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The term “homesteading” can mean a variety of things to people. I want to explain what an enlightened personal perspective on homesteading is in modern times.
My personal view takes on a unique perspective, as everyone’s personal experiences tend to mold our views into what we see and understand the world to be. Homesteading to me is living a self-sustaining lifestyle. It means growing food, raising animals, running a small business, and connecting with like-minded people. Or relying less on other people and systems of the typical society and more on oneself and your family. It means doing things yourself
Personal Responsibility
Growing up in another country showed me the impacts of how social programs can have on generations of people when few have no hope.
Homesteading gives me hope. The ability to grow things myself. To provide for me. To rely less on external resources that can one day disappear.
We all have our problems, and we must face those problems in our own unique way. Living a lifestyle with minimal stress but great personal responsibility is freeing for me. The idea that I can go out into my backyard and pick my lunch from the garden is satisfying.
Provide for Yourself
Having electricity from solar and wind power that stays on regardless of when Mother Nature decides to cause mayhem on the electrical grid is freeing to say the least. Having the option of producing my own amenities without the bill is a refreshing taste of freedom that a lot of people wish they had.
Supply Chain Independence
My idea of homesteading is when we move away from supply chain dependence. The pandemic of the 2020s has shown all of us just how fragile things are around the world. Globalism, despite its best efforts, doesn’t always work all the time. Things impact the world on a global scale whether it be positive or negative. The reduction of poverty is good progress and has helped millions of people, but it has also been shown that a global pandemic can affect millions of people just the same.
We need to remove the dependence on globalized systems. Localized systems work better and are more personal since you get to know your neighbors and those close by who have the same interests.
I go into more detail about what self-reliance means HERE and how to reduce the dependency on the supply chain.
In current times, we can all see what the consequences of a globalized society are when you look at how one country’s disruptions affect the rest of the world.
Conclusion
We can all find ways to reduce the need for reliance on other resources while homesteading in modern times. We can find ways to produce things ourselves or buy locally. Bartering systems can be used if there is a lack of money. We can reduce the need for buying power and create our own. There are ways to move away from globalized systems and move into localized functioning supply chains if we choose it. It is all up to us what we want as a society.