The Why of Homesteading and Subsistence Farming

Fulfillment, and Rebellion

2022 May 26

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Robert A. Heinlein

Introduction

I wrote a blog post back in ‘14, the first one, “In the Beginning” or some such title, about the property and moving closer to the land. In that post I was not totally forthcoming, though I did touch on both of the fundamental reasons why I wanted, “needed” is actually a better word, to check out of the world as we knew it. Loss of the “man card” somewhere along the way, assuming I had one in the first place, which is not altogether in evidence, is the easiest to explain, and for now I will let what I wrote “In the Beginning” stand as-is; somewhere deep inside I knew Heinlein was on the mark. The other reason is perhaps less easily communicated, more easily misconstrued, and infinitely more complex, so I will spend a bit more time on that.