In the next few or several years it seems reasonable to conclude that it will become economically and technologically feasible for large numbers of people to live “off the grid.” As the costs for oil, gas, coal and other sources of power go up, the relative cost of alternates such as solar go down. The fact that people could do this, doesn’t mean they will. Herein lies the rub for sustainable development and green living. Part of the costs which go into the equation are for land. The more remote and inaccessible, the cheaper the land and hence better odds for economic feasibility. Mother Earth News is a magazine that has been in existence at least since my college days in the 1970s. It was during that period that Earth Day began, the ecology movement became popular and young people dreamed of escaping to communal farms to grow their own food, make their own clothes, etc. While the 21st century offers greater technology at lesser cost to help facilitate such a change in lifestyle, there seems to have been no massive shift in the sentiment of the general population to embrace this change over the past 30-40 years. Yes, there are those who have started their little farmettes, raising llamas or alpacas, growing fruits and vegetables for their own use and selling them at farmer’s markets. As diverse as the population of the U.S. may be be, one has only to examine the mass media–television, books and movies to see how the commonality of our social existence. People like to socialize–whether it be at sports events, picnics, churches, political events, bars, etc. Living the remote life may simply not be that appealing to many. But I paint too simple a picture. More on this on posts to come.
Tags: ecology, living off the land, mass media, socializing with others, solar power, sustainable development, technology
Leave a Reply