Self Sufficiency, 1970s

Start a 1-Acre, Self-Sufficient Homestead

Expert advice on how to establish self-sufficient food production, including guidance on crop rotations, raising livestock and grazing management.

By John Seymour

Illustration by Dorling Kindersley

Can I watch a great film knowing the actresses in it were terrorized and mistreated the entire time? Can I watch a football game knowing that the players are getting brain injuries right before my eyes? Can I listen to my favorite albums anymore knowing that the singers were all beating their wives in between studio sessions? Can I eat at the new fancy taco place knowing when the building that used to be there got bulldozed eight families got kicked out of their homes so they could be replaced with condos and a chain restaurant? Can I wear the affordable clothes I bought downtown that were probably assembled in a sweatshop with child labor? Can I eat quinoa? Can I eat this burger? Can I drink this bottled water? Can I buy a car and drive to work because I’m sick of taking an hour each way on the subway? Whose bones do I stand on? Whose bones am I standing on right now? 

Little things that help moods:

- getting enough sunshine - opening the curtains - eating regular meals - short walks with your favourite music - don’t stay up until 3am - don’t try to relate to tumblr text posts - get off tumblr/social media if it’s unhealthy - shower - don’t stay in bed the whole day - plan out your day - listen to music - change your clothes - set yourself small goals - say yes to fun events - drink water, it takes 5 seconds - talk to a close friend - remind yourself: a bad mood can lie to you - you’re not unwanted or hopeless - you deserve love so be nice to yourself

Hey, listen: We’re not gonna get anywhere with this “socialism” stuff unless we can establish solidarity networks that provide real, tangible aid. And I do mean “tangible” in the sense of “you can fill up a box with it.”

Back in the old-timey days, when we didn’t have things like a minimum wage or government assistance, folks didn’t think twice about paying union dues every month out of their meager paychecks. And in those days, when it was a regular, everyday occurrence for union people to get beat up or outright murdered for their union-ing, the unions still managed to win a lot of their fights. Reason for all that? The bigger part of them union dues I mentioned *went into a strike fund*.

Time on a picket line means time off the clock. And as for me, in this economy, if I go a week without a check, my family don’t eat. I go two weeks without a check, and we’re homeless. And them’s the brakes.

capitalism is fucking scary because it will commodify literally anything. it commodifies the rebellion culture that is supposed to strike against the system but capitalism turns it into “punk rock”. it commodifies spirituality to make you buy self help books that teaches you to stay away from capitalism. it commodifies minimalism and makes you buy things to maintain your minimalist aesthetic. it commodifies global warming, one of the deadliest consequences of capitalism itself and guilt trips you into buying “green products”. it commodifies itself and creates the idea that vanity is fashionable. it will eat everything up.

Outsiders are not not saving a language by learning it.

While I’m personally grateful services like Tribalingual exist, creating some academic access to Indigenous languages, particularly for Indigenous diaspora (if they can afford it), I’m extremely dubious of the notion that a outsiders learning an Indigenous language is somehow “saving” it. There was a testimonial from some white American girl learning Ainu itak, and she spoke of it as if she were collecting some rare Pokemon card before it went out of print or something, framing it in typical dying Native rhetoric. What is she going to do with Ainu itak, except as some obscure lingual trophy?

If you want to save a language, save the people.

Language means nothing without history and culture breathing life into it, and in turn we are disconnected from our history and ancestors without it. Support Indigenous quality of life, ACCESS to quality education, quality health services (mental and physical), land and subsistence rights, CLEAN DRINKING WATER, advocate against police brutality and state violence, DEMAND ACTION FOR MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN.

Damn, if you really want to “save the language” pay for an Indigenous person’s classes for them to reconnect to their mother tongues. I’m not saying outsiders shouldn’t learn languages they’re invited to learn, but don’t pretend like you learning conversational Ainu itak is saving it from extinction.

low impact places around the world

belgium, europe

bhutan, asia

“bhutan mantains this by making the country a carbon sick and has set world records for planting the most trees per hour. they’re also aiming for zero net greenhouse gas emissions and zero-waste by 2030 as well as 100% organic food production. the bhutanese government has also formed a partnership with nissan to provide thousands of electric cars to the country” - @greenmatters on instagram 

it also probably helps that tourists are very limited and it is intentionally not as easy to travel there.

