Off the Grid, but in on the Grift

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Are you self-reliant? March to the beat of your own drum? Then do as I say and watch this KZbin video about off-grid grifters!
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Chapters:
12:43 The Ghost Town with the Most Town
30:56 We did it! We made it about capitalism!
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I'm not making any accusations of any crimes or anything else illegal in this video. Everything expressed in this video is merely opinion, occasionally exaggerated for comedic value.
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[@MaggieMaeFish]

For curious minds: "Adequate housing was recognized as part of the right to an adequate standard of living in article 25 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in article 11.1 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Other international human rights treaties have since recognized or referred to the right to adequate housing or some elements of it, such as the protection of one’s home and privacy." (from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations)

[@REALfish1552]

Adequate housing also includes renting, leasing, etc. Not just buying. In fact, renting is beneficial because you can put the maintenance on the landlord rather than trying to figure it out yourself when you likely do not have the resources or knowledge to do it yourself.

[@maddhatter3564]

more communist propaganda. the world owes you nothing but to stay out of youre way.

[@MatthewJohnHayden]

that would be me and all five of my house mates in the bay area right now @@REALfish1552

[@brenttesterman3171]

Kinda Commie...

[@gothboschincarnate3931]

Karra and Donna Douglas are gunna help me build a low cost, off grid house.

[@JennyNicholson]

The man's living my dream of wasting all my money buying a western ghost town and then destroying it through my negligence

[@phoenixgirl70]

Yup. He could have just bought a “old west” Lego set and then smash it all apart. Instead I see he’s got some children helping with the labour too 30:13. Full villain mode.

[@hazelsingh3887]

Perhaps, 5 million subscriber achievement???

[@rav3style]

I feel he may have burnt it on purpose

[@broodjebamibal]

How else will people know he is a BIG MAN

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

Destroying it, or making it better? /s

[@gemmagreene362]

If someone builds a cabin in the woods and doesn’t monetise it via social media, does it even exist?

[@ruben9912]

Not in the hivemind it doesn't! Another: "Did you know that if you built this thing without filming it, you'd be done twice as fast?" "Sure, but then I would have to pay for it"

[@tomasviane3844]

😂😂😂

[@WhiteGeared]

Yea what about generosity? People sit on their money too much. These are the occasions that are bigger than your misery.

[@simiamalum5487]

If I build a cabin in the woods... No, it doesn't exist. Nothing to see there... It's just woods. Just...keep walking. Unless you have cocoa.

[@davidswanson5669]

Wow that’s deep.

[@BaronEurchild]

I grew up in a small off grid community. There were about 8-12 families (depending on the season/year). I've kept touch to the extent I can. Not one of them posts anything online... because they're off grid.

[@viesturslinins3676]

So you are telling me that Amish families won't be posting any prank tik tok videos?

[@jasperbonez2547]

are you telling me, we actually shouldn't know about off grid living?

[@DeathnoteBB]

@@jasperbonez2547I mean yes? Otherwise they’re on a grid

[@ThomWalbranA1]

PHONES AND CAMERAS are on a GRID SYSTEM NOW? can you explain what is meant when Normal humans say OFF GRID.? in your own words.

[@DeathnoteBB]

@@ThomWalbranA1 You just explained yourself

[@butameremortal9424]

That one lady actually told the truth. Survival without the luxury of grocery stores, roads, hospitals etc is EXTREMELY difficult and requires MORE work than living in a community.

[@screamingopossum7809]

It's why historically hermits were actually really rare. Not only the social need for community is necessary, but this idea that 'I can do everything myself' is so bizarre. Just because you can't make something doesn't mean you don't need it.

[@brianthesnail3815]

That is a survival video. Trust me I have lived remotely in a farmhouse without modern heating and not much money. Its horrible and thank god I never have to do it again.

[@bobinthewest8559]

The TRUTH of self reliance is that there is really no such thing… unless you are literally capable of melting into the environment with nothing more than maybe a knife, and living essentially like a wild animal. “Homesteading” is a different thing entirely… and (if one is completely honest) involves a myriad of various principles and approaches, aimed at the goal of becoming as self sufficient AS POSSIBLE. Rarely does anyone successfully live COMPLETELY “off grid”. You just do your best to REDUCE your reliance on it, by learning to do for yourself as much as possible. Some basic examples include: Gardening to reduce your grocery bill. Composting instead of buying fertilizer. Harnessing wind and solar to lower your electric bill (though this requires investment). Building less important structures (like chicken coops) with natural materials harvested from the land. Essentially, in the case of many of your homestead “projects”… the big “shift” is: Asking yourself if you can accomplish a goal by investing your labor instead of dollars. And… Asking yourself if you can design a system that harnesses nature in some way to provide yourself with a needed resource (like water, electricity, mechanical power, etc), instead of just connecting to “the grid” and paying for that resource.

[@butameremortal9424]

@@screamingopossum7809 exactly. And what I don't know someone else will. That's when natural abilities and that would be shown.

[@butameremortal9424]

@@brianthesnail3815 that sounds like the truth 😆

[@Matrim42]

My favorite off-grid/homestead genres are the “guy who just really likes bushcraft and thinks it’s neat” and “lesbians with good shoulders who mostly chop wood and shear sheep”

[@Jane-oz7pp]

Ah, a NicoleCoenen fan I see

[@Matrim42]

@@Jane-oz7pp I see you are an individual of distinction and taste.

[@nailinthefashion]

​@@Jane-oz7pp oh my god, she's so hot ... it's like a real life Zarya .. subscribed ....

[@overbeb]

Primitive Technology is the GOAT of bushcraft. Dude is starting from the Stone Age.

[@jaymethodus3421]

Yea bro I have no issue if they’re wealthy or where they get their money, just don’t grift, don’t be dishonest or fake, don’t pander or condescend.

[@numb3r5ev3n]

I had an obsession with tiny houses too, mostly because I was wondering if it was a viable home ownership alternative since "the housing market is so unstable." This was until I realized that in many cases the cost seemed comparable to just buying a regular house in the suburbs, and the stories of most tiny house "homesteaders" almost always seemed to go something like "Yeah we make six figures and we used to live in a McMansion in a gated community. But after I sold my fifth startup, we decided it was time to downsize and get our kids back to the land." Or "I was kind of directionless after college/my divorce/my dream job of making custom surfboards in landlocked Nebraska didn't pan out, so my parents let me build a tiny house on their sprawling multi-acre property where I live rent free."

[@ffbotha]

The problem is how highly customised and personalised a tiny house has to be in order to be livable. It's like all those videos Facebook feeds me about apartments with moving walls and other ways of using the same space as three or more different rooms. They look cool, but if I can afford to build a system like that I can afford to buy a bigger apartment (this is even assuming the rigging shown in those videos is actually possible in a real apartment building). Sure, there are people who have made it work on very low budgets, but they're often also the people more than willing to tell you how it took them 5 - 10 years to get the place really feeling like a home and in the relatively self-sufficient state you get to see it in.

[@Mightydoggo]

This. You need to be very clever, very lucky or very priviledged. I live rent free in a winter hardened yurt that cost me about 15k€, which was pretty much everything I had at the time buying it. Tiny homes here start at 60k€ without the transport. Also only reason I could do this is because I found an elderly couple who needed help to keep their inherited property in check while they´re working in Berlin. Now they settled over to Berlin for good and me and 4 other people made a family of choice here, parting the rent of the property through everyone. We are super lucky because the couple agreed on a contract that passes the property on to us after a certain amount of money paid.

[@becauseimafan]

OMG those "homesteaders" examples! 😂😂 "...in landlocked Nebraska" !!! 🤣🤣

[@numb3r5ev3n]

@@becauseimafan It's born from a place of frustration. In the mid 2010s I was seriously looking at maybe trying to get a tiny house because it didn't seem like things would ever be stable enough for me to get an actual mortgage, but the idea of renting forever just seemed like such a depressing trap, especially when someone making the kind of money I make could have just bought a house 20 years ago before everything started to get bad and kept getting worse. Then I realized that unless you're living on someone else's land, or you can already afford land, the idea wasn't feasible. Fast forward to a few years ago and I was looking into the idea again and watching dozens of "Homesteaders" videos. And yeah. It's all people who can already afford houses and land but want to "downsize," or people whose privilege or life trajectory or other factors make them unwilling or unable to maintain or seek steady employment, or they were retirees. The idea of Homesteading is being fed to people in order to generate clicks and support on Patreon. It's not a viable alternative for a lot of us stuck in the rat race.

[@theohiohousewife]

My goddaughters grandparents sunk, I mean sunk money into building her a tiny house so she could be on their property but private and could pick it up and move it. They were never able to connect water or septic because laws and then tried to sell it to get their money back…45K. Yes 45 thousand. I built a whole house that passed every inspection for that amount of money (property cost not included) and in the same century.

[@Wakeupandsniffthecoffee]

I grew up on Maui, Hawaii and during the 70's the hippies were well established and living the life off grid in the rainforests. They talked down the rest of the capitalistic population. They managed to live on next to nothing, mostly picking other people's fruit and vegetables. Building shack houses. But as I got to know them, many had rich families and were trust babies or growing and dealing drugs. After about ten years, they magically were able to purchase and develop these off grid properties. They had what was very expensive solar power and radiophones. Many managed to find the money to get utilities brought in to their properties. By the time they were older, they owned property, had lots of money to send their kids to private schools. They could travel and even got into government to help dictate the way they wanted Maui to be. In the meantime the average family on Maui struggled to pay to live on the island. Besides the hippies turned property owners, the speculators and developers all managed to get their share of the island and make millions of dollars and build their McMansions.

[@MaggieMaeFish]

Oh my God, what a nightmare

[@mallarieluvsgirls]

very typical colonizer behaviour.

[@tribalismblindsthembutnoty124]

@@MaggieMaeFish LOL Oprah hired extra security to make sure victims of the fire couldn't cut through her property to get back theirs after the fires.

[@bastage5932]

Is there any more iconic duo than boomers and being the worst a person can possibly be?

[@Baronnax]

I remember learning about the King of Nepal effectively banning western Hippies who'd travel to Kathmandu to experience "oriental mysticism" and basically do a ton of drugs legally back in the day. I used to think he was a narrow-minded killjoy back then, but perhaps there was some wisdom behind the decision.

[@BarkleyBCooltimes]

As an Alaskan who designs engineering projects, it's hilarious to hear someone say a location 3 hours outside of one of the largest cities in America is too remote for concrete.

[@pattheplanter]

Presumably, they will deliver the concrete to the part of the road that needs to be repaired so it is not too dangerous for concrete mixer lorries? Unless the hotel guests are coming in by helicopter, a usable road is necessary to the hotel business.

[@asmodiusjones9563]

There are parts of LA that are three hours from other parts of LA.

[@zljmbo]

@@asmodiusjones9563 they probably also can't get concrete without $160k/day and that is the reason for housing crisis

[@JayJonahJaymeson]

@@zljmbo To be fair that was the quote for the chopper. Though if you told me folks in LA were building houses using helicopters I probably wouldn't be surprised.

[@Kirkeyressa]

if you've just heard of a hydroelectric dam, his whole assertion immediately falls apart.

[@ecyor0]

I still remember the bolt-of-lightning moment I had when I was watching dream house renovation shows at 2am on a slow night shift at the ER and realized the answer to the question "Why are these rich folks so obsessed with log wood cabins?" was "it lets them cosplay being salt-of-the-earth working class"

[@kappadarwin9476]

Eyup They want to be seen as "working class" or at least what they perceive is working class. Because lets be honest you need money and lots of it to run a farm. Its all for the sake of avoiding tax increases on their wealth. Why else would Elon Musk pretend to be an "average joe"?

[@idontevenknow9758]

It lowkey reminds me of the foundation of the cottagecore theming we see a lot. I learned about it a while back cottagecore was wealthy people in the 1700s would wear what they deemed as "peasant" clothes because they enjoyed what they felt was a simple life and more attuned to the land. Today cottagecore has the same vibe but I see a lot of people who are actually unwealthy embracing it with thrifting clothes and crafting art (you still have clearly wealthy people using the style of course, those English cottages are not cheap) The off-grid movement in a way is them cosplaying as the hardworking people who live in rural communities but almost in a way what they think rural people live like. in 1700s peasants were NOT living such dainty free lives, let me tell yah. Farmers in 2023 America definitely not so easy and cozy.

[@sholem_bond]

the siren call of Hameau de la Reine

[@somedudefromTX]

It brings me a small amount of joy knowing how much self-loathing they must feel deep down inside to drive them to such ridiculous extremes

[@BType13X2]

@@idontevenknow9758 Farmers in america if they are anything like my uncle up here in Canada Make a couple hundred grand a year and then lose most of that paying for next years crop, maintenance on machinery, animal welfare, shipping their crop, storing it etc... When its all said and done his couple hundred grand turns into like 40ish for the whole year for him and his wife who full time it. I try to help as much as I can, being 2 hours away and a welder I find that there is no shortage of stuff to be mended, and even then helping him I feel bad about the whole situation, he could have it so much easier without the land, yet he does it cause he loves it.

[@ElixirSpice]

I grew up in extreme poverty and I also grew reading the American girl diaries. I wanted to be self sufficient and live in the country. I think this was in response to seeing my mom work so hard to raise us and needing to depend on the gov and it still not being enough. During my teen years I went down a rabbit hole of researching tiny homes, living off grid and trying to find out how to farm to the best of my ability while never being on a farm. So I watched a lot of these videos to say the least. It became clear after a while that this was inaccessible to people like me. Due to the cost of land, building resources, and even knowledge. After I became disabled I basically stopped dreaming about off grid living at all. Which is another thing that makes that sort of lifestyle inaccessible. However, I am living in the country (small town under 1,000) and I enjoy going on nature walks when i'm not feeling too ill. That's about as close to off grid as I'll ever come and i'm actually fine with that.

