Your oppinion: Could this happen in the US ... a return to our country roots?

[dud]

http://news.yahoo.com/insight-greece-painful-return-country-roots-050300127--business.html



Excerpt:

"As Greece sank into its worst economic crisis since World War Two, Lakka had already given up her dream of becoming a web designer. Even waitressing seemed impossible. She faced a simple choice: be stranded without money in Athens, or return to the geriatric village where she grew up plotting to escape.

At age 32, Lakka, an office clerk who also juggled odd jobs, joined a growing number of Greeks returning to the countryside in the hope of living off the land. It's a reversal of the journey their parents and grandparents made in the 1960s and '70s.

Data is scarce on how many people have made the trek, but as people angered by austerity head to the polls on June 17, anecdotal evidence and interviews with officials suggest the trend is gaining momentum. In a survey of nearly 1,300 Greeks by Kapa Research in March, over 68 percent said they had considered moving to the countryside, with most citing cheaper and higher quality life. Most expected to move permanently."




I personally see this as a probable outcome for many in this country if economics gets worse. Have you seen the price of food/produce lately?

 

[vi edit]

I think the number of 20 and 30 somethings living with their parents is likely higher than it's ever been due to the buried debt of student loans and costs of housing we have right now. It's not the same as that situation but it's a similar concept.

 

[spaceman]

wicked dejavu with this thread weird

 

[JTsyo]

I don't think Greece has enough countryside to support an decent percent of the current urban population. What land there is there has to be already owned by others, so you have to buy it from them. Which won't be an easy task unless you have some valuable property in the city to sell.

 

[brainhulk]

i need to buy countryside land so i can charge these people rent

 

[mmntech]

I think the number of 20 and 30 somethings living with their parents is likely higher than it's ever been due to the buried debt of student loans and costs of housing we have right now. It's not the same as that situation but it's a similar concept.

This is my situation. Not student loans, don't have any. Combo of work and savings. I've finally seen a condo in town that I can actually afford though so yay for me I guess. Housing is insanely expensive here. Don't know how the yuppies do it. They must be in debt up to their eyeballs.

As for returning to country, isn't that what's going on in Detroit? Keep hearing rumors about them razing abandoned neighbourhoods for farmland.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Most (not all) anyone in the US that grew up in the city/inner city does not have the skills/knowledge to properly survive off the land.

 

[FoBoT]

most of them just go on the dole, working the land for sustenance is much too hard of work for city folks

they expect Germany to pay for their welfare state

 

[EagleKeeper]

As for returning to country, isn't that what's going on in Detroit? Keep hearing rumors about them razing abandoned neighbourhoods for farmland.

Not so much farmland but allowing reclaimed area to be used for veggie patches.

Quality of the soil is not that good; unless they import decent stuff and start working in manure to recondition the soil.

Livestock/poultry is presently not allowed inside the Detroit city limits

 

[SlitheryDee]

Most of those people are probably just talking about moving to areas with low cost of living, not necessarily staking out their own plot to live on the land. It would be equivalent to a New Yorker moving into my neighborhood. They could conceivably go from having a $2500 per month, one bedroom apartment to a 4 bedroom 2 bath house that they own with a $500 per month mortgage. In addition to that, practically every other product and service would be drastically cheaper. We still have high speed internet and basically all the other amenities, so the only problem is finding a job, which might have been the same problem they were facing in the city anyway.

 

[ShawnD1]

This is my situation. Not student loans, don't have any. Combo of work and savings. I've finally seen a condo in town that I can actually afford though so yay for me I guess. Housing is insanely expensive here. Don't know how the yuppies do it. They must be in debt up to their eyeballs.

I'm running into the same problem. I have no student debt, but moving up is ridiculously hard. Yesterday I looked at $140,000 condos that have severe water damage, holes in the walls, need new carpets, new paint, etc. Pretty much the cheapest 1 bedroom condo in the city that isn't falling apart is $150,000

 

[olds]

It's coming here.

 

[zanejohnson]

yep coming here

it will be the greatest thing that's ever happened in the history of humans...

 

[linuxboy]

It is already happening, but still on a small scale. The previous generational shifts have left many people without rural ties, which makes it difficult to return or find inroads to living away from cities. Land is expensive.

Greece is different because village communities still exist and there is knowledge and systems still established to support rural life. In many ways, the US never had a robust village system, due to the phenomenon of settling in the NE, and later westward expansion.

Here's hoping something good will come of it.

 

[dank69]

Most (not all) anyone in the US that grew up in the city/inner city does not have the skills/knowledge to properly survive off the land.

It's fucking easy. Throw seeds on the ground. Plants sprout. Pick hamburgers. Repeat.

 

[DrPizza]

As Eaglekeeper said, most people lack the skills. I'll add, most people lack the ambition/work ethic.

