted and how they were eating MREs, I saw very few actually doing any work and raising sustainable food. My goal is to be sustainable and prepping is only part of the lifestyle. As I get older, it is all I can do to maintain a large garden and keep a supply of firewood. I work a part time job but found that the more money I make the more I am punished by obama care while at the same time getting less medical options. Luckily I am so far not on medication like all the other old guys. I would really like to work for less money somewhere if paid in cash.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I have mostly gone silent on my blog as I don't want to call attention to myself as things deteriorate. The weather has caused several crop failures over the years so I have been working on developing plants and methods that fit the climate here. The problem once was long dry summers but now we get periods of too much rain which seems more destructive than drought because of the plant diseases.
The amount of work involved may be a factor in less prepping if they actually worked, it was a fad for many. I could use about 2 more guys to really make things work around here but that isn't going to happen so I am doing the bare minimum but learning a whole lot.
could it be that now that B.O. term is done, folks think things will get better???
ReplyDeleteWith the two choices we have now for President? HAHAHA! No way.
Deletei agree that a lot of "so-called" preppers have just kind of dropped off the radar...and i agree with your different reasons. a lot of people also thought they could make a ton of money selling/distributing thrive foods and mountain house....but only a few of those who got in right in the beginning seem to have made any money. in addition, i think that a lot of people get a cow, 3 acres, throw some seeds on the ground and then realize just doing that means milking twice a day, calving, weeding, gardening and it's easier just to move back to the city or suburbs where food is still plentiful in stores and they can just buy gadgets.
ReplyDeletemy island has seen a decrease in population and farms for the last 40 years. i remember as a young girl my father taking us on drives out here (framboise) and there were farms and animals everywhere. i was shocked when we bought our land to see not one single farm still standing and not a farm animal to be seen. all of the elderly folk here think it is great that we are trying to grow our own food, fish and hunt and they tell us about 40 years ago when they were all still farming. but not anymore. outside of our friend d who is struggling with his blueberry farm - no one is growing food! and everyone is leaving the island and moving to the cities. i say congrats to them - less people to have to teach about growing food if/when the shtf!
sending love buddy! your friend,
kymber
I too have written about the number of families who have had to abandon our own rural area in the past few years. I don't think that the prepper movement is in trouble, but I think so many families ARE that they are having to relocate and scale back. There are a lot of very nice prepper palaces for sale in very rural locations also. Great post !
ReplyDeleteprepping never really took hold in the UK,although many people I speak to since moving rural seem to have an interest in self reliance, we are working towards a self reliance life its all a big learning curve and a lot of what I researched and tried out on a small scale before our move has come in handy and I dont feel out of my depth.
ReplyDeleteWe are increasingly finding that people think we are off our heads to do what we do in regards to homesteading. Too much hard work, is what they think. Prepping does not exist here in France either, although France is very keen on bio culture, and seem to be aware of the quality of the food they eat.
ReplyDeleteI believe there are several factors. I think that for some, once they realized it was an ongoing process, bailed. For some, maybe they felt it wasn't a good use of resources. Most my friends don't believe in prepping. I will continue to do so.
ReplyDeleteYes the Prepper movement has died off. Eight or so years ago it was in vogue, a cool thing to do. But as they began prepping most all of them realized it takes a lot of planning, money and effort to prep for even just thirty days and most have no other source than bottled water for drinking to last more than one week! I think the biggest problem that crushed the prepper movement was the Discovery Channel with their Doomsday Series. This series only focus on the extreme fringe preppers (for ratings) who most then didn’t want to be grouped into, so they abandoned prepping or told no one about their prepping.
ReplyDeleteI call myself (and am) a "practical prepper." I started prepping by saying "what if the lights go out," and built from there. Many people I know don't prep (though many others surprisingly DO!), but I rarely get "You're not running on all eight" from anyone...
DeleteMaybe a combination of things? Overalarmism for some for sure; for others, I think they are simply they are simply going dark as things get worse.