[@outlikeabitch]

Oh God I hate ghost town Brent with every fiber of my being

[@foxbuns]

I relate to every part of your story and wish you the best of luck ✨️

[@democracybacksliding]

leave them alone come -on stop picking on them we are all hunter gathers at least thse of us making under pick any number between1 to 100

[@DJSockmonkeyMusic]

Same for me, except pre internet. I wanted to hand build a cabin and all that stuff. But I had no family backing, no training outside of academics and music, no savings, barely enough income to survive, so I ended up joining the army, which completely eliminated my desire to homestead. Sigh. You can't even start without several thousands of dollars. And that just was not my world. My world was paycheck to paycheck, second hand and government subsidies.

[@SansNeural]

I grew up through the '70s and early '80s in rural, flatland Oklahoma with what I call "starving artist parents". We were literally off-grid at times when they couldn't pay the electric bill. Didn't have a telephone (landline) until about 1980. My mother did plant huge vegetable gardens and raised chickens and we kids did help her (not nearly enough). I'm sure we learned many good lessons about self-sufficiency and living off-grid. But the main lesson we (my brother and 2 sisters) all learned from our experience is: don't do it unless you have to. Three of us studied engineering and all of us made our way to middle / upper middle class. We've not discussed it much, but I suspect all of us would agree that a primary driving force behind whatever success we've had can be summed up by this moto: "Never Again!"

[@Fenrires]

“Sapphics renovating a camper to run away” is legit my fave category ❤

[@aenema22]

Thank you for this! I lived for 5 years in an "offgrid community" and realized it was just extremely wealthy weed growers running a retreat business front, funded entirely by young, poor college age kids they tricked into being tenants in their slum. It became clear when one of the growers invited me and another tenant to come up and trim. These people are slum lords but so much worse. When you see their life of luxury, complete with solar power, hot water, sun decks and jacuzzis, and then compare to the ramshackle powerless huts with no water or plumbing that are rented to the "tenants", the picture becomes clear. I realized I lived in a 3rd world larp community and got out as quickly as I could.

[@quetzalcoatlz]

This took you 5 years to figure out?

[@aenema22]

@quetzalcoatlz I knew what it was by the two year mark for sure, but tried overlook it. The rent was cheap enough. It wasn't until about 3 years in that they started denying tenants the use of the kitchen, shower and bathroom facilities and raising the rent multiple times per year. My rent started at 300/ month and before long it was raised to 400 and then 500. During a time in California where a one bedroom apartment was about 8 - 900. I stayed because it was cheaper than moving back to town.

[@aenema22]

@quetzalcoatlz When I moved I knew there were growers up the hill and that the property was owned and managed by hippies running a spiritual retreat center. At first there were just two or three Buddhist retreats each summer, and those people were just there to walk around in silent meditation in nature. But after year two the board hired a new outreach coordinator who brought in these outrageous groups of weird pagan witch cults who would party hard the first night, and then perform creepy as hell rituals with dancing and screaming that all the tenants could hear. This was around the time the tenants started being denied access to the kitchen and bathroom facilities. At first it was only during retreats, but before long it became no tenants in the facilities at any time. Your question is legitimate and you're correct I was very naive to stay there as long as I did. I'm in a much better place now and look back at that time with a similar sense of critique.

[@drkatel]

@@aenema22I appreciate your honesty. Sometimes we look back and realize we were idiots at one time. I also see no need to deny it or get defensive. So far I've managed to survive and learn from my past mistakes.

[@aenema22]

@drkatel You live and you learn. About a year ago I was looking for a new place and briefly considered another off grid place. It won't be like the last one, I thought. The lady was very nice, but she made the mistake of giving me a tour of her pimped out hippie house first, and then showing me the dilapidated den of horror. I was not impressed with the cabin and was brought back immediately to my prior experience. This is someone who wants some desperate poor person to pay 900/month to live in absolute squalor, hours from civilization, so she can continue adding on to her pimped out hippie house. I now live in the downtown area of my town, 5 minutes walk from my workplace. Sometimes I miss the forest but I do not miss the unreasonable and illegal conditions put upon us under a guise of spirituality and environmentalism. The people who run these places are some of the most two faced, self serving manipulators I've ever seen.

[@mspally9542]

Reminds me of an article I read recently about a woman who quit working so she didn’t have to be part of the capitalist system anymore. She kept talking about how she hadn’t spent any money in 2 years. Mind you, she lived for free in the granny flat of a friend in return for some light gardening and her sister would regularly bring her food and clothes. She might not have paid anything, but everyone around her certainly was

[@DeathnoteBB]

I mean shit I’d love to live like that too but she’s blatantly still in the capitalist system. She’s just now exploiting people’s goodwill instead of being exploited. She just assimilated into being a capitalist.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

Those ppl dont understand that money is literally just a quantification of one's labor....no more no less. Their stubborn tendency to just ignore that obvious fact is narcissism in its purest form.

[@garlicg4532]

@@ChadDidNothingWrong dayum that's a lot of buzzwords man. I love claiming things are the purest form of narcissism without backing it up. Honestly though mate, money has never been the quantification of someone's labor, it is, at the very core of it, a means of exchange that holds value because we say it does. How much you get paid is based on how little an employer can get away with paying you based on the availability of the labor or labor laws. You're living in a fucking fantasy mate.

[@jht3fougifh393]

​@@garlicg4532 The person that was described DOES sound like a self-absorbed brat, though...? I don't think you could argue that kind of person is decent at all, especially in terms of their societal impact.

[@garlicg4532]

@@jht3fougifh393 oh yeah absolutely

[@ChewyThomson]

Every off grid story is like "You won't believe this couple's secret to off grid living" and it always turns out to be that their parents paid off their student loans and let them live at home rent free six months of the year while they save up to travel in a van.

[@K9Clyde]

Then they "work" at a cafe editing and uploading content.

[@barnz3000]

Look at our tiny home, with the awesome view. On my parents $20,000,000 waterfront farm.

[@tpbforlife3323]

Exactly, only privileged people want to live in a van, because they have the option to leave when it gets boring after 4 months

[@marxfish]

Propane tank exploded? Then there's a lot of bombs in America's backyards.

[@raaaaaaarr]

You'd find that for most people.. Or a lot at least. If you live in Vancouver bc, your parents go live in the states, don't fund your school and you gotta pay 1300 rent as soon as you're 18 like me, you see just how much privaledfe has to do with making it in life. I personally can't go to school because I gotta work full time just to afford rent. Life sucks but living in a van is the only way I'll ever be able to get an education. Once I'm like 40 I can afford a van x. X ugh

[@stephenwilliams163]

I once lived six months with out using money for anything. I did it by bumming around Austin Tx where it doesn't get too cold, illegally camping in the green belt, cycling everywhere, and relying on dumpsters for food and clothing. Even at my most self reliant I was still completely dependent on the industrial capitalist system. Whenever I see these off grid channels that aren't about full time farming and foraging I get very suspicious.

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

This is a pretty romantic way to say you used to be homeless 😂

[@stickyfox]

"Juan Apagato spends a lot of time wandering around town. He tried college for a while but it consumed too much time. So now he's looking for a job that doesn't involve much work. He rents a room in a large house and rarely sees the people he lives with. One of them is named Frank something..."

[@stephenwilliams163]

@@shinobi-no-bueno Oh I was homeless for several years. This was a deliberate experiment to see if I was good enough at being homeless to not engage with the economy. Extreme freeganism. I was pretty full of myself back then.

[@iwritechecksatthegrocerystore]

@@stephenwilliams163 😂. I was ready to hate with terms like “trustafarian” but the self awareness is hilarious.

[@revolvertaco7493]

Real farming, like old school by hand farming is some of the most brutal back breaking work you can ever imagine.

[@wowsuchname1939]

Saw a comment on an instagram van life post which perfectly sums it up ‘These c***s could literally gentrify being homeless.’ This applies to every alternative living type situation really. Van life, living on a longboat (more UK specific one), sailing boats.. it’s all just alternative ways of living that were previously a cheaper way of living that were somewhat accessible.

[@chelsey8737]

Exactly! If somebody lives out of their car by necessity they're gross and lazy and financially irresponsible but if somebody does it by choice they're applauded as ingenuitive and determined and free?? How does that make sense??

[@matildatheoboldt2261]

Best friend bought into this stuff, joined a off grid community deal, turned out to be a cult, he fled in the night and came back home.

[@sammiller6631]

What kind of cult?

[@matildatheoboldt2261]

@@sammiller6631 yknow, i never really asked him too much about it as it may be something that he doesnt like talking about but what i gathered it was some new age bs cult that lures people in with all that crystal stuff and psuedo-eastern spirituality that was also a forced labor scam, like most cults.

[@nomadben]

What was the cult called?

[@notNajimi]

Jesus, good for him getting out

[@CurbHopper111]

Yeah what's it called? I might wanna join the cult.

[@SIBIRIAKcom]

my favorite genre is "look, I'm here alone in the wild and my camera is moving itself"

[@Cricket-mo4vr]

Gotta love when the camera is just magically filming by itself. Lucky break for these poor lonesome wilderness folks

[@ThomWalbranA1]

not magic Einstein, it's 2024 and they made all kinds of cheap cameras and drones that can follow you, run routines like pan, tilt, zoom and timelapse. I bet even you could learn to do it, ask your mommy.

[@ThomWalbranA1]

ever think about how TV interviews have a video of the guest from one angle and the host from another only one camera. After the interview, they then shot host asking the Question and nodding their head. THEY EDIT IT AFTERWARDS. How your favorite reality tv show, they are all scripted and rehearsed. Did you think that the camera guys were so good to never miss a close up on the other actor at just the right time to get response, and how many conversations in real life people never speak over the other one? answer never. recording is the easy part and only about 10% of the finished work, you know how to use a computer, y outube has 1000 of educational videos on how to do some of this magical stuff you speak of, as a rule i never make stupid comments until after i have researched and can provide evidence to support my claims. Something the girl who posted this should do but never does. 10 minutes and you find she is FOS, a ''CLICK'' addict.

[@Cricket-mo4vr]

My goodness, I hope you feel better after getting all that off your chest Thom. My apologies for not using tone indicators on what I presumed would be obvious sarcasm. I didnt mean to upset you.

[@michaelgelunas1113]

​@@ThomWalbranA1I often comment complete bullshit with the hope of getting a long winded response. It's a troll thing.

[@snackspositive]

It's not about escaping capitalism, it's about expanding it into yet unmonetized land, via youtube and onlineshops.

[@Pensnmusic]

Are you saying it's colonial expansion all over again? Manifest off griding??

[@danopticon]

And don’t forget social media colonizing private life - in this case, appropriating and monetizing the viewer’s desire to escape capitalism, by showing you a fantasy video as the solution to that desire, thus delivering you (the product) to that video’s advertisers for $(x).

[@lasarousi]

Monetizing every waking breathe sure is inspiring.

[@lamecasuelas2]

It's about reconecting..... Maaaan!😂😂😂

[@snackspositive]

​@@Pensnmusic kind of. it's an investment, an outlet for unproductive money.

[@missmoxie9188]

Sweet Jesus When my husband went blind leaving ME to keep us afloat we were plunged into poverty until I finished college and got a job worth a damn. Something I learned the hard way is that this content makes average middle class people blind or ignorant to what poverty actually looks like. I heard WAY too often “well this influencer only lives off ‘this.’ If I had the kind of money that off grid influencer has I wouldn’t be having this problem!!!!!!!!

[@RepDreStre]

What a top tier couple, I only wish if anything like that were to happen to me that my now gf sticks with me until we can get back up. You needed the money, but you already had something these people will never know and can't be owned or bought.

[@hollybug-76542]

​@AS-lv5fw Probably the most important decision one can make in life is who they take as a partner/spouse.

[@missmoxie9188]

@@RepDreStre thank you so much

[@alltheflavors9673]

You are right. They are just salespeople grifting and lying. You did well for your family I wish you the very best!

[@CasaDuroTinyHome]

Hello there Maggie and anyone reading! 👋I am that woman at 3:53. I'm glad people have appreciated the transparency! Just for the sake of clarity, I do not live off grid and have never claimed to live off grid. I am hooked up to the electric grid, running water, and a septic system. The context of this clip was referring to restrictions around obtaining & parking a mobile home, as well as leasing land because I could not afford to purchase land myself. Just in case anyone is doing their own research on this topic I don't want anyone to be misinformed 🙏

[@SophiaAstatine]

Same goes for Brent, but Maggie's journalistic integrity proves to be what is actually off grid. Don't let yourself be beat down by her disingenuous presentation.

[@KingBobXVI]

@@SophiaAstatine - "Don't let yourself be beat down by her disingenuous presentation" Maggie is literally using her as an example of someone who is forthcoming and transparent about the underlying finances, that's not "beating down" nor is it disingenuous...

[@SilkBuckets]

@@KingBobXVI definitely cherrypicked lol

[@Le0mas]

@@SophiaAstatine Somehow I think you either didn't watch the video or stopped at the precise moment your favorite was negatively mentioned

[@sceneshootergirl88]

you look like a cool person :D

[@softwaifu]

I live in rural Montana and my partner (a veteran themselves) used to deliver oxygen for the VA. The amount of people who move to the literal middle of nowhere without even road access, on purpose, and then complain about how long it takes health and emergency services to reach them during a blizzard in January is honestly shocking.

[@My-cat-is-staring-at-you]

Those people are their own category of Karen.

[@Pistolita221]

No one understands how complex the logistics of modern amenities and health services are. It is literally mind-breaking to try and understand how those systems changed over the last 100 years. WWI was fought with SWORDS and CANNONS! MFers didn't even have vaccines, the infections were more deadly than the fighting. MRE's are not comparable.

[@forrestunderwood3174]

I'm shocked.

[@Bosihiov]

That type of thing annoys me to no end. I’ve moved into a city with my husband, but the vast majority of my family is pretty rural and they “like” it that way, until of course the reality of living in the middle of nowhere strikes. “Why did it take the ambulance 45 minutes to get Bobby Joe to the hospital?” Because we had an ice storm and the nearest hospital is 25 miles away! What did you expect to happen?

