Comments on: In The Year 2049: Would I Survive A Worst-Case Scenario?

By: Opt Out En Masse

Opt Out En Masse — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:16:05 +0000

Completely agree that our country is a *much* better alternative to most other places.

I’ve also kept any kind of discussion about self-defense of our micro-farm and stored food anonymous online, and among a *very* small circle of F2F friends. We’re still not at the point in our economy where those kinds of conversations won’t solicit references to Waco; most folks simply have not yet awoken to the fact that our empire is crumbling fast. “Technology as savior” is still the most oft believed theme around here. I can completely understand that; I used to believe it, too.

“Late Rome” an apt reference as well.

By: Kay

Kay — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:54:43 +0000

Hi~ I’m Korean read your book, farewell my subaru. I’ve been trying to use local food, so your book was really impressive to me. By the way, these pictures are from Korean book with Korean character, ‘Hangul’. haha~ How come?

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:49:39 +0000

Yes, Doug!
Your book in Korean edition is fantastically translated! The humors in your book are really hard to translated in Korean because of curtural differences, but the translater did it well! The book contains lots of footnotes, which is really thoughtful. The illustrations in the book (I thought you’ve drawn it) are well expressed what you meant. I can see humor and a little mess in the illustraions :D. At the end of your book I could understand how you felt about life in the mother nature. Thanks for the book. I’m really looking forward to live in green!

By: Heeseok

Heeseok — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:50:06 +0000

When I saw an introduction of your book in Korean translation edition, I thought this is it. Thank you so much for inspiring me and other fellows to move for what we have in mind. It’s time to do something, not to keep thinking only. Personally, I am encouraged to challenge to change the way of my life.

By: OrgoCowboy

OrgoCowboy — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:36:43 +0000

I’m so glad Farewell, My Subaru is on shelves in Korean language edition! I’m getting a bunch of lovely comments on it, so I imagine I owe some thanks to the translator, and certainly to the wonderful illustrator, with whom I would work with again in a heartbeat.

By: Sjoo,KWAK

Sjoo,KWAK — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:39:23 +0000

Hello Doug

I just bought your new book, Farewell,My Subaru Korean edition. I love your book and your illustrations.

Take care

By: Kristeva

Kristeva — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:15:50 +0000

Love the Ranch Entrance sign… I could certainly use one of them.

cheers,

HDR

By: OrgoCowboy

OrgoCowboy — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:07:02 +0000

Thanks so much for the kind post, Robert. As for living sustainably in the Far North, I can speak to this, as I lived in rural Alaska for four years: every ecosystem has its own challenges and benefits, but near the Arctic Circle, solar will be great for six months (or a little more — plenty of folks where I lived in Southern Alaska had solar panels that worked great). At other times of year, hopefully your home site will have either wind, personal hydro, or geothermal potential. And there is long precedent for sustainable living in Alaska — they’re called Alaska Natives, and they’ve thrived there for Millennia.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:04:48 +0000

I love this blog and it fills me with a ticklish sense of joy that someone who seems in many ways to act and think much like me can pull something like this off as well as you seem to be doing (interrupted tubing trips and all). However, hailing from a place that is very close to the arctic circle makes me less than confident that a similar life style could be sustained “up there”. There’s a lot of eco-info and green building cheap energy info that fits people well living in more southern climes, but for us its-grim-up-north dudes solar power, vegetables and free range chickens is not an option.

Plenty of moose though.

Keep up the good work!

By: Naimhe

Naimhe — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:51:06 +0000

I’m throroughly enjoying your adventures in neo-survivalism. Your efforts have exceeded my own to date but I will continue to strive to achieve as much self-sufficiency as possible, and we at ATG will continue to follow your endeavors and have a chuckle or two in the process. Luckily, I have an electrician, a plumber and a carpenter on the family payroll - now to get the bloody windmill up already!

By: OrgoCowboy

OrgoCowboy — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:34:07 +0000

The funny thing is, where I grew up, shop classes like wood working, electronics and auto shop (and even basic drawing) were being phased out, and were certainly looked down upon by the honors students who were told that the key was good grades and great SAT scores in order to gain admission to top colleges and to eventually realize a life where others fixed your stuff for you. Great system while it lasts.