ReplyDeleteAnd sustainability is a good point. In some ways perhaps "Prepping" is a misnomer for what we ultimately want to accomplish. But it is a lot more difficult than just buying things and waiting for the end; it is establishing and then maintaining. And yes, it is hard work. A lot more work than is contained in the word "Prepping".
The "going dark" thing entered my mind as well...
DeleteA lot of prepping behaviors, particularly part time farming activities, have gone so mainstream that they aren't really thought of as "prepping" anymore. Granted, this is not full blown self sustainable farming, but still, it just shows how trends can shift around in the way people conceptualize them.
ReplyDeleteThe one item I would add to the difficulties of homesteading is that a lot of folks who have had the money to do it are aging out. People didn't farm into their sixties and seventies because they usually didn't last that long. If you sink your retirement into a homestead farm, people can start getting nervous when they push into their sixties.
Having a job that can be pretty physical myself, I am aware that I need to put myself in a possession where that is not such a big part of the job down the road.
I think you hit the nail on the head, PP; having to live in two worlds is a very difficult space to stay in, long term. I work a 40-hour week. Aside from doing the house maintenance, car repair, yard maintenance, etc, which any man worth his salt needs to do, day to day, there are the vegetable and herb gardens to deal with. There are the chickens. There are the fruit trees (I'm not set up very well for larger livestock). It's hard to counter the argument whereby someone says "Why spend all that time dealing with chickens when your job allows you the luxury of buying eggs from the store?" The same goes for the gardening. My counter is always "I'm doing this so that I'll know how to do it when I HAVE to do it." It is indeed tiring, and yes, sometimes I feel like saying "The hell with it; if the world goes off the rails, I'll die with the rest of 'em!" A while back though (around 2009), while in prayer, I was told that something was coming that would turn the world "on its ear," and that I needed to prepare for it. Ever since then, I've tried to do just that. Sometimes, when I get tired and am feeling my 55 years, I start doubting what I heard. It was too real though; too "out of the blue."
ReplyDeleteYes; prepping is hard work. Yes; people will say "Even if something does happen; it doesn't mean you actually got forewarning. Even a stopped clock is right, twice a day." True, indeed. One can believe I had forewarning or not. As for the "stopped clock" thing; What difference will it make if the event was foretold or just coincidence? The event will have occurred, and I'll (hopefully) be ready for it, while the doubters won't...
It is hard work, and I think a lot of people didn't realize how hard. I know there are days when my husband just wants to buy a couple years worth of Mountain House and not deal with all the grow-your-own issues, even though I do the large majority of the gardening. I know we are knocking down this ancient "farmhouse" (hovel) and replacing it with a doublewide in the spring, and that is seriously biting into a lot of out preps and plans... not just the money, but the loss of the big wood cookstove, until we can save the money for an addition to the doublewide where we can place it and use it again. It means being dependent on propane again of heat and cooking, instead of the wood stove full of wood from the woodlot. It's the feeling of two steps forward and then three steps back. I think some people are overwhelmed by this and just slowly quit. I'm not quitting, but I'm not making the progress toward sustainability and independence that I thought I would - I've had to extend the timeline significantly... like right up until I'm dead, I think.
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ReplyDeletemobiles need to be tied down on account of high winds. also heard they are not always as long lasting as a stick built. don't know if that is true.
need a basement or a storm shelter for tornadoes. basement with reinforced storm room is standard.
have you seen the shipping container made into underground housing? two birds with one stone.
I think the amount of work is a surprise to a lot of would be preppers. We have a couple down the road from us who want to grow their own food but are now complaining about the work and being tied down to the care of the livestock [chickens]. We get tired too but when I get jars of canning and make a meal that is 90% home grown we know its worth the effort. The glossy magazines always show the pretty photos of fresh harvested vegetables but not the sweating to repair a machine or dealing with hornworm stripped tomatoes or chasing raccoons out of your corn patch. It takes determination and foresight to be prepared for the tough times.
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