[@ashleyhamman]

I remember talking to an electrologist who lived in a small down an hour+ from the fringe of the city, and how she loved living up in the sticks so much. Then she would also complain about how few clients she had and how she was barely scraping by...

[@ealusaid]

My parents moved us to the country to try to farm when I was 11. We tried our hardest, gardening and raising animals and harvesting crops and all that. They sold it when I was 19, and in all those years, we only managed one or two meals where everything we ate was from our farm itself. And it was BACKBREAKING. I want to be into off-grid video content, but most of the time I just hide my face in my hands while they commit some colossal city-slicker blunder I'm intimately familiar with, that someone with experience could have warned them about well in advance.

[@asmodiusjones9563]

Moving from a city to a rural area to try your hand at farming is only a good idea if you get seduced by the last wolf in Japan and are left alone raising your two kids who have his shape shifting abilities (that would make them some sort of “wolf children,” I guess).

[@ThatCrazyBookWyrm]

​@@asmodiusjones9563 Or if you inherited the farm from your recently deceased grandfather, and it's located right next to a cozy town packed full of young singles and little magical sprites (but also under danger of industrialization from a big corporation that only you can take down!)

[@SaraBanartist]

City slickers should stick with looking for Curly's Gold

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

Yea there is a reason farms in south africa stay in families. Youre raised to work on a farm as soon as youre old enough to lug stuff around. You grow up doing manual labour. You live on that farm and often inherent it. Rinse repeat.

[@ohpaleone]

I grew up on a working farm, we always called those people ‘hobby farmers’ because there’s no way you can support yourself by farming at that scale.

[@chad0x]

"I make figures out of my ear wax and earn around 500k a year", "I do verything myself", "my dads building firm did the work"

[@BrandEver117]

I remember when the Tiny house thing was starting, it was a small group of people online who enjoyed trying to make an efficient, small footprint...which was then hijacked by the real estate market and mobile home manufacturers so they could sell you a shitty, small, not-at-all optimized mobile home and charge you three times as much because it's a TiNy hOuSe

[@BooneGribble]

Exactly. I have a tiny home, but It was build by local Mennonites for less than 10K. If anyone is looking at tiny homes, see if you can find a local carpenter to build one, convert a shed yourself, or build one from scratch. The tiny home industry is largely a scam.

[@yemo34]

A fully manufactured home can cost less then 60k to build. You can "off-grid" them. But with normal utilities they are fully featured homes that will last till you're 80. I'm sorry, but there's a'lot of people who want to own a home now. Not some millennials platonic idea of a home, from sitcoms they watched on Disney channel in the mid-2000's.

[@kphaxx]

I live off the grid in a tiny house, in a way. The grid is society and the tiny house is my mom's basement. I sometimes help my mom carry groceries in, so I earned my food so you can say I'm self reliant too.

[@iRelevant.47.system.boycott]

@@kphaxx Agree. The key is the unplugging from society part, never mind the grid.

[@0Clewi0]

@@yemo34 I doubt that's true where I live in, or at least not a proper one within regulations, which are reasonable when earthquakes over 8 happens in each generation.

[@Thegamingg00bers]

Reminds me of the “I built my dream van life home for only 5000$” meanwhile their parents are professional contractors and have loads of “recycled/leftover” wood and nails and power tools to build it. But hey In the end they can play a peaceful song with a candle lit and drink a cup of coffee while living in serenity.

[@crimestoppers1877]

First you have to get off your butt and start swinging that hammer instead of looking at it.

[@FreeManFreeThought]

@@crimestoppers1877 Long before that you have to have the means to afford all the tools and stuff needed. Most people don't have that these days... and if your response is "but everyone I know does" then congrats, you are privileged.

[@crimestoppers1877]

@@FreeManFreeThought I buy my tools cheap from Harbor Freight . I shop at Lumber yards instead of over priced hardware box stores. I learn each trade involved via Free KZbin videos. If you can read and follow instructions that's all you need for "privilege". My computer I built from old junk parts and I use Free non spy Linux operating systems. No i-Junk or Windoze here. My internet access is via free open access WIFi WAP's almost everywhere. It does require effort to get off the butt, stop watching TV and go outside and spend a few hours per day actually doing physical labor. A MAGA success story. Not a victim.

[@Martin-mb7yb]

​@FreeManFreeThought Your both right. And if you loan out your tools they will be destroyed or never return so that complicates our issues of not having access to tools and resources. The truth is we are losing the people with knowledge to old age and at the same time being squeezed financially for everything. If my generation had a garage to work on projects in they would try and move into it to get ahead on bills. You have to own property to have a place to work on stuff or store tools. The generation coming up now is living In the new USSR and will experience the same events as Russia did in the late 80s early 90s.

[@adorabell4253]

@@FreeManFreeThoughtnot privileged, just work in the trades. Almost everyone I know works in the trades. When my husband and I moved in together our decor was DeWalt

[@tjbarke6086]

It's almost like the real key to "self reliance" is actually networks of mutual aid...

[@curiousnerdkitteh]

Exactly like Burning Man's tenants lol. "Radical self-reliance" in a desert community sounds like what a Western country that is the epitome of white capitalism (basically, only the USA) would think people in a desert community would do. They have no concept of how communities where everyone is interdependent function ...even though cities rely on them too just it's easier to live with the illusion that people can be "self made" ... If you've never had to struggle with finances, marginalization or accessibility and rely on others for survival through various forms of support. Ironically, the people who got the most help (like many billionaires) and continue to get the most help seem to think they worked the hardest with the least support.

[@critiqueofthegothgf]

it's very interesting how these self reliant off griders seem to have a vast network of connections they can depend on...

[@MatsueMusic]

like a group of people living together and sharing possessions and responsibilities.

[@Brentjr94]

"voluntary mutual aid".

[@outbackgearforu]

That’s the truth. To survive in the wild you need a tribe,that’s how all the native people have done it,the idea you can be a lone wolf is bs

[@A.A.ron_Ch]

Bruh I literally met Brent back in July of 2023 when me, my brother and my dad rode up there on dirt bikes from a spot we were camping on only about 1.25 miles down the road from the ghost town (as the crow flies). There were plenty of other people up there when we got there, it was a tourist spot that didnt seem like it was struggling for traffic. There wasnt a crowd by any stretch but people regularly visit that place to poke around and look at whats left of the place (case and point me and my family). The church had been rebuilt with or covered in (don't remember which) corrugated metal and turned into a little theatre, no one else was allowed even near the opening of the mine (understandable) and the American hotel was only a bunch of wooden frames on top of a foundation which they were in the process of building.

[@sixoffcenter80]

I've never went to down the rabbit hole, but being an off-the-grid influencer always did seem like an oxymoron.

[@aplacetoexist]

Truth... For me, I was mostly trying to find enjoyment in my life, and since I liked editing videos and doing bushcraft stuff, I figured "Why not".

[@JDWonders]

Someone should make a KZbin channel based on being an Amish person doing Amish things. Nevermind all of the technologh required to make such a thing possible. Just don't think about it.

[@firefloweramaranth]

Yeah it used to be "going off-grid" meant disappearing completely, untraceable, like you're on the lam; it was a survivalist thing. Now it means having no utility grid connections, and the people doing it are hippies whose parents can afford $100,000 of solar panels, batteries, turbines, toilets, and other kit.

[@spiralswithinspirals]

crowdfunding “finding your bliss”!

[@jonathanlochridge9462]

I guess it partially depends on how you are going about it. But, for the most part most of the people you would be "influencing" would probably be wannabees, scared, or in the clouds. Running stuff off your own solar, wind, or waterpower isn't too bad. I personally view the not completely off grid market gardener types as being a lot more informative as those who are trying to achieve complete independance. As well as the more community village focused ones. If you want to live off land in someway you have to actually treat it as a business and make money. Since just trying to be completely self-sufficent will put you on a slow decline.

[@edcollins6776]

Totally being an insurance geek here for a second: you cant get "fire" insurance on buildings without there being an actual fire department nearby. Doesn't look like there is a fire department anywhere near there let alone a fire hydrant...or even water. So his only option was to buy some marshmallows and make smores.

[@horntx]

Additionally it really isn't that surprising that the building waited until people came around to burn down, especially because clearly he hooked up power (there is a ceiling fan on in the footage). 100 year old wooden hotels most likely do not have electrical wiring up to code to not cause fires so it really isn't a shocker the building waited until there was power hooked up to catch fire. I am not saying that asking for money from people on the internet was justified or that he the fire was definitely real, just that none of the arguments in this video are very compelling.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

We have a fire department not far from us, but we just got dropped from our homeowners because there are too many of us in the area with insurance with the same company. If a disaster hit, such as a super wildfire, they would have to pay out a lot of money. Insurance companies are designed to never lose money. They hate to lose money on even a single person. We've had insurance with Nationwide for almost 20 years, paying a ton of money every year, and then they drop us like that. Wealthy people self insure everything so they only pay when something happens. Screw the insurance companies.

[@maverick9708]

​​​@@bite-sizedshorts9635insurance companies are the kind of person who says "no offense" then rips into you with the most savage personal insults you've ever heard; only to realize that while you were flabbergasted they also stole your wallet and told your friends that you wear diapers

[@jerrylindgren7828]

I believe in the same video where it burns down, or one of the consecutive videos, Brent mentions that it burned down shortly after they hooked the power up. He specifically mentions the old wiring being the cause of the fire. It was not caused by a propane tank explosion, like Maggie asserts in this video. The accusation is totally okay though, because she put up a disclaimer that she was not accusing him of burning it down, while accusing him of burning it down. Brent expresses a lot of guilt for the fire throughout his video catalogue and clearly felt bad about it.

[@MorpH2k]

Even if he was able to get fire insurance up in Cerro Gordo, how much would he actually be able to get from them for a 150 year old building with a second floor that isn't "structrally sound"?

[@pinkoandthebrain5719]

As a real, down-to-earth homesteader, I'm so glad to see someone call out fakes and grifters in off-grid living! These rich wannabees don't understand the struggle -- ever since my industrial-grade generator exploded and took out most of the local lumber supply in the ensuing fire (so much for the pristine forest location, haha) I've only been able to keep warm by burning stacks of $100 bills that my daddy gave me as a going away present. Donations welcome btw

[@lovesick_loser]

omg i had a similar experience! and now the locals of the nearby village are blaming little ol' me me for "eco-terrorism" when im LITERALLY living the cleanest and most sustainable* lifestyle!!! JUST because i dump my 100% home made charcoal filtered nuclear waste in the local water supply?? ugh!! *clean and sustainable in comparison to if someone owned an oil rig thats constantly on fire AND leaking.

[@phoenixgirl70]

@@lovesick_loser Omg I swear every damn commercial I see or hear or when I used to watch these people was the word “sustainable”. It’s used for freaking everything now! I’m waiting for “Du Pont. Sustainable.”* Teeny tiny print: *1% of Du Ponts recyclables are actually recyclable. It’s all such bullshit to make people feel good buying their crap. Only everyone’s using it.

[@SofaKingShit]

In the real world living off grid is just endless chores pretty much like it was back in the 1800's.

[@lasarousi]

You forgot to link your patreon .

[@BType13X2]

@@SofaKingShit Yes it is sort of like being a 1 person business is the same thing. So you choose your struggle.

[@Em0tionL0rd]

I made the mistake of living with an individual like this who ended up kicking me out after only 3 months. Her and her girlfriend (who moved in at the same time as me) were part of a local cooperative. I quickly realized that these individuals had no idea what they were doing and were heavily reliant on local government grants for their organic farming operation. I planned to live and work on the farm, like previous residents had before me. Yet I was driven into isolating from the rest of the household when the girlfriend decided that she didn't like me and the house owner would have boisterous parties and meetings every other week. I ended up dog-sitting the girlfriends pit bull while her and the house owner would be out working, having meetings, and co-mingling (partying) with other individuals in town. I couldn't leave the house due to car trouble and neither of them were willing to provide transportation. I later realized that previous residents were cast out the same as me for not "fitting" into their mindset. They explicitly labeled themselves as "queer farmers", which I had nothing against, yet they were very exclusionary to me for not being "queer" enough. Also, I was freezing throughout the winter because the house they had built for the farm residents was built incompetently. There was no central heating. There was a furnace in the basement attached to just the kitchen. A wood burning stove in the living room with no water boiler. And the house owner did not provide adequate wood for the winter months, oftentimes going out into the snow to cut and gather green wood and rot wood at the edge of the forest. I was suffering immensely. It would get down to 50F indoors. Not to mention their water heater was frequently malfunctioning so I couldn't even have a hot shower.

[@Em0tionL0rd]

I should add that the house and farm ran on solar power, with the in-house systems being scaled down and assumedly running efficiently for eco-friendly reasons. Yet, it was a two story house.. Built so poorly that it could hardly retain adequate heat. None of the outside doors had a secondary door, and a lot of the windows were single-pane. For some reason they thought closing the blinds every night would dampen the drafts (they did not). The house had so many insects due to this that I was constantly picking them out of my food.

[@idontevenknow9758]

I am so sorry you went through that, thats really outrageous. As someone who is ace (aka part of the queer community) these people do not strike me as actual "queer" people they are supposed to be accepting but there are those who in the community who do use it as a front and victim card to take advantage of people. Its an issue in many communities, subgroups, etc. I cannot stand those kinds of people who take advantage like that or use that word like that. They sound like they are cosplaying off-grid but like the movie kind where they can be bohemian without actually being improvised.

[@gordocarbo]

I spend every winter in that kind of cold inside no heat. That might seem chilly but far from really cold. What made you want to go live like that with 0 stability?