By: Ron Parry

Ron Parry — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:20:52 +0000

Thanks Doug,

You are a model for others to follow. At some point in my early “old age” I realized that even though I have a Ph. D., I have almost no practical skills whatever. I’m sure there are many other like me. I am trying to play catch up, but it is a slow process! I hope the younger generation catches on sooner and makes an effort to master practical skills while they’re “getting an education”

best wishes,

Ron

By: OrgoCowboy

OrgoCowboy — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:22:35 +0000

Thanks so much for the post, Mike. First off, I had a similar epiphany in Laos to yours in Afghanistan — on paper one of the “poorest” countries in the world, I saw a rural, sustainable culture. People thriving, healthy, colorfully celebrating religious festivals. See the “print journalism” link on the right side column here in these Dispatches for my story called “The General and Me,” about an attempt to build a World Bank-sponsored dam to cut off the indigenous source of life in the country (the river) build suburban housing, and sell electricity to these aforementioned absolutely thriving-as-things-are-and-have-been folks so as to improve (again on paper) their standard of living.
The second reason I’m so grateful for your post is that it reminds me to mention how much I appreciate getting emails from military folks, active or retired, which I do often. It helps remind me that, to the extent that while civvies are often told rightly or wrongly that the military is not a generally progressive or ecologically minded institution, sustainability is not a political issue. It is a survival issue. For all of us. We’re all in it together.
And I think we’re seeing this in policy changes on the ground in battle zones, from what I’m hearing in NPR-type reporting from, say, Afghanistan lately. That “winning” is about people feeling healthy about their communities and lives as a result of our presence. What we do AFTER the fighting is what really matters. And that’s about sustainability as much as anything — clean water supplies, healthy farms, cleared ordinance — in addition to no more bad guys.

By: Mike Jones

Mike Jones — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:28:44 +0000

Doug-
Thanks for your book and your blog– you are an inspiration for responsible and healthier living. Perhaps all is not as grim as one might think–I finished a six month tour in Afghanistan last year, but it was an eye opener in more ways than one might expect. Although undeniably the country is a wreck, the Afghans still manage to get by. Farmers till their fields, the markets are crowded, and people find ways to keep their machinery running. (And all of this in a country that has a lot of strikes against it). No, I wouldn’t call life “good ” there, but it is not impossible.
Cuba has lived with the embargo for 48 years, and many of their Chevrolets and Studebakers are still on the road.
I think that living in greater harmony with the land will become more common, as more people come to the realization that we don’t want to live for short-term goals alone. At least I hope so.
I hope you get your rain!
Mike

By: Arlo Petersen

Arlo Petersen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:10:48 +0000

I enjoyed your article Doug.

We spend 5 months of the year in Yuma (Portland areas otherwise) so I bet the weather is similar although the terrain is probably much more rugged in your parts.

By: OrgoCowboy

OrgoCowboy — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:51:14 +0000

Well, I sure appreciate the vote of confidence, Al. I feel as though whatever skills I may have are at this point not only rudimentary (though I’m certainly enjoying learning when it doesn’t involve trips to the emergency room), but also very newly acquired. Where and when I grew up, shop class was not smiled upon. The acceptable plan was to go to some professional school and hire others to fix you home and car. So my message remains, “If I can do it, anyone can.” Thanks also for the book reference and Monsoon wishes! It’s rained the past two days…no guarantee yet but every little bit helps.

By: Al Larabee

Al Larabee — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:38:39 +0000

Hello;
Without a doubt you would weather the storm.I think that you have the skills deeply embedded in your system as a result of the life experiences that you have had.
Make no mistake,these are what mold a person for their whole life.
You might want to try to find a copy of “Farnham’s Freehold”. It was written by Robert Heinlein in the early 60’s and clearly details what could actually have occurred in that era, or now,for that matter.
I found it to be a pretty good read on several levels.
I find you to be a pretty good read also on several levels.
Enjoy the monsoon season as I will enjoy the flood season.
Al Larabee