Will Humanity Survive Going Off-Grid?

Watching Shawn James of Canada build a log cabin makes me wonder.

Ever wanted to say “screw it, I’m going off grid, y’all can have all this mess?”

I’ve been watching YouTuber Shawn James for the last month as he builds an amazing log cabin in the wilds of Canada. He owns some 20 acres in the middle of nowhere.

His goal is simple: self reliance on him and his family to produce enough food on their homestead to live off grid.

Odds are Shawn James’s custom log cabin will stand long after most everyone reading this is long gone. Including himself. But that is the intent. To give future generations the tools to live free of the outside world.

Now think about that a bit. Could all of us go off-grid?

I am not an environmental activist, and I don’t buy climate change but….

Whether you’re into the “climate change” religion or not, we are all in trouble. Our so-called “world leaders” have society on the AC/DC “Highway to Hell.”

I often wonder if the good Lord doesn’t sometimes regret making his promise to never flood the earth again. Humanity is broken.

We need a reset. But not the kind Klaus Schwab and his World Economic Forum elite playboy club advocates. Their goal, (not a conspiracy theory if they declare it) is that by 2030, “you will own nothing, and be happy.” (But no tangents here.)

What would it take to go off grid?

On YouTube’s My Self Reliance channel, Shawn James has 2.02 million subscribers. He produces frequent high-quality videos. He also posts to a second channel, Shawn James, and has 329K followers.

One of his daughters, Emily, also sports a mere 59K followers doing her own thing. Twenty videos, 59-thousand followers. Wouldn’t you like those numbers?!

Shawn posts two types of videos. One where he works and provides high-quality video production. The second account where he talks direct to camera and fills in the gaps left from watching him and no voice over.

Shawn James shows what it takes to live off grid.

• Land in the middle of nowheresville Canada, that has no roads or towns nearby
• A vast fresh-water supply
• Vast array of hand tools that do not need batteries or electricity
• Self-built out-house, woodshed, tool workshop, greenhouse and outdoor garden
• A half-constructed old-fashioned log cabin
• Plentiful supply of trees for milling and building
• Knowledge of construction, leverage, and self-acquired skills
• Loving dog Cali, who is the comic, while Shawn plays the straight
• Determination, and concern about how the rest of the world is going to pot

The looming food shortage, outrageous inflation, supply chain issues, government corruption and more

It does not take a rocket scientist like Elon Musk, singer like Paul Simon, or Daniel in the Bible, to see the proverbial writings on the wall.

With the war raging in Ukraine, a major supplier of grain and fertilizer, the world’s food supply is in some level of jeopardy.

In 1904, Halford Mackinder published his Heartland Theory. This posited the nation controlling the land where Europe and Asia meet controls the world.

Simply put:

Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island commands the world. — Mackinder, Democratic Ideals and Reality, p. 150

The theory never reached realization. But there is a reason for the war in Ukraine, and this is the nitty-gritty of what the whole thing is about.

To provide for his family, Shawn James and many others are moving “off grid”

There is an uptick in the number of people fleeing from urban areas to live off grid. But this begs the question? Could we all do this?

The obvious answer is no. Think of the elderly. The massive debts held by most middle-class families. The inability to buy such properties. The lack of skills required to provide just for oneself and his/her family. Not to mention that if everyone moved off grid, is there even enough land for this?

I’ve not done the statistical analysis to determine the ratio of potential off-griders v. available nowheresville land, but it’s easy to conclude there simply isn’t enough. Not with 8 billion people on the planet.

But if you wanted to do this, what do you think it would take? Could someone plan enough to go do this and make it work out?

It is time to do some soul searching about this. And maybe more of us should have considered this a decade or two ago, like Shawn James did.

What do you think?

Is the idea of getting off the grid and a return to basic living workable? We all lived with a high-level of isolation during the pandemic. As a result, many people lost their sanity over this.

Heck, consider the song, Gold Rush Brides by 10,000 Maniacs. Natalie Merchant laments the women who saw their husbands out to claim their stake. Men who lost their lives in the harsh conditions and left mouths behind to survive. Women who suffered the madness, childbirth, loneliness, and grief.

The world is reeling right now because of the forced isolation of the past few years. Worse, the rising cases of Covid. The weekend mini-panic about Monkeypox. So much to think about.

If you and your family lived in isolation and then returned to society, how long could all survive? Think about when your babies leave the safety of your maternity/paternity leave. They catch every cold and sniffle until they build up immunity.

Many county governments control a huge revenue channel over rural property ownership. In the U.S., high fees and conditions apply to so much as building a fence on your private property. Another example of government overreach, yes. But also a way for making rural homes safer for those who occupy them.

So, if you had to move off grid, what are the first things you would do? Ready? Set, comment!

Donald J.

Hey, I also write on DonaldJClaxton.com.

I have three newsletters of passionate interest on Substack.

• Disquisition
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