[@Em0tionL0rd]

@@gordocarbo To live and work with other (hopefully) like-minded people, on the organic farm (I enjoy working with plants). Mostly, it had promise. I was looking for an out from my previous situation. My apartment in the city only reminded me of my abusive ex and our recent past. And also as a push for myself, to become more independent (mostly from my overbearing father). I'd like to add an update and say that I'm in a better place now. I just got my drivers license, a new car, and a job, so things are looking up. Something something, life is about taking risks, blah blah, the stories. (I know cold is different for different people, I just have circulation issues so it takes forever to stop shivering and warm up)

[@hdervish2497]

Shout out to stealth camping with Steve. He's an awesome guy and gives good advice for the unhoused

[@partridgestorm]

A wonderful guy! And, might I add, one of the only KZbinrs that I've seen, next to James Stephanie Sterling, creates regular content absolutely without ads or sponsors!

[@nibblitman]

He is such a generally wholesome guy

[@davethompson2580]

He also never professes to be an off-gridder or anything. he's comfortable and he doesn't hide it, he just likes having those little adventures

[@bengallup9321]

Agreed, seems like a very modest and wholesome dude.

[@atherwitch]

Steve is awesome and the most down to earth guy on KZbin I think. Must protec lol

[@timaldridge6505]

Tiny home video are notorious for "this early 20's couple built a house" and then five minutes into the video "we rent/live on our parents property"

[@jamesp1389]

Bahahah 😂 yep

[@eamonster2708]

Tbh what's the problem? They did build a house, and if you're going to build a tiny house to save money, you build it in the most convenient place you can. Keeps the family together for support network and costs low for everyone. Also inb4 "what privilege" usually they are somewhere land is cheap. It's a common advantage and silly that you people seem to expect some sort of penitent acknowledgement that "gee whiz I'm sorry that not everyone has the resources to build a fucking shack on land that isn't theirs."

[@obscurereference8798]

That sounds like a problem with capitalism and the housing situation and not with the tiny home builders. I would guess that most, if not all, of those people were not looking at living in their parents backyard in a tiny home as their ideal setup.

[@AgxntAqua]

Yeah, this isn't the burn you think it is 😂

[@carolbaker2773]

@@eamonster2708 I agree with what you say to an extent but most of the tiny home videos are people talking about how they did it all themselves without any help or how they totally asked their parents if they could put up a mobile home on their property (most the parent's kind of have a strained look in their face like they kind of didn't agree to this situation but were more forced because of TV). If the show portrayed these individuals as being strapped for cash or living money smart that would be different but mostly its "Look at me being a genius for moving to a tiny house!" and not acknowledging all the help they got. There was one really good one I like with a traveling nurse and her whole thing was that she didn't want to live in a hotel with her dog so having a tiny home is just the most practical thing she can do.

[@erinjean2695]

My uncle lived In Arkansas and was a true off grid person. He was a Vietnam vet and he built his own cabin, got water from a spring on property, no electricity except sometimes they used a generator for lights but mostly it was oil lamps. He had chickens and a few other animals and the most epic garden. Everyone thought he was sorta nuts but honestly he went out and built his own paradise. He never had internet and mostly stayed away from anyone who wasn’t into the outdoors. Most interesting badass family member, wish I’d gotten a chance to know him better. Rip uncle Ricky

[@patinsley]

May i ask how old he was when he passed and what took him? Thanks

[@badkingjohn5235]

Where did he get the oil for the lamps from?

[@Ming1975]

Yup, most actual off griders always looks a little nuts😂 like this hippy living in the swaps who only goes to town weekly to get battery charges.

[@Donkeyearsa]

Anyone who does not live like everyone else will be seen as nuts as its not normal. The difference between someone who is a nut case and someone who is eccentric is the second is filthy rich.

[@Pheebs77]

If I'd survived Vietnam I'd pretty much want to stay away from the rest of humanity too. RIP my dude.

[@Bbeaucha88]

The very concept of an "off grid" influencer is hilarious to me. To be an influencer it requires you to have/frequently use/depend on the internet... The most griddy grid of all grids to have ever gridded. I know that they mean the power grid but when I think of "off grid" my mind always goes with the hermit interpretation.

[@gordocarbo]

Most these influencers havent had a hard day in thier lives, Mom and dad finance these lil ventures. Take away a celphone, computer from most and they truly are lost, dont know what to do think the world is gonna end.

[@breezedampsy7694]

I feel like a lot of these people wouldn’t look so hypocritical if they just relabelled self reliance as community reliance. Friends and family helped? Great! That’s awesome that you are in a community able to help you achieve the life you want.

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

I think community reliance is the far better goal, tbh. Like, when I say I want to be "self-sufficient," what I really mean is something more like, "I want to be less dependent on exploitative institutions, so I'll have the time to live my life, follow my conscience, and to invest in my community _and help them get self-sufficient too!_ I want to help build strong local communities, so people are able to rely on each other instead of on large systems that are openly squeezing them for every drop of time and money they can get. Part of taking care of ourselves is taking care of each other, and part of taking care of each other is taking care of ourselves. We have to build a mindset that encourages both.

[@Vizivirag]

Agree. We were always community-reliant, there is no shame in doing what our species has always done!

[@DimT670]

@@eyesofthecervino3366 you do realise that you have just reinvented society right? And the larger systems you speak of are literally the same systems you say you wanna build just scaled upwards? What exactly do you think large systems are if not people relying on each other, who exactly runs , lets say the transportation system, if not people, and for whom, if not other people Btw im not saying said systems are automatically good. But same ways they have issues so do the scaled down versions. Like, the state can be exploitative and so can be your family/local community. Its not an either or Plus community is well and good but when something is solely community based people fall through the cracks.Imagine the worst person you can. Now imagine them sick. That person deserves care , but people in the community usually wont help them (and they shouldnt have to), because no one like him. Thats why there are rules and systems in place, and why the local community approach can function in addition to larger systems, not instead of them You dont get out with politically engaging with the larger systems im afraid, it doesnt work this way. It almost never did in fact, for basically all of human history

[@theCosmicQueen]

the problem is she's saying that off grid = self reliant (and other unrelated things). when those two terms are not in any way synonymous . Only in her head. She's basically a big mouth and not a big brain.

[@michellewitt2071]

@@Viziviragwell-said

[@DanielleWhite]

I loved the quip about the fire truck response time. I grew-up on a dairy farm and get so frustrated with the romantic idyllic views of rural and even farm life held by a lot of people who never lived. A lot of people tell me that they're envious of my youth because "it's such a better way to grow up" whereas the reality was being overworked from a young age (well before teenage) and social isolation which has a huge impact for many. The self-reliant issue was one that I directly experienced. Around the time I hit preteens the social shift which for years had meant the dwindling number of relatives who helped on the farm outside of their day jobs and the neighboring farmers with whom we worked mutually on harvests hit a critical negative mass; the relatives had died or moved away and there were few other farmers within a reasonable distance. It should have meant a collapse of the farm at that point and the only reason it continued a decade more was the labor mandated for me. As I began doing many of the twice daily milkings solo and was the only one who did various field work (spreading manure, mowing and baling hay, etc.) it became easy for my father to feel he was handling it well by himself. My labor was out of sight and out of mind and he believed he was doing the vast majority of the work that kept the farm running. When I moved out after graduation I refused to help on the farm because I had my own 8x5 job and needed time to begin doing things like having a social life and dating, both of which had been denied because that time was needed to keep the farm going. Because of that the farm collapsed leading my father to a struggle with depression from the fact that "self-reliant dairy farmer," a core part of his identity, was wrecked when its foundation vanished.

[@utubepunk]

Oh damn. Sorry you had to endure that. Does your father blame you?

[@christophergreen6595]

Oof

[@imogenx9145]

I think it's near impossible to be entirely self-reliant.

[@StefanoFierros]

@@utubepunk of course he does, I had a similar experience when I went on an exchange and that made my father kindof resent me for a long time.

[@DanDanDoe]

@@imogenx9145 Yeah, humans have always lived in groups. People have lived in villages for a long time now. Farms used to be much smaller and were worked on as a collective. The privatization of land and work since the Middle Ages, but especially things like cars and trucks, have changed how humans think of space. Humans need other humans, unless you’re willing to live a truly off-grid life with small-scale farming, hunting, fishing etc. But even then, if anything goes wrong you’re done for. One bad harvest, being unable to hunt because of a sprained ankle, stuff like that gets you killed if you want to be entirely self reliant.

[@wholesomemaplesyrup9202]

"...label as grifter because it's clear they don't actually know what they are doing..." immediate cut to the next guy kayaking with his paddles upside-down. very nice

[@leesuschrist]

My favorite are the van lifers who live in a van that is worth more than most people's houses and claim they do it to save money and reduce their carbon footprint, all the while driving said van, that gets 10mpg tops, all around the country.

[@gordocarbo]

Craigslist is full oft those broken dreams. Mom and Dad pumped 40k into thier venture and the kid will be lucky to see 4k out of it. Must be nice for others to finance you driving around and playing on the web. Worked 2 jobs most my life

[@Liboo52]

24:32 The scene with the hired elevator operators has me ROLLING, “You used to be a millionaire before you owned a mine!” 😂

[@dirtpounder]

He seemed _so_ uncomfortable with that talk lol

[@PointlessDrummer]

@@dirtpounder well, how would you feel getting called out for the grifter you are (assuming you are a grifter aswell)

[@Prince_Luci]

@@PointlessDrummer he’s been upfront about his wealth, connections, and job he still works since his first episode. Idk how being honest about having money and wanting to spend it preserving a piece of history is a grift. He’s never once encouraged anyone to try living like him and has actively told people how massive of a money pit the town is and how if he didn’t get the satisfaction of preserving history he’d have abandoned it within a month. Seems honest to me

[@BriiBabyyxoxo]

It's honest getting 110,000 dollars I donations for a building that most likely had fire insurance.

[@d3nza482]

@@PointlessDrummer ...while being lowered down a bottomless pit by people doing the calling out.

[@jessepitt]

My dad has been living off grid (on an island) since 1973-4. I was born and raised there. He has never so much as posted a picture of his amazing property or beautiful hand built structures, his crazy vehicles or his stunning rock sculptures online because he doesn’t give tiny shit what anyone thinks of him or his life. He does build everything himself because he’s to stingy and particular to hire anyone to do anything!

[@iRelevant.47.system.boycott]

Live streaming your 'off grid' experience is the ultimate oxymoron. The 'financiers' have unsurprisingly managed to turn even 'the Apocalypse' into a business opportunity. Mineral supplements and water filtration.

[@crimestoppers1877]

Yup!

[@MrJti8899]

Best comment I read so far and the critical liberal girl from Michigan who lives in LA hasn't added a heart. Hmmmm

[@MikeBarbarossa]

Oops you ruined it he's not broadcast online

[@jessepitt]

@@MikeBarbarossa lol, I ruined his anonymity. Now everyone knows.

[@IsaacMayerCreativeWorks]

Honestly I’d argue that Thoreau was the first off-grid grifter. Not only did his mother come to wash his clothes for him, but also Walden Pond is twenty miles from Boston and quite a few people already lived around it. His friends would come and visit regularly, and he would make weekly trips to the Concord market to buy groceries. I mean I’m generally suspicious of all the early transcendentalists if only because I feel like you can draw a direct line from them to the glorification of “rugged individualism” as an idea at all, to the point where you sometimes get the sense that their problem with slavery is that it stops white people from doing labor. Also Thoreau is an absolutely insufferable writer.

[@pattheplanter]

There were many religious hermits over thousands of years who relied on peope to bring them cooked meals.

[@arghjayem]

That, plus he only lived in by the pond for 2 years, 2 months, 2 days…he then moved in with his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family. Plus he was a Harvard Graduate who initially started his own school but then decided that teaching wasn’t for him and started writing a journal and publishing essays. Then he went on to write articles for magazines whilst building his own home…

[@petergarayt9634]

He also burnt down a neighbor's forest from ignoring local regulations.

[@julieforan3559]

I grew up in the next town over so Walden Pond was just a place to go swimming in the summer for us. It did not any mystique about it.

[@haileys5224]

After reading Thoreau for class I have to agree. Mr I got locked up and everyone should do what I do, when he was consistently given special treatment, and the local government repeatedly gave him passive warnings. What a billy-badass 🙄

[@joshs.6155]

Just an FYI so people know. "Off-grid" only means that you are not connected to the power grid. My parents who live in a duplex in a suburban neighborhood and have solar panels that cover well beyond their power usage are more off grid than I am, but still technically connected to the grid because they put in any leftovers and take out if there is no sun and their batteries run out. I live in the middle of the woods but do not have solar panels yet, so I have to be connected to the grid if I want to use electronics, which I do. People always think I live off grid because I live in the woods.

[@liberatethruexposure]

I've been living in a storage trailer for 6 months now; I came across a field of abandoned storage trailers, and actually met the owner of this field for the first time about 2 weeks ago (fortunately he's an understanding good man and I can still live here). Before I found the trailer, I was sleeping on top of a park slide. Today I spent 2 hours flying a homeless sign {only within the last two months have I decided to give a crap about myself so I stopped doing drugs, drinking, and have been doing odd jobs of being moving help}. I get back to my trailer and using my government funded phone + phone service got onto KZbin and saw your channel in my recommended for the first time ever, this video being listed. I thought this was going to be about homelessness but this is still a fascinating subject. And now on the part where you're talkin about this place called echo Park and you just stated that the people who live there or doing more off-the-grid living than Brent is-- holyshit I was feeling that statement before you actually said it. Five other homeless people have moved into the other trailers around here after I had moved in and it's like a mini community in itself. I just felt inspired to bring all of this up, thoroughly enjoying your video.

[@stanbarr9884]

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm trying to put something together right now, a dream I've had many years. Yes some times we beging to think, homeless people like it that way. Heck, I offered the mother of my grandchildren a place and work, but she told me she liked camping in the woods. Go figure. But your story encouraged me to keep moving forward, because, ther are folks that would love to have a second chance. My vision is for a work, training, discipleship, transitional housing ministry. Again, thanks for the encouraging woprds, blessings

[@GlorifiedGremlin]

Other people flocking to your good fortune may deter the man who let's you stay there. Allowing one lost soul to stay on your land is nothing, but when it becomes a literal village??

