I went for a walk this morning. Firstly, because the Government allows it and secondly, just to get out of the apartment. I stopped at a pharmacy on the way to pick up my chronic meds, so that was the official purpose, if anyone stopped me. (They didn't!)
The walk got me thinking. What if the industrial revolution has gone full circle?
After all, we're pretty much back where we started almost 200 years ago. Even in cities, people keep their own small livestock, grow their own food, make their own cheese, wine, bread and beer, make their own clothing and pretty much walk and ride bicycles to where they want to be. Coal power is all but redundant all across the globe, with people looking at renewable energy sources to power their world. Even plastic, once hailed as a super-material, has become evil.
Nothing of this, of course, is new, but it seems as if the COVID-19 pan(dem)ic caused people to sit up and take notice of the trend of returning to our pre-industrial roots and becoming artisans once more.
Will it be universally adopted? Nope. There are too many who yearn for the New Normal, and who won't give up the consumerism that has become part of our nature over the past two centuries. For some, though, this will be their lifestyle.
As for me, if the company I work for offers me a retrenchment package in the next few months, I won't decline the offer. I shall take the money and seriously start realizing my dreams of becoming a back-yard farmer and wordsmith, only letting reality visit my farmstead on rare occasions and by appointment. Most of what I dream of, has already been planned out and prayed up, and I am basically waiting on God to say “Go!”
South Africans have lots of revolving debt. And there's a good chance that my ideal property may come on the market within the next few months, the result of people liquidating their portfolios to pay that debt. It's just a matter of patience. I don't plan to sell my current property. If I do, it'll be at a loss, and that would be stupid, especially since I won't need to sell it as a matter of urgency.
I read an interesting tweet today. No, it's not from the Great Orange One. Actually, it's from Unathi Kwaza, a black woman here in South Africa who is known for her activism and who seems – surprisingly – pro-Afrikaner. She said that white South Africans should find a way to pay as little tax as possible, as none of their tax contributions are being used to help them in any way. (White South Africans currently contribute the lion's share of tax to the national treasury.) What struck me about this tweet is that she basically affirmed my decision to put myself in the position to do exactly that.
See, Permaculture is basically a lifestyle which – if embraced fully – will effectively remove me from the tax base.
No salary means very little in the way of a traceable income and if I don't use any of the provided utilities and very little of the infrastructure, then that will also be a frustration. I don't think the government has any idea what havoc can be created if enough people follow this route. The worst part is that there's not much they can do about it. Not without looking really stupid, anyway.
Not quite “Go!” yet, but very nearly there!