chile, south america

china, asia

“china recently announced they would spend more than $360 billion on renewable energy through 2020″ - @greenmatters on instagram, june 29, 2017

colombia, south america

“colombia is the first country in latin america, and the third country in the world, to pledge to produce deforestation-free coca. the pledge is part of the cocoa and forest initiative, which ghan and cote d’ivoire have also signed.” - @greenmatters on instagram

costa rica, central america

“costa rica’s renewable energy comes from hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar” - @greenmatters on instagram

egypt, africa

england, europe

ethiopia, africa

“energy produced by the new geothermal power plants will be used locally and exported to surrounding countries in africa” - @greenmatters on instagram 

france, europe

“instead of throwing away or destroying unsold clothing, france may pass legislation to make clothing companies donate or repurpose items in an eco-friendly way.” - @greenmatters on instagram

INSTEAD, they should make efforts to not overproduce. donating clothes should be thoughtful. many times, when clothes are donated abroad to “developing” countries, it destroys their local economy and opportunities for local clothing stores to sell their clothes cheaply enough. it is good to think of ways to responsibly get rid of “waste” and excess we do create, but the first step should be to stop the excess from being produced in the first place. #preventative measures.

india, asia

ireland, europe

“the irish state investment fund holds more than 300 euros in fossil fuel investments in 150 companies. the bill defines a fossil fuel company as a compnay that derives 20% or more of its revenue from exploration, extraction, or refinement of fossil fuels. the bill also allows investment in irish fossil fuel companies if this funds their move away from fossil fuels” - @greenmatters on instagram

germany, europe

new zealand

“new zealand hopes to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2035″ - @greenmatters on instagram 

palau

“the pledge is tamped on every visitor’s passport and must be signed before entry into the 13th smallest country in the world. palau’s hoping the pledge will help guests understand the vital role they play in protecting palau for future generations” - @greenmatters on instagram 

peru, south america

scotland, europe

“scotland has hit its 2020 emission target five years early and has gone from 10% to 60% of its electricity consumption from clean sources over the past 15 years” - @greenmatters on instagram 

sweden, europe

“so far, sweden is on track to meet their 2030 goals nine years early, thanks to a surge in wind power installations” - @greenmatters on instagram

united states of america, north america

maui, hawaii, usa, north america

san francisco, california, usa, north america

nebraska, usa (winnebago tribe), north america

“the tribe started to transition towards renewable energy over a decade ago and now has 400 kW of installed solar panels. by switching to solar power, their saving roughly $46,000 annually on electricity” - @greenmatters on instagram

minneapolis, michigan, usa, north america

“minneapolis, minnesota is the next city in the united states to commit to a goal of running on 100% renewable energy. they plan to have all their city facilities running on clean power by 2022 and the entire city by 2030. the [sierra club] notes that minneapolis is now the 65th city in the country placing folly renewable goals” - @greenmatters on instagram 

new york, usa, north america

“[governor cuomo] says the offshore wind farm will be critical to help new york state reach their goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050. in total, the wind development will generate 2.4 gigawatts of clean power.” - @greenmatters on instagram 

“the money will fund 26 large-scale projects that will help new york reach its goal of using 50% renewable energy by 2030″ - @greenmatters on instagram 

denton, texas, usa, north america

“the city of denton (pop. 130k) will install enough solar and wind to power everything by 2020. currently, georgetown, tx (30 miles north of austin) has the title of the largest community (60k) that relies on renewable energy in the u.s.” - @greenmatters on instagram 

taiwan, republic of china

“to prepare their citizens for the plastic ban, the taiwanese government will be adding additional charges to plastic straws, utensils, cups and containers over the next several years. additionally, the taiwanese government will be launching a number of marine clean-up programs. currently, the average taiwan citizen uses 700 plastic bags per year” - @greenmatters on instagram 

wales, europe

“the welsh government has spent roughly $10.4M to improve recycling services through their collaborative change programme, which gives local authorities money to improve recycling programs in the way they think best. by working closely with citizens, who are thrilled by the zero-waste goal, wales could show the world that a country can accomplish extraordinary things when the will of the people is supported by the government” - @greenmatters on instagram 

copyright infringement is not intended, simply trying to share credited work that will help make the world a better place to live a quality life

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