[@shlomophobe5582]

At least you’re willing to acknowledge drug use as a factor in the state of homelessness you have found yourself in

[@theothertonydutch]

Human beings gravitate towards each other and create communities naturally. It's kind of a beautiful thing. I can imagine sometimes it must be tough, but I hope you'll be able to hang in there. Love and peace from the Netherlands!

[@willothewild]

Good on you for valuing yourself better. I hope you're able to find a balance in your life. I know how hard it is, I've been where you are a few times. Community makes a huge difference. Stay sincere and stay honest. Even about your limitations. Happiness is an emotion, it comes and goes. Meaning is an investment, it grows and grows. Keep investing.

[@AshiwiZuni]

As an indigenous man who has spent much of my life “off grid” by no choice of my own, Thank you for making this video. These grifters glorify places like where I grew up with a severe lack of infrastructure and access to said grid that people die regularly, to make them out to be some sort of “self sufficiency paradise”. Its always pissed me off, and with more platforms making fun of them maybe they will cease. 🙏🏾

[@littleloner1159]

You always want what you don't have. Now if you will actually like it when you have it... That's another story. I'm sure there is plenty people happy with their chosen way of homesteading and all the downsides that come with it, but those are the ones with realistic expectations. It sure isn't a dreamy cozy comfy way of living.

[@HANKTHEDANKEST]

I feel like some of these LARPers ought to trade places with some res kids for a year or so, then we'll see how they feel about "roughing it." These dumb city kids just have NO IDEA what real struggle looks or feels like.

[@atashgallagher5139]

It's a great life if you have a cr*p load of money to buy a bunch of fancy power tools, and solar panels, and tractors, and importing food and luxuries from "on the grid". There's no such thing as an off grid homemade tractor and solar panel farm for your air conditioning and electronics. It's great if you can afford that stuff. But be honest about it. You are buying stuff made "on the grid", with money you made working and living on the grid or with money your rich dad gave to you that he made on the grid.

[@c.dl.4274]

self sufficiency would be great if done right.

[@victorkreig6089]

I mean, most of them ARE paradise....for now The problem with these "people" is that just like the youtube videos of "perfect hidden villages and towns" they bring attention that those places don't need and are incapable of accommodating which causes many problems for them and the land they are on If everyone decides they want to live out "in the wilderness" then the wilderness won't be wild anymore, it'll be shit like everywhere else because it has the one thing that makes everywhere shit, people

[@kimmy_future4265]

Him being mad at the cement company for not coming out translates to "they wanted extra money for the extra difficulties involved and i didn't want to pay them".

[@B-Kun]

Doesnt sound like someone with infinite money.

[@gent_Carolina]

​@@B-KunYes, it does. How do you think they got all that money?! By skimping on everyone else except themselves.

[@theobserver9131]

Typical rich ahole. Kinda like a certain orange-ish guy.

[@theobserver9131]

As a carpenter, I've worked for a lot of different kind of people. It's always the rich ones that try to whittle down my prices, and the poor people telling me I should charge more. Rich people never tip me. Poor people always do.

[@Niriixa]

I've watched some of the early content of that channel, and the road up to the town is an absolute nightmare. It's not a surprise the cement company didn't want to risk driving up there, because the chance of getting stuck or straight up destroying their cement truck is high enough to outright refuse service. Him getting upset at them just reeked of entitlement.

[@DeenanTheKemon1]

This is just like the 'van-life' trend where rich kids buy 100,000 camper vans and then pretend they're roughing it by sleeping in them and basically just being on permanent vacation. They mention ALL the struggles yet never once mention mommy and daddy's credit card in their pocket. 😉

[@hollybug-76542]

Yep.. have seen a big uptick in the trust fund/wealthy pretending to rough it in their expensive vans. Staying in National Parks, the local City Park (all for free) etc. Not really bringing tourist dollars anymore. It's become Glam to pretend to be homeless and needy. Making life even more difficult for those who are actually in need.

[@Sinyao]

People really don't understand how expensive van life can be haha. I watched a few videos on van life conversion of a box truck, and $100k is a low ball for a permanent live in vehicle. Still cheaper than buying a house in a city though.

[@mxt4907]

It’s interesting because it’s not all like that. I was not like that at all, I built out my van because it was cheaper than rent and more stable. I was thrown out because I’m trans. It did help that I was able to crash somewhere, and by posting about my abusive situation I got the van itself. It was a kind of miserable life though. My van i couldn’t stand up in, didn’t have a fancy water system, would get knocks and had bad anxiety, i struggle with mental health and living remote alone feels extra lonely so i didn’t do a ton of public land camping

[@gordocarbo]

They are clueless, just another excuse not to work. Ive had to live in a van before it wasnt pretty. PLain old beat up cargo van parked wherever I hoped it was safe. Nothing great about it. Those influencers are full of it. Once it gets inconvenient their vans go up for sale. Yup time to get a J O B.

[@gabrielbruce1977]

My maternal grandparents built and maintained an actual homestead. And they were dirt poor their entire lives, working their asses off to keep everything running so they could go BUY food and tools and clothes as little as possible. Grandpa had a forge and a woodshop to make his own tools and he hunted basically every day he wasn't working in town for what little money they got. Grandma was elbow-deep in some domestic task at all times to the point her wedding ring wore down to a tiny brittle bit of gold wire and had to be replaced. Mom ran around in the woods barefoot her entire childhood, wearing red so hunters wouldn't shoot her, and every one of her siblings had a colour coded to them until they grew up and left the homestead to seek better prospects. It wasn't romantic or pretty or instagram-friendly, it was just ass-busting work and everyone in town was in the same boat supporting each other so nobody outright starved.

[@rareoddish]

Very similar story with my maternal great-grandparents, swedish homesteaders in central saskatchewan. My grandmother grew up wearing random fabric for clothing and shitting outside in -40 degree winter nights. Rich people that want to "live that sweet life" have no clue what fresh hell every week can bring trying to work the land with little to no help. I wish anyone trying out homesteading the very best of luck, there's many reasons people don't do that anymore. Oh except the rich grifters, they can just donate all their money to nature conservation or the indigenous peoples whose land it actually is.

[@alisdraws]

This feels like that moment in the Fyre Festival netflix doc where the one guy who was worried about sewage and bathrooms got fired for caring about that. He dodged a lawsuit there.

[@mountainhun]

My dad's primary criteria for living off grid was the ability to pee out his back door with no one able to see. Like he wistfully looked off into the middle distance on numerous occasions and expressed this wish. I guess it's good to have ambitions.

[@oldskooljules]

This is a most magnificent ideal. I, too, share this dream! Please thank your dad

[@johnpjones182]

I grew up in the sticks in Southwest Missouri & peeing at night from the front porch always felt liberating. Good times.

[@josejaimes-ramos1546]

Not that big a wish considering that I could do the same thing in a small country town. You just got to make sure you aren't pissing on anyone else's stuff.

[@dottyContrarian]

all you need is a tall fence, really.

[@larryscarr3897]

Just had my morning wee in just that way..

[@heat420_7]

"Leaving the box behind." Shows a fish jumping from one fishbowl into...ANOTHER FISHBOWL 😂

[@subotaur5019]

This modern "off grid" content mill is just white flight mixed with rugged individualism.

[@titanuranus3095]

It really grinds my grids!

[@mindlander]

Based.

[@benhillman8384]

We never hear about the real off-grid folks... because they’re all ...off...grid 😅

[@fredkrissman6527]

I think you can scratch off the actual "rugged indiv" based on Maggie's vid.

[@hdervish2497]

I just want to be prepared for the fall of western civilization. I was raised on mid century sci Fi and I can't shake the notion that everything is going to go horribly wrong.

[@padremochismusical]

I met a young woman about 5 years ago in my student town -- she spoke Spanish fluently and I was talking with my friend there in Spanish so we talked there and we shared phone numbers. She was studying business management and then started a van life account. She has 40k followers but one thing she does not mention -- which I only know because I went to her dad's apartment -- is that she is able to pay for her van lifestyle by managing a "small business", a boxed pizza company that sells to local markets and like... yeah, sure sis, I would be able to live in a car if I owned a 100k+ a year business.

[@ark212]

But you don't own such a business and here you are on the internet bitching about someone else's life because you feel entitled to what they have.

[@kmasse81]

It's such a slap in the face to people who must live in their car because they have no money while working 2 jobs!

[@rgs8970]

I grew up in the country, and the truth is that no one can do it alone. The more harsh the setting, the more communal effort is needed. And that's true in rural communities and urban communities alike! As my parents' generation ages, there's a lot of communal effort towards moving former back to the land settlers into town. It's not safe to be disabled or elderly or otherwise vulnerable so far from immediate help!

[@spiralswithinspirals]

They don’t hate conscripting neighbors to help them, they hate the idea of being asked to help a single other human being.

[@rgs8970]

​@@spiralswithinspirals very good point

[@Itried20takennames]

So true…the idea that people used to be islands unto themselves in the wilderness was never the norm. The typical village where one guy is a blacksmith, one guy made bricks mostly, one widow keeps bees for honey (and a little moonshine sales on the side), where neighboring farms share equipment, etc. was far more survivable than 20 families each doing everything in individual compounds. All the preppers who think their 4-person family is going to avoid all contact with the rest of humanity and survive the post-nuclear apocalypse world will find that things will go downhill very quickly, and even the majority of those living remotely now are reliant on outside supplies to do so.

[@NachozMan]

The disabled and elderly just died back in the day before it mattered bro lol

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

​@@NachozMan humans have been taking care of our elderly for more than 100,000 years

[@Monstufpud]

You can't get fire insurance on old wood buildings like that in California, if you were wondering.

[@sweetlorikeet]

My favourite genre is trust fund kids pretending that their 'van life', featuring a tricked out camper van, is something the average person can just walk away from their job and decide to any day of the week. My second-favourite is the exploitative companies that pay people in developing nations to make fake 'primitive building' videos and destroy a patch of the environment that will immediately be abandoned after filming is over. Also, 6:44 - THANK YOU.

[@lizzfrmhon]

Please don’t watch the primitive videos as you’re contributing to the problem.

[@sweetlorikeet]

@@lizzfrmhon I would like to make it perhaps more obvious, when I said 'favourite genre' I was being deeply sarcastic. I do not make a habit of viewing either kind of video.

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

Yeah, those primitive videos are actual exploitation and deforestation to the max. They will hire a couple locals to be actors, cut down some trees, dig down part of the holes and put bricks in place. Then they time skip the part where heavy machinery cuts a huge swath of forest, digs a foundation, delivers the baked bricks and the contractors put the majority in place. The most egregious IIRC was one video where they filled a pool with water from a local lake and filled it with paint so it looked clear blue. They abandoned it, so mosquitos loved the pool while other animals couldn't drink it. The entire thing was a huge hole in the forest, hurting the ecossystem.

[@ScottM5.0]

If I ever get sick of the hamster wheel/paycheck to paycheck/ buried in high interest debt lifestyle, despite a quarter century of skill & knowledge gained, in a increasingly outsourced, specialized custom medical device production “career”, I’ll just acquire a bunch of land, building materials, industrial machinery, a high end “outdoor” wardrobe, etc., & just plant potatoes & organize a bunch of books, in a decorative manner. Find enlightenment & achieve huge erections, like an early ancient warrior, wielding a hand sharpened spear, between conference calls with shareholders & financial advisors.

[@justinmegibben4909]

I read a book from the 50s that dealt with yuppies, and its the same concept. Kids from affluent classes pretending to live socially below their means for the experience of it.

[@Korhal23]

Not exactly Off-grid homesteader types, but I watched a few seasons of Alone, which is a reality competition where people are dropped in the woods with their own cameras to self document, and 10 items and whoever can stay the longest wins money. Especially in later seasons, the majority of contestants are survival instructors, special forces types, and professional hunters and whatnot. And my key takeaway from watching that show is that even all these highly trained and practiced "self-reliant" folks are all dead within 100 days. They all struggle with food and water, they all kind of go mad from loneliness, they get hurt and sick and poison themselves eating things they shouldn't, get frostbite as soon as the snow rolls in - no one survives alone. Anyone who thinks otherwise is out of their mind.

[@KitKatFresse]

Except for the absolute legend that's roland welker, but yeah pretty accurate in general.

[@Korhal23]

@@KitKatFresse true, but he got super lucky with that musk ox. And I maintain that in that season, knowing that 100 days was the goal instead of "until you win, whenever that is but you have no idea if everyone is still here or you're in the final two" helped several of them get further than they might have otherwise. And who knows how much further he could have gone or not. Still a pretty wild season though.

[@SoulDevoured]

Yeah living on your own is wildly difficult. I'm close to communities that romanticize it and I suggest people watch shows like this before trying it on their own. These are not people that come from money or finely honed skills, either. I have to somewhat regularly tell someone that what they want to do is impossible and possibly suicidal. And suggest they go backpacking instead. And if that's not a challenge for them then to do some very long backpacking or moving to a very remote small community. Anything but to just go into the woods and expect to live on their own far from civilization.

[@asmodiusjones9563]

I love the later seasons on that show because, as a result of taking competent outdoors people as contestants, no one is under any illusions. They all know starvation is their most likely outcome.

[@kappadarwin9476]

@@SoulDevoured Its even sadder if its someone in their sixties that think its a good idea to live alone in the wilderness.

[@drksideofthewal]

He turned an ore mine into a content mine. You couldn’t have thought up a more perfect metaphor.

[@AaronX442]

He also sells all his email contacts. So you can include personal data mining.

[@wolf1066]

32:50 - I'm pretty convinced that *_every_* rich company owner thinks that the work done by the employees was done by the owners themselves - "self-made men" who managed to make themselves rich by the sweat of "their" brows... well, the sweat of *_other people's brows_* actually, but, hey, don't be dissing the "self-made men", eh. Great vid, awesome content, excellent humour. Earned you a sub.

