What Does Homesteading Say About You?
When I was growing up, my Father used to tell my brothers and I the decisions we make say more about us than the words we say. I remember hearing him say, “stealing makes you a thief and lying makes you liar.”
Life, as we all learn, is very rarely black and white. It is varying shades of grey.
As I got older, I remember him telling us that we are not our profession nor are we our possessions.
I remembered this when I turned 17 and joined the U.S. Army. My service did not make me special. And when I got my first nice car, neither did that. Being in the U.S. Army, at the end of the day, was how I paid my bills and my nice car got me to and from where I needed to be.
I am now a couple decades older and I homestead. The reasons are because it is important to know where my food comes from and what is in it (or not in it), there is independence in self-sufficiency and self-reliance, we are further removed from the daily grind of city-living, and we benefit or struggle as a direct result of our action or inaction.
Having a Bug-out Bag is ‘strange’ but we pay for car and homeowners insurance…hmm
What I love about interacting with homesteaders or preppers is that they are people that believe the individual is responsible for their own well-being and understand that it is not the government’s job to take care of us. What I have also found is that the longer someone has homesteaded, the more likely they are to align with the founding principles of the United States of America: ‘life, liberty, and property.'
This year, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Guardian all wrote about the irony of how preppers and homesteaders have been mocked for their lifestyles. That is until 2020 came and the unprepared were caught lacking and scrambling for basic provisions. Here at CampFIRE Homesteading, we reviewed the Atlantic’s article, highlighting the importance of people to be prepared and called for Preppers and Homesteaders alike to resist the urge to take a victory lap and be prepared to help those who failed to plan accordingly.
Homesteaders, in what I have found in interacting with them, do not like the long arm of the government in our lives, they do no support increased taxes on every aspect of our lives, they do not believe it is the role of the government to manage our individuals lives, and they certainly don’t agree with the notion that government should dictate what we can and cannot say or think.
In my personal opinion, Homesteaders are the closest thing to classical libertarians we have seen in the past 100 years.
Ask yourself a few questions about what you believe the role of government should be…
Should the government serve as the approving authority for an individual making improvements on their property or in their home?
Should the government increase your taxes because you own a nice home or have made improvements to your property?
Is the government responsible for protecting or defending people and their personal property?
In an emergency, is the government responsible for taking care of the individual?
Do you believe the harder you work and the more you make, the more the government should take from you in the form of taxes?
Does the government deserve a portion of the profit you make from your own labor and production?
In the event of a destabilizing crisis, have you taken steps to ensure you can weather the event (insurance, emergency preparedness, financial emergency fund), or is your plan to rely on others or the government for help?
I am not going to answer these questions for you. Give it a shot.
I don’t gamble, but I would wager that if the answers to these questions are in the affirmative, you are probably not a homesteader. Nor do I believe you would endeavor to homestead.
What I will say is that nearly every Homesteader we know fervently believes in individual liberty, self-reliance, a smaller government with limited authority, and that an individual’s work and effort belongs to the citizen… not 30% going to the State.
This can be the difference between making the decision to be self-sufficient and assuming the State will be there to take care of you during an emergency. As a friend told me, “Don’t get caught standing in line for beans, blankets, and bottled water from FEMA.”
When I encounter someone else that homesteads or is a prepper, I understand that I am dealing with someone that is physically and mentally tough. They have chosen a lifestyle that can be very unforgiving and hard. Most importantly, they have taken an active role in their own stability and resilience.
To me, it has become like meeting a fellow Veteran. Especially a Combat Veteran. I know they are driven, dedicated to something greater than themselves, they don’t quit when things get tough, and can keep it together in the midst of chaos.
Please understand, I am not making a value judgement about people that are not Veterans, Homesteaders, or Preppers. However, I am saying that I have noticed that there are certain qualities about people that have decided to chose the hard life of homesteading. I am admittedly biased because we are homesteaders.
We are not responsible for saving people because they failed to plan, but teaching how to fish will do a great deal more than giving your fish away…
To my fellow Homesteaders and preppers, you are special! There is something deep down in you that drives you to pick a harder life for the benefit of increased self-sustainability. This does not mean that we gloat or toot our own horns, especially when we are proven correct in the decisions we have made due to crisis. Homesteaders, in a time of uncertainty, need to step up and share our knowledge and experience with those who now need it.
Before I am lambasted by my fellow Preppers, you will notice that I did not say show your preps or give what you do not have to those who failed to prepare. Allow people to learn from your failures and successes, and persuade them to see the value in investing in their own preparedness.
There is no better time than now to recruit more people to the homesteading lifestyle! Self-sufficiency and self-reliance is like a rising tide the raises all ships.
The more self-reliant people there are, the better off we all are!