[@michaeldalton8374]

The big one missing was a channel called “Pure Living For Life”. This couple lied about living “on site”, complete with videos of waking up in a camper (that they didn’t live in). They were going to build their “off grid dream home”, then later said the goal was never to be off grid. They soaked hundreds of people for donations, bought brand new vehicles, botched multiple phases of construction, got snippy with anyone trying to point out their mistakes, pissed off their own fans, and made every wrong decision they could. In the end, they built an uninhabitable building that was never completed, had a kid that brought a lot of controversy, bought an airplane with house donations (and were dumb enough to brag about it), and disappeared. Total schitt show.

[@tw8464]

Just like all the fake "off grid" KZbinrs

[@alltheflavors9673]

Yes I remember them, it was so obviously a scam I can't believe people donated to them!

[@samclegg2805]

It's 1996, I live "off grid". I'm a crazy person, potential terrorist and serial killer. It's 2023, look how neat it is that these beautiful people living in the wilderness, how amazing!

[@plebisMaximus]

To be fair, I think there was a higher chance of people like that going off-grid back then compared to now where's becoming a commercialised grift to sell young people frustrated with modern society.

[@samclegg2805]

@plebisMaximus the crazies in the 90s lived there because they were frustrated by modern society. The "frustration with modern society" is the only thing that's Been consistently present for thousands of years.

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

Is it the Unabomber or a KZbinr? Hard to tell.

[@bulldozer8950]

@@TorIverWilhelmsencan you imagine if the unabomber had a KZbin channel? Like imagine if there’s a video that’s very thinly veiled “we’re making bombs today without it being traceable to us!”

[@billhacks]

@@bulldozer8950 given that guys view on technology and how things like KZbin being a surrogate distraction, that is very difficult to imagine. In no way do I agree with his methods and don't condone violence but i do recommend reading his manifesto. He was a mad genius. One that definitely needed to be in prison.

[@Chronix-]

I guess the definition of "off the grid" has changed. 20 years ago, it meant: no nearby cities or towns, no tv, no phone, no internet, no career, no bills, and no money. Now, i guess it simply means "living in the woods."

[@Liusila]

Off the highway grid? Dunno.

[@crimestoppers1877]

Or living where there are no government "services" and therefore few people and very low taxes. If you see cars on nice paved roads you are still too close to the "city". Some day zero vehicles drive on my street. And there are zero homeless anything except a few coyotes.

[@stinkymart3173]

It literally means being off of the electrical grid, ie getting power from a generator or just straight Amishin' it.

[@nicklibby3784]

​@@stinkymart3173 yes, it literally just means being "off the power grid" and not connected to anything like "off the city water system". It just means no connection to the electricity grid, or water "grid", no cable Internet (sometimes, kinda depends on your definition, and times have changed in 2023). Nowadays in 2023, you can easily get internet with Elon musks "Starlink" that actually has good speeds despite being in the middle of nowhere, and you can actually generate a SUBSTANTIAL amount of electricity - sustainably using solar panels, and I don't just mean "sustainable" in environmental terms, I mean like actually sustainable for you, to use the same amount of electricity as a normal modern person and not be very limited with use. Pair that with a nice diesel generator (which are EXTREMELY efficient nowadays) and even in areas with harsh dark winters you will have plenty of electricity. Then on top of that, you can dig a well, and get your own water system, and get a huge water tank for extra. In 2023, you can literally be "Off Grid" and STILL have plenty of electricity using solar panels + diesel generator (for some areas, in winter) AND use the internet with high speeds using Elon Musks Starlink. The whole point of going "off grid" was NOT to just "give up electricity, running water and Internet because they are bad for you, modern living is bad, capitalism is bad, let's live like our ancestors and be more spiritual or something". It was to be SELF SUSTAINABLE in case a bad event happened so you are not reliant of the government and mostly to reduce your cost of living by generating these things yourself instead of relying on the city for it (electricity, water, internet). Nowadays you can do all 3 yourself and be off grid. I don't understand why these KZbinrs think that the point of going off grid was to just "live like our ancestors using the absolute bare minimum" and give up running water, electricity, and internet. The actual point is to just literally be off grid and not reliant on the government and do these things yourself. So that way you can reduce your cost of living, and therefore have more freedom to do what you want, like starting a business out there, farming, ranching, logging, whatever.

[@taywimz]

​@crimestoppers1877 you're such a loser. Plz get better. Good luck. You'll need it.

[@patrickdawe9885]

The Thoreau's mom doing his laundry line had me dying. Well played.

[@Crushanator1]

brought him sandwiches everyday

[@fizzy8367]

I grew up on a subsistence farm and now live in a rural area in an RV and the amount of people like Brent who approach me for help is a lot. They all have big ideas and no clue how to start and it can be mentally taxing to everyone around them when you watch them make bad decisions and struggle. Also try to turn random things into air bnbs and wedding locations lol. Most people fail when they try to do all the big things too fast. For instance if you want a farm you have to start farming before you build the big barn and the community center. You have to understand that you don’t just buy a bunch of hoop houses out of a kit and then let the weather destroy them and kill all your plants because you didn’t learn anything about them. And the people who reach out via pity and fear for your safety won’t stick around forever if you don’t improve.

[@held2157]

💯

[@joshuacampbell9990]

I have a cousin who lived off grid as much as possible more or less his entire life. He lived in the cabin my grandfather was born in that he bought from the family as a young man. He gardened, hunted, gathered his own fire wood, and bartered for things he needed. The place was well off the beaten path and he had no electricity, plumbing, nor modern amenities. The only thing he had one could call modern is he traded around and got an ATV that was mainly for getting him out if he needed help. He did use it occasionally for getting game out of the woods. His companions were a dog or 2 that he would always have by his side and occasionally he would have a horse. I asked him about his decision about why he lived as he did and the only real answer he would give is he just liked it. He’s now gone to a better place but I often think about how he truly lived how he wanted. I also knew another man who lived in a small cabin in the woods that I just stumbled upon while out riding in the woods. He was more or less the same as my cousin but he had inherited his property and decided to give an off grid lifestyle a try. He was about 10 years into his decision when I met him and he was thriving then but I’ve since lost touch with him and I don’t know if he’s still there or even alive. But yes these videos seem to romanticize the whole genre and it does take a certain amount of capital or luck to get started. In today’s world it’s so hard to build that extra capital that it’s almost impossible for most people to even try.

[@Sarah-re7cg]

Just out of curiosity, where did you cousin get the horse from? Like did he own it? I can imagine that would be so much extra work to care for it.

[@carsonhammond6204]

@@Sarah-re7cgnot really that much work. He probably had plenty of grazeland so he didn’t have to pay for feed, and horses rarely get sick when they’re not around other horses.

[@nevernerevarine8071]

I am trying to build that capital right now and its such a fucking pain

[@noktumwhatever753]

I grew up on 100 acres of fairly remote land as a kid, and now as and adult I would give or do anything to just be in a hut far away from people. The only two people on earth I actually consider friends are in a relationship together, and the three of us have been talking for a few months about buying land together and leaving the insanity behind. Wish us luck, it can be done and for some people it's absolutely worth it. Not everyone values the opinions of those around them, some of us wish you'd all just take a vow of silence for a few years and actually figure yourselves out.

[@joshuacampbell9990]

For the most part the horse had plenty to graze on around his place. In the winter he would barter around and have hay and feed or he would sell/trade the horse off. But yes it was his horses when he had them. Like someone else said, horses don’t really require much to tend them.

[@Ojja78]

I paused it on Brent's $167,000 a day helicopter rental. It's actually not for a single day but for an entire week, pays the salary of 7 support staff (including pilot and co-pilot) and is renting a MILITARY UH60 BLACKHAWK HELICOPTER. I checked and there is a civilian Blackhawk, but it's called a "Firehawk". Seems like an intentionally overinflated price to justify his lack of action.

[@nickhaines601]

Underrated comment!

[@jerrylindgren7828]

That Blackhawk is likely owned by the same KZbinr who delivered the concrete. He probably does not own a more affordable helicopter... that's why they used trucks instead.

[@goofygal27]

Not that many UH-60s in private hands in the U.S. - Something tells me the 'quote' is total BS... It's generic with no company information. Dude doesn't know any helicopters so he just put the first/only one he knew about?

[@jerrylindgren7828]

@goofygal27 or perhaps HeavyDSparks, the KZbinr who delivered the concrete via truck, had considered how much it would cost to deliver it with the Blackhawk he owns and operates. Obviously, it's not practical, but getting the quote makes for a better story in the video.

[@saltyreesescup3104]

​@@goofygal27Dave Sparks...😶🧂

[@gregmoyers7757]

My grandparents lived through a economic depression. My mother was a young child. They had nothing and never threw anything away that did not break. Odd thing is the save and never want mind set followed my parents through raising 4 of us kids. Off grid today is very expensive. It would cost you less to rent a house in the suburbs. And grow a vegetable garden. You must have electricity, internet, indoor plumbing, and a kick ass 4x4. A tractor and other farm equipment. Real off grid means that you start with nothing but do not starve and you have a dry place to sleep. My grandparents did not have electricity until 1962. They never had a phone. They never had a pump put into the well. I spend hours daily pumping the water up my hand during canning season. They farmed 20 acres and their house was on an additional 1/2 acre. With 5 kids the 20 acers in crops was just about all they needed. Once the kids were grown grandpa sold much of the crop at the farmers market. He made so much that he bought a new used pickup. Up into the late 1960s he had a used 1947 Ford car that doubled as his truck, and car to give grandma a ride to church. He still plowed his fields with a mule into 1970. You want real off grid? Look at what your grandparents or their parents did. I will never forget the summers my parents sent me to be free labor to the grandparents. They were off grid before it was fashionable. My grandparents lived off grid. My parents were raised off grid. I have a house with lights that turn on with a switch. TVs and internet. Yes I pay a company to deliver electricity. Trash pickup. And taxes to keep the road maintained. Which they seem not to be doing. But I have for a residential area a large garden. And a small green house. If they turned off my electricity I would still survive. If grocery stores went belly up, I would still eat. But late at night, I would miss those odd weird free movies that are on the internet. My cell phone sits in a holder that I made and it is mounted on my kitchen wall. Just like the phone my parents had when I was growing up. But that phone had no message service. Want to be off grid in 2024? Think long and hard about it. Do you really want to go off grid? No such thing as free. Want electricity? That is going to cost you rather you have a generator powered by solar, wind, or water. Might be cheaper to stay connected to power company. Want free water? A well is expensive and a maintenance issue. Food? Live stock and vegetable garden require an investment and maintenance. You might be a master at carving up a holiday turkey. Can you take a live one, kill it, make it ready for cooking?

[@davidennl]

The homesteading husband youtuber genre always makes my blood boil a little bit. Forcing his kids into homeschooling because they live miles away from civilisation, acting extremely autonomous while uploading regular videos and filming every single moment that he is "off the grid". Worst is the endless dogwhistling about becoming self-sufficient in a "changing world", while all the while shilling you his 'how to garden' courses.

[@polarfoxgirl]

This gives strong "Educated" vibes.

[@kappadarwin9476]

The more I think of homesteader dads the more I feel that a lot of them never grew up with the life style. Imagine being a kid and missing out on childhood because your dad decided to live out in the wildness like a hermit. That would be heart breaking.

[@paulmryglod4802]

My grandparents grew up in the middle of nowhere Manitoba because cheap land that their immigrant parents could afford. It's not good for kids to be isolated from other people. It causes generational issues.

[@delusionnnnn]

I'm reminded of the National Geographic show "Doomsday Preppers". A good 70% of the participants would talk around their beliefs, which ended up being "we think liberals and non-white people from the city are going to charge up on us to get our raccoon pelts, ammunition, 70 gallons of fetid water, and 110 pounds of dried lentils as soon as [the rapture/college campus safe spaces/the media/George Soros] starts a race war. And then some goofus from a prepper business would "rate" their "preps" and the participant would usually disagree because they kept the 15 pounds of deer jerky and extra 400 rounds of ammunition they keep in coffee cans buried randomly in their yard a "secret".

[@Cheskaz]

There was a really heart breaking article from Suzanne Heywood about her father uprooting their family to sail around the world that I'd definitely recommend checking out!

[@blueypanda]

I chuckled at the "did you not get fire insurance". Was a volunteer firefighter and off-grid person, and saw people buy 1 million dollar plus houses up the way from me. Turns out insurance companies do not cover million dollar homes in the mtn 45 mins away from the nearest fire station. My cheif got a lot of angry phone calls about how he wouldnt lie to the insurance company about our response times.

[@thelight3112]

Seriously, did she actually think that he would be able to get fire insurance for a tinderbox in the middle of the desert?

[@johnblack5764]

I think she was onto something when she was musing on the fire in Cerro Gordo.. But she was missing the mark with the fire insurance.. ..there's no way you're getting fire insurance on something in that kind of biome, that far up a dirt road and that far away from the nearest fire station. I recently used to live in the mountains, where we were 15 miles, 30 minutes and 3500' elevation away from the nearest fire station (all on paved roads)....in other words a WAY faster fire response than Cerro Gordo would have from Lone Pine. One by one almost everyone has lost their fire insurance and had to go the state plan, which is looking like it's getting ready to dump everyone as well. With our distance from the fire station, we were always considered on the borderline of what was considered "insurable".

[@norml.hugh-mann]

There are steps Brent could have taken to get insurance....a large water tank, sprinklers and firefighting training for select people on site and a large jet pump for fire control, just enough for a 2 1/2 hose and a1 3/4 attack hose and nozzl3s

[@MrHellfinger]

This lady is clueless and just trying to disrespect these channels as a way to create content for her own. The new hotel will have fire sprinklers. I doubt he will be able to get any kind of insurance being so far away from the nearest fire department even with the best sprinkler system.

[@MichaelGallagher97]

@@norml.hugh-mann steps that don't make sense to do on a property that is like it is

[@BlueCyann]

I love how you came right up to the line of suggesting that he burned the place down himself so he could build somewhere the government would actually allow people to stay, without quite saying it.

[@LoveProWrestling]

To be fair it would expose Maggie Mae to legal risk if she were to outright say he had committed insurance fraud, and filmed it for the purpose of committing secondary fraud on his viewers by suggesting this extremely fortuitous un-fortuitous event had removed an obstacle and afforded him a windfall all at once, in a giant run on sentence. Lucky she didn't say that I guess.

[@Chedring]

Yeah, it's almost like she skirted herself from her false accusations lol. What a drama queen.

[@leebarbs7176]

I think OP was actually respecting how she handled it lol not suggesting she go further

[@darkhobo]

​​@@Chedringi dont care. Ill say it. Dude is a scammer and you're a mark. How much did you "donate"?

[@ThomWalbranA1]

The government had no issues with people staying there the only issue which still is an issue is water. In order to have a kitchen and bar he need to have a certain amount of drinkable water depending of number of people. But for just overnight no meals that's not an issue. Plus he was approved for a historic site and building code is different. For idiots that make false claim about the fire. No insurance company would ever insure a 150 year old wooden building, no water and fire department 75 miles away for any amount of money. Call around and ask, 2nd. There was a investigation and Brent was found innocent of any wrong doing. This is also on file Inyo Country Fire Marshall.

[@raindogs451]

No it wasn’t. I’m not a fanboy because I always knew there was more to the story, but you typically can’t get fire insurance on vacant properties. Just think, because insurance companies have: it’s a property with an incentive to burn, AND it’s REPLETE with code (safety) issues. It’s been dormant for 100 years. I’d be stunned if he could find an insurer. He likely wasn’t irresponsible. EDITED TO ADD. Insurance was likely, not just available,but necessary, when he got a Certificate of Occupancy for the B&B. The CO is only granted when the structure meets code (read: inspections) and is safe. You can have no guests without a CO. The hotel was likely not ready for guests or a CO, and therefore uninsurable. A CO would have been required before the insurer would have insured.

[@ewarwoowar9938]

That illegal camping guy you showed at the start is pretty good imo, I've enjoyed quite a few of his videos. Far as I can tell he's not a grifter too, and he doesn't give eye rolling justifications for doing it or claim it's a superior way of life or any of that nonsesne, he genuinely seems to do it just coz he likes doing it.

[@komfyrion]

He's also super open and honest about the context of his camping trips. He usually ends the video reviewing how it was to sleep in that particular location with the gear he had and typically mentions that he's looking forward to driving home and taking a shower. Not trying to make it seem like he's some kind of hardcore survivalist or anything. Steve just likes camping in creative ways in (typically) urban locations.

[@SoundsEpicMusic]

Camping with Steve is wonderful and pure

[@SarahGreen523]

Steve was a boondocker back in the old days, before the van life craze. When he quit, he started doing weird camping, stealth camping, cool remote camping, all with weird, a-typical equipment. The first video of his I watched he light the fire with a blow torch and gasoline. I've discovered some really cool equipment and gadgets and recipes from watching his content. No one sponsors him. He literally asks people not to send him money, but they do anyway, so he uses it to fund his shows. I think he's the most genuine person on TY.

[@kylegonewild]

@@SarahGreen523 I think the Townsends crew would give him a run for his money on most genuine persons on YT. They're living history buffs who have taken what was originally a mail order catalog business for handcrafted 18th century tools and materials and cookbooks, and grown it into this really great, really warming and relaxing channel full of a wide variety of content. They cover all the different aspects across various class lines from the history of BBQ as a slave food to George Washington's massive fishing operation. They talk with experts and enthusiasts in areas they're not as familiar with (like bushcraft, hunting, building canoes, etc.), promote a love of history and preserving the knowledge passed down. By far my personal favorite series has been their homestead series. Building an actual, livable recreation of an 18th century homestead on the large property the main guy's family owned using era appropriate tools and methods (when reasonable). It really gives me those good vibes seeing the hard work and honesty about failure and shortcomings paired with people just being people. Eating food, laughing, playing music. You know it's going to be a great episode when they cold open to the sounds of Brandon hammering away at the forge while someone out of frame hangs a skewer of meat over the fire.

[@Acehigh-Jenkins]

I love both those channels the guys are both r so nice and genuine and wholesome and fun!

[@cyphre]

Always love the 'distance' measurements as well. They'll reference some major city, like LA, but competely ignore they are only 7 miles from the next actual town. In this case, Cerro Gordo is ~7 miles from Keeler. Bakersfield is also halfway to LA.

[@TheBrandonn]

Brent has mentioned keeler countless times in his videos, what are you talking about

[@kylegonewild]

@@TheBrandonnYes, OP was clearly referencing just this guy specifically with the knowledge of having watched his entire catalog of content and not making a more broad statement using an example from the content in the video you are commenting under. How could they be so silly and forget all those times he mentioned Keeler in the videos that they definitely watched.

[@MorlockTrxsh]

@@TheBrandonn yo Brent how's it going? XD

[@mfbfreak]

There doesn't seem to be much of anything in Keeler, though. Brent does have a static caravan there, for when the trek over the unpaved cerro gordo road is impossible or takes too much time for that day.

[@maddhatter3564]

im 8 miles from Odessa Texas but im offgrid, whats your point?

[@CatholicSamurai]

TheCottageFairy is not strictly in the "off grid grifter" category, but off-grid minimal living permeates so many of her videos that it can't be ignored. And she is absolutely getting subsidized by family (or, at the very least, was getting heavily subsidized for a very long time as her channel grew). Even with the benefits of lower costs of living associated with rural areas and minimalist lifestyles, the quality of her properties (and how she's changed properties over the recent years) is way beyond the means of "I work in a bookshop in this little shrinking rural town and sell pastel drawings on Etsy" or "I'm a part-time grade school classroom assistant"). Even in the videos that are literally titled like "how I afford my off-grid lifestyle," she never actually answers that question. I appreciate her content from time to time for other things, but at 1.3M subscribers she's one of the most egregious examples of a youtuber that sets a completely unrealistic example of life for young cottagecore-crazed women who fantasize about larping as Anne of Green Gables.

[@thewagonwitch]

Yes! Cottage Fairy is one of those channels that winds me up the most, so unrealistic, fake, like so many other things these days. I live in a wagon in England, on some farm land I don't own - often amongst the mud and crap, and the other realities of that kind of life (but i still love it). If I even tried wearing the floaty costumes so many wear, they would also be covered in mud and crap within the hour..... lace and floaty stuff don't mix well with bowsaws, axes and fires! Maybe I should do an alternative reality channel of my own!? Wellies, crap, the real deal!!😆But i dont think i have time, simple living isnt always easy living 🙄🤔

[@CasaDuroTinyHome]

I know EXACTLY what video you're talking about 😆at the very end I was like ok..... but HOW DO YOU AFFORD IT?! It bothers me because I think she is a compassionate and wise person, and her perspectives on life are very refreshing, so if she was just a little more honest about how she is actually able to attain that lifestyle, I would happily be a subscriber. But the lack of transparency rubs me the wrong way

[@sammiller6631]

@@thewagonwitch An alternative to Cottage Fairy with bowsaws, axes and fires instead would be a good channel. Lace and floaty stuff covered in mud and crap within the hour would be a fresh look. You should try your own reality channel!

[@LB-uo7xy]

Yeah. I actually wanted to comment something similar to what you wrote on some of her videos but I'm sure she would have just deleted them. I never understood who even watches her sh*t. She's literally Taylor Swift version of cottagecore personified! And that house is huge as well. I also don't buy her 'journey' of previous to owning the cottage she put her work first and of her working herself to death.

[@LardBaron1]

@@thewagonwitch Yeah, real off-griders have a dusty look born out of not having a large wardrobe, unlimited water for showers and a washing machine. BTW I can recommend narrow boating.

[@alexmaness7698]

Now as a southern person that lives in a tiny home and setting up my own tiny home, I wouldn’t be able to make it if it wasn’t for my friends and family’s help and support.

[@ashleyminor5524]

A family member knew a guy who lived off grid and had a whole documentary about how he built his community. After we watched it I asked how he got the money and the truth was that he grew and sold weed on a huge level. Like fields and fields of it

[@PsychoSoldier01]

based

[@theamazingcowlet]

Thats the kind of stuff I respect alright!

[@MitchJohnson0110]

respect

[@letsfindsomepeace9207]

​@@MitchJohnson0110respect for selling a lot of weed?

[@rowannadon7668]

@@letsfindsomepeace9207 yes

[@shackledkings]

Something I've seen very few off-grid influencers talk about is how expensive, and the amount of time it takes to establish an off-grid homestead. There's an adjustment to how you live when the sun provides all your energy, especially when you can't afford a huge solar farm. There's a learning curve to building, maintaining, and growing a self-sustaining lifestyle that hasn't been properly explained.

[@liatresanos3769]

I once asked a KZbinr in the Tiny House cathegory how much a Plot of Land in the area Costs and the answer was "I have no idea..." That was very suspicious since they claimed to have bought the parcel for the construction there... In a foreign country where they supposedly didn't know anybody and were in the process of settling in their new beautiful surroundings... and one of the first things one gets acquainted with (the easy or the hard way) are the socio-economic conditions into which one has landed into...

[@SinkoDucc]

If you do it right using mostly traditional methods you can build a log cabin for about $10k Buying the land is another story tho

[@levlev.1028]

@@SinkoDucc a log cabin costs: 1. Logs (a logging permit can be had for 50) 2. two axes ~120 3. a diamond sharpening stone ~50 looks like a log cabin costs eggxactly 240 bucks without windows or nails

[@SinkoDucc]

@@levlev.1028 cool good luck doing that naked

[@SinkoDucc]

@@levlev.1028 cool good luck doing all of that without boots or clothes And good luck making the logs fit together well without a saw, auger, chisel, froe, files, drawknife or planer, etc Going to be a pretty cold cabin

[@rdear]

I freaking LOVE the slow punch-in on self-reliant! So many “self-reliant” people are either willfully ignorant, or straight up lying about how much they actually rely on other people, family, public resources, etc. that enable them to do stuff like this.

[@sloanekuria3249]

Mostly both.

[@Nick_CF]

exactly, like true off grid living or a non monetary way of living is only sustainable through strong communities and social structures...so you know, a society of some sort lol

[@sylviebutts]

it's so scary how much of that rhetoric i (and everyone i know!) has internalized- even if we don't think others should be "self reliant," we think we should be and the cycle continues

[@anjetto1]

Yeah. I've met libertarians before. They're all liars and morons

[@ark212]

Another purity spiral: why does the idea of someone aspiring to build security and community networks bother you so much and where does this strange idea of someone completely divorcing themselves from the outside world correlate to someone who bought land and is figuring out how to live on it?

[@kcjd8659]

Someone needs to explain to these people that rebuilding an historic hotel makes it NOT historic-it makes it a replica at best. If it’s made of concrete it’s not even that. It’s just a tourist attraction, which people are volunteering their labor to build. Donating time and money to someone else’s investment with zero return. We really need to invest more in our public school systems.

[@Armoredcompany]

This is why I like Nate Petroski. He tells you what he did for a living before (and still occasionally does), he tells people what do does for money, including his electric robotic lawnmower's POV twitch streams (which I think are hilarious), and has walked people through the step-by-step process of living in a trailer while he take more than a year to build his house himself and explains how it can be a pain in the ass along the way. Also, as a side note...I think it's REALLY interesting that Brent says "I tried to hire a helicopter company" and his invoice lists specifically a Blackhawk helicopter. Then suddenly Heavy D Sparks is involved...glossing over the fact the Heavy D Sparks...just so happens to own and pilot a privately owned Blackhawk...weird how that works.

[@sterlingoldemeyer1203]

I watch Nate Petroski videos too he seems relatively down to earth and seemingly above board. Pretty honest about how difficult it is and he does things at a snails pace.

[@MlleSallyBrown]

I mean he also thinks the earth is 6000 years old so idk if he's a good model

[@Armoredcompany]

@@MlleSallyBrown I haven't seen him make that claim. Then again, the age of the Earth and being realistic about off-grid and homestead living are two entirely unrelated topics.

[@antthomas7916]

​@@MlleSallyBrown Does he really? I thought he was a pretty intelligent guy, but I guess not.

[@MlleSallyBrown]

@@antthomas7916 He does ! I made the mistake of going on his secondary channel and he believes all kinds of batshit stuff. Even if he keeps it off the main channel, I can't watch him without remembering that lol.

[@metaleggman18]

I'm not entirely sure what company would insure a desert ghost town for fire insurance.

[@keirafritzen4686]

I would think none would, especially in California.

[@zaddy83]

Wouldn't happen, but that doesn't fit her narrative.

[@InnuendoXP]

Well, it hasn't burned down 'so far'

[@boni23]

He's mentioned before that the town used to have over 200 buildings and most have burned down over the years.

[@iRelevant.47.system.boycott]

Likely one that would require a sprinkler system installed as part of the deal.

[@JackF99]

About 10 years ago I spent some time in beautiful Asheville, NC. There were hippie activists who had moved to the area, apparently living off inheritances. They were known by skeptical locals as Trustafarians.

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

25 years ago I went to Ashville, after a good friend ( successful artist) moved there , looking at buying a house..$$$ for a fixer- upper on a swamp. And that was the best for $200,000. Ps, she had spent 10 years looking at property before she had found a house .

[@mrmohawkmansir]

I know one living in Banner Elk, although they're from the area. They paid for me to travel from S. Louisiana with my crew to work on their house.

[@AlcoCZ]

There's been a phenomenon with the aristocracy around 17th to 18th century where they had artificial cottages or even villages built outside their pallace. They'd change to a peasant's clothing and go on pretending to be farmers etc. You know "getting in touch with nature". The rich off grid people seem awfully similar to that.

[@jane_gorelove]

"I HAD NO MONEY AT ALL" builds a 8500-dollar house. as someone who has 1 dollar in all bank accounts combined, I would like to contest the meaning of 'no money'

[@dnoname8108]

I mean, that is pretty cheap for a house built in the 90's by a 50 year old engineer. Dude worked as a civil engineer. He also started a business of selling christmas trees.

[@ealusaid]

Yeah seriously. I don't HAVE a pension or savings or anything else; in the past two decades, I have had 12 months all together where my income got above the poverty level. I would be okay if this dude just said "I built it for a tenth of its usual cost!" or something, but I feel about ready to punch all the old white guys I know who literally own yachts or vacation homes and then complain they're "living hand to mouth" because they had to delay some expensive repair for a month or two. And then ask me why I don't have a house and kids, not understanding that their "poverty" is unimaginable wealth to me.

[@karenholmes6565]

I am living on credit currently, I totally get where you're coming from

[@morbideddie]

To be fair I think that $8,500 house was built several years after buying the land.

[@murphy7801]

8500 in 1990 is not 20k

[@kipsick8693]

If you're in the southern California area and actually want to support a ghost town that isn't run by a billionaire grifter, go to Ballarat in Death Valley and throw them a few bucks. They've been working for years on restoration and creating a usable camp site for people. The ruins are beautiful and the history is fascinating.

[@jimbob1457]

No thanks. They kicked Rocky out. He was a fixture and a local legend. He and his father use to live and work up at chris wicht camp. You can stop by and support him by picking up some shine on the north end of Trona.

[@vanilloia7479]

theres a good post by tumblruser aprilfouls, where they collect classic literature passages in which the narrator goes on and on about their loneliness and solitude, how they've retreated from society, only to then mention their servant making breakfast. There's just something timeless about wealthy people not considering working people to be actual human beings.

[@phoenixgirl70]

Most didn’t know their servants first names. Ever. They truly believed as so many still do (so many people giving well known rich people money to keep them rich!) believe they were chosen for success (some by “god”) and think it’s their right to use others. I mean, Brent sure had no problem there was like a 10 year old kid working with the cement in the dirt. Brent sure wasn’t keeping with historical times building the whole thing with cinder blocks. That’s just super historical!😅

[@clawsoon]

Heh. I was recently reading something similar about an English scientist who liked to explore the Alps. When he wrote books about the experience he'd go on about how terribly alone he was up there, facing the elements and the dangers by himself... and then casually mentioning all the porters who were hauling all his stuff around the mountains for him. But of course they didn't count as "real people." But then I guess I've done similar things in the past, thinking that I'm all alone in the city even though I'm going to the store to buy groceries and interacting with the cashiers every week.

[@iRelevant.47.system.boycott]

Noticed the AI dream is an ancient iteration of the 'Robot' illusions sold in earlier days.

[@quicktoevil]

As someone who has extensively remodeled homes, built additions, finished basements and much more, all construction is challenging, often dangerous, expensive and requires extraordinary resolve. You have to be physically, mentally and spiritually 'fit' for the task and you'll need help. No way around it. Precious few of these people seem prepared to live off grid, or in tiny homes or in the woods for that matter.

[@ccapwell]

Propane tanks don't randomly explode. Either he screwed up the connection or, yeah, it was totally weird that a building he was going to need to demolish burned down ,

[@jerrylindgren7828]

It exploded from heat because the building was already halfway burnt down from an electrical fire. Maggie's take on the fire was disingenuous.

[@FishnWithWilly]

@@jerrylindgren7828definitely then she smeared him for nothing then went on a bullshit commie ramble.

[@HeyBUB]

Well he has a video were he goes in depth and apparently she didn't watch it. @@jerrylindgren7828

[@slimkt]

@@jerrylindgren7828 I don’t know about disingenuous. It seems like she didn’t realize the propane tank was a result of the fire and not the cause of it.

[@BigpapamoneymanMVPtypebeat]

If the tank sat empty and then he refilled the propane tank , it could have had moister in it causing a malfunction, happens a lot

[@slouch186]

Nothing says "off-grid living" like being an influencer.

[@sudanemamimikiki1527]

Off grid literally just means your homestead isn't connected to the central power grid. Anything you do beyond that is up to the person to decide.

[@nullpha]

Internet is a part of the grid.

[@sudanemamimikiki1527]

@@WildlandExplorer by using the Internet? To get extra income?? Again. All that being off grid really entails is that you aren't connected to the grid..that's literally the only requirement for the title of being off grid...

[@elkoposo686]

@@nullpha OK. OKAYYYY....!!! Grid annexation... Happy?! lol I just want my expenditure to be such that I've actually got time to stealth ramble over excruciatingly rich 'owners' properties without them ever-ever-ever knowing it... And using their wi-fi connections. And bathrooms. And larders. And golf carts... And... SHIT! THE DOGS!!

[@elkoposo686]

@@sudanemamimikiki1527 - TURN OFF YOUR GAS/ELECTRICITY/OIL/PHONE CONNECTIONS/WI-FI/WATER/FOOD SOURCES BOUGHT = OFF GRID.

[@WaddleQwacker]

I'm French. Out there we often say "whatever happens on the USA internet will happen in France 2 years later". But we made an exception for the denunciation of rich "poor off-gridders" and fake "self-reliant" channels. Even managed to dig up some dirt interesting for courts. It was kinda sad when you found out some channels that really looked legit were actually none of that. But hey, it made the legit ones shine even more!

[@alexdcpe]

To add to that, the European offgrid grifter scene is very different to the American one in one crucial aspect, which is permits. In the US it's fairly easy to build anywhere you want while in Europe, generally speaking, there are much more strict laws and building a house in a rural area is a lot of times not possible to do legally at all. I'm Portuguese and a lot of these online offgrid crowds choose this country to do this, so you will find a lot of channels with people living in what is called "rural land" which legally can only be used for agriculture. There is no security at all when any day you can get a notice to tear down your illegal building. I always get a little annoyed when some foreign rich kid buys an agricultural plot of land for peanuts and puts up a container house on it making it seem like it's that easy - it's not, and these people are living illegally and doing things they're not allowed to do, at the risk of losing everything.

[@iRelevant.47.system.boycott]

You once had a head start with 'Let them eat cake' ...

[@janestewart9608]

We recently moved onto a few acres in the middle of nowhere in a crumbling old house that we're restoring, and trying to produce as much of our own food and household items as possible; there's absolutely no way any of that would be possible without family and community. Edit to add: my wife and I both have "in town" part-time jobs, we borrow equipment from family on a near-weekly basis, and various cousins work in skilled trades and do stuff either at a steep discount or for barter. We could only afford the house and land because the house was worthless as-is.

[@charischannah]

I like the idea of being an outdoorsy type, but every time I go camping, I am reminded that I really, really like indoor plumbing and my comfortable bed. Living in a more rural area sounds nice sometimes, but I definitely prefer being close to things like hospitals and libraries.

[@shoeboxbistro]

Yeah, any camping trip I've been on has usually concluded with me dumping three days worth of excrement in the nearest Cracker-Barrel bathroom.

[@derekcarney]

..and firemen! Don't forget the firemen...and firewomen, too! Certainly let's not forget the firewomen. Fire people. Let's not forget that it's really nice to be near fire people. Final answer.

[@matthewc8241]

Weak

[@derekcarney]

@@matthewc8241 strong? 7 days?... Ling? Pass!

[@ourDreamcatcher]

camping for a week or more makes one appreciate indoor plumbing like nothing else on this earth!

[@bennyb.1742]

My wife and I live in an off grid tinyhouse. She started doing tiktok stuff and it quickly amassed nearly 1m followers. We get accused of being fakers all the time! I'm sitting here with an uninsulated floor, frozen water pipes, and my 80's sh!tbox wont start and some angry 20 something basement dweller is telling me its fake. I'm like "Buddy, I wish"

[@easyacreshomestead]

Lol, same!

[@SpaceFlye]

Eh, that's the internet for ya. Amass any big follow and find success, you'll always attract some haters who have usually much to show for in their own life.

[@charliekelly735]

In fairness, I can't blame people for thinking it's fake with the amount of fake content online

[@zackreuter6344]

I would think all you real off-grid folks would be happy to see someone calling out the millionaire fakers.

[@downtherabbithole993]

i thought off grid didn't involve sitting in your house with internet connection commenting on youtube about how you aren't a fake off gridder

[@mickaleneduczech8373]

To be fair to Brent, getting fire insurance is getting more and more difficult here in the western US. Any insurance company he contacted would likely take one look and say 'Nope!'.

[@kevinmoran8097]

Rightfully so! No way anyone would insure that literal tinderbox lol.

[@spicycatsandthings]

but the fire was sus AF.

[@mickaleneduczech8373]

@@spicycatsandthings that too

[@happytofu5]

​@@spicycatsandthings he did not look very convincing to me as well

[@Chedring]

Maggie is pretty out there with her accusations, (let alone her cringe way of expressing them), and is clearly not very versed with zoning code and insurance policies. Or the sheer fact that Brent doesn't live up there alone and has made this pretty clear... She's not really smart lol.

[@StinkyBlack1]

The sad part is they’ve sold this idea to so many down trodden people. I’ve known young women with absolutely no skills completely convinced that they and their children were going to be living in a custom tiny home in no time. The furthest I’ve seen any of them get is buying a leaky vintage trailer that sat in storage.

[@dylansporrer1198]

Oh sure, when these people go 'off grid' and have weekly uploads they're considered rugged individuals and celebrities. But when I start an off the grid community of like minded and spiritually open individuals who happen to own firearms I get called "a cult leader" and "recently added to the FBIs most wanted list".

[@lyndabethcave3835]

"People that are really into that piece of clothing will pay upwards of $100,000 sometimes for these jeans" As a historical costumer I laughed out loud at that statement. No one is paying for disintegrating fragments of jeans found in a mine. It has to be a historically significant or an extremely well-preserved example of clothing for a museum or collector to keep, let alone pay for, old clothing. Otherwise, at most you're making a few hundred on eBay for a complete decently-preserved garment. No one wants your crummy mine-denim scraps.

[@everfluctuating]

love how he completely ignores the "museum quality" aspect of the jeans worth over 100k. just because the jeans are old doesnt mean people are willing to buy them, especially if theyre dust on the wind if you blink too hard in their direction.

[@Prince_Luci]

Both of you clearly didn’t watch his video. He goes over everything you mentioned and talks about how the tattered denim fabric is only really valuable to him and people interested in the history of the town, ACTUAL intact authentic original Levi-Strauss jeans have absolutely been recovered and sold at auction for well past 6 figures. That’s what he’s getting at, he’d love to find a holy grail find like that but he’s content finding scraps because he’s not profiting off of it.

[@FerociousPancake888]

He’s talking about the jeans Levi bought back from someone who found a flawless piece of their first line of jeans, which they bought for over 100K. Relax.

[@garbearfar1394]

@@FerociousPancake888 yeah man English is hard. “These” jeans meaning the type of jeans, not “these” Jean scraps specifically. This whole video just loves to be super pedantic, “we built it ourselves” Oh ReAlLY now??? “My dad helped” HUh hOw sELf-ReLiaNT Of YoU!!!

[@rye3752]

I grew up in a household that did a lot of typical things you'd need to live self-reliant. We never were. Because it was already a TON of work and nobody was even thinking of becoming self-reliant, because realistically, it is hard, it is harsh, and one bad year can make your entirely family starve. We did it mostly because we liked doing these things and the additional benefits (saving money on food, having organic food, etc) were worth it to my family. But it made me h a t e every form of romanticizing it. There is no romance. In summer we NEVER ONCE went back into the house before sunset. Every single day. It never asks for how your day is, how your health is, if you really don't want to do it today. We had to shrink it down significantly after unrelated health issues, because the work became too much. And remember: It was only some additional food to what we bought in stores.

[@newforestpixie5297]

yours sounds like an account of authentic ‘off - grid’ & of the old fashioned country life we also endured in southern England during the 1970s at step-dads’ farm . there’s always something that needs attention & you’re correct re not knocking off for the day until sunset because come shorter days there’ll be other priorities rather than struggling beneath lighting which requires precious energy etc. if you don’t take every aspect seriously it’ll backfire & things will be even harder or go completely tits-up ..😁👍🐢🐀

[@HTMLbrowser]

It also develops your creativity. And the satisfaction of having created something by yourself. And some more benefits that money can't buy.

[@impetus6]

My dad never took us hunting which made me something of a pariah among my friends who started going hunting with their dads in elementary school. It was a sign of manhood. My dad always got touchy about it when I would ask to go and I gave up asking. Some years later he started to open up about his upbringing. His family had tried to be farmers in rural Oklahoma in the 50s. He grew up driving the tractor while his dad and uncle hand picked corn and threw hay bales. He and his brothers were responsible for hunting rabbits and ducks if they wanted meat with their meals. They would get sent out with a sack and a .22 and were told not to come home until they killed something. The stress of it and the hard feelings if they did return empty handed soured him on hunting completely. I had thought my dad was a wimp who didn't like to kill. In reality he grew up in such a harsh and precarious situation that he swore he would never have to hunt again.

[@bigsmiler5101]

I grew up on a Nebraska farm where we could have power outages of up to 3 weeks. Now I live in the rural Arizona desert, trying to build an Oasis on 11 acres (4 hectares). It was excessively difficult initially, but soon comes the maintenance and repairs of everything I'd built, and I'm falling Backwards toward my goal. This was never intended to be "off grid," but something to increase the land value so some rich person will buy it for their mansion. -- Farm life had taught me that rural life is hard. Fully half the city people who buy homes out here move away within a year because they can't cope with the unfamiliar culture. WORSE, they expect those of us who have adapted to help them out with all their crises, such as "Oh my god, there's a bug on my wall!"

[@charliecordell4760]

Glad you're here to write the comment. I grew up on nearly 40 acres in the Southern Appalachians and grew up with gardens, livestock, etc. and what you said is 1000% accurate. I enjoyed it and am looking to do that type of living to some degree again. But my family right now is turning that land into rental lots, and I'm working in a city 5 hours away from my hometown. I'd love to live there and make money. But even if I could possibly manage that. It'd be incredibly difficult.