 

[destrekor]

I think the number of 20 and 30 somethings living with their parents is likely higher than it's ever been due to the buried debt of student loans and costs of housing we have right now. It's not the same as that situation but it's a similar concept.

That's me. It's driving me nuts being stuck here, but with a shitty-paying job and quite a bit of student-debt, I can't get anywhere else.
I could split rent with buddies, roughly $300/month, but I can't even afford that at the moment. If I could land a job paying a little bit more (and trying for one that is actually setting me up for a decent career track), I'll be out of here immediately. Can't wait, as I think my current situation has created a little depression that just makes it all worse.

 

[linuxboy]

I'll add, most people lack the ambition/work ethic.

I have seen many urbanites, especially young people, be willing to work hard for something meaningful that involves the land. There's this generational tipping point happening right now where many young people are pursuing their own paths back to the land. It will take another decade to really see the beginning of those efforts in terms of social impact. But the ambition is increasingly there, IMHO.

 

[vi edit]

I have seen many urbanites, especially young people, be willing to work hard for something meaningful that involves the land. There's this generational tipping point happening right now where many young people are pursuing their own paths back to the land. It will take another decade to really see the beginning of those efforts in terms of social impact. But the ambition is increasingly there, IMHO.

Former g/f of mine was college educated and is now part of an "off grid" community in northern Wisconsin. I guess it's some kind of settelment of around 75 families that are largely self sustained. They have their own school for the kids and provide almost all of their food. She married a guy and they now raise sheep and use them for wool and slaughter them for food now.

There's communities like this sprinkled all over the US. It's not religious based, although they get bad publicity from the compound (ex: Branch Dividians) type lifestyles that typically accompany the wacky religous cult types like that.

 

[linuxboy]

There's communities like this sprinkled all over the US.

And the associated support infrastructure is becoming more refined and better established in terms of having farming help, legal assistance, social support networks, etc. It's part of a very far-reaching social trend. I've advised some communities like this WRT tax structure. It's definitely not the same movement as what happened in the 70s. These people are usually well-educated, bright, and bring great innovation to community structure, farming technologies, etc. And unlike before, it's not about maximizing production or treating the land as disposable resource for profit.

 

[brainhulk]

Former g/f of mine was college educated and is now part of an "off grid" community in northern Wisconsin. I guess it's some kind of settelment of around 75 families that are largely self sustained. They have their own school for the kids and provide almost all of their food. She married a guy and they now raise sheep and use them for wool and slaughter them for food now.

There's communities like this sprinkled all over the US. It's not religious based, although they get bad publicity from the compound (ex: Branch Dividians) type lifestyles that typically accompany the wacky religous cult types like that.

has she ever complained to her husband that she's too smart to raise sheep and wanted to go back to school?

 

[dank69]

Former g/f of mine was college educated and is now part of an "off grid" community in northern Wisconsin. I guess it's some kind of settelment of around 75 families that are largely self sustained. They have their own school for the kids and provide almost all of their food. She married a guy and they now raise sheep and use them for wool and slaughter them for food now.

There's communities like this sprinkled all over the US. It's not religious based, although they get bad publicity from the compound (ex: Branch Dividians) type lifestyles that typically accompany the wacky religous cult types like that.

What do they do for porn? Do they make their own?

 

[Texashiker]

Even in good economic times I would rather live in a rural area then live in a city.

 

[vi edit]

has she ever complained to her husband that she's too smart to raise sheep and wanted to go back to school?

Don't know. But I did sleep with her at a Holiday Inn once.

 

[DrPizza]

And the associated support infrastructure is becoming more refined and better established in terms of having farming help, legal assistance, social support networks, etc. It's part of a very far-reaching social trend. I've advised some communities like this WRT tax structure. It's definitely not the same movement as what happened in the 70s. These people are usually well-educated, bright, and bring great innovation to community structure, farming technologies, etc. And unlike before, it's not about maximizing production or treating the land as disposable resource for profit.

I won't deny that there are a lot of groups like this, but, they're still in a small minority. Heck, plenty of urbanites are germophobes - you can eliminate those people right off the bat with "when you're working in the barn with animals, you're probably going to have animal shit on your clothes within the first couple of minutes. You'll be wearing those clothes until you get ready to take a shower and head to bed." As if simply getting dirty in the garden isn't enough.

And, for a lot of people, they might say it sounds like a nice idea - but when they have to get up at 6am on a Saturday and go outside when it's 10 below zero and work out there for an hour, making sure the animals have water?? And, importantly to point out - you don't get sick days. It doesn't matter if you have projectile vomiting, aches and pains, and a 102 fever... you get up and go outside to make sure the animals have food and water. Though, in a small community of like-minded people, you can cover for/help each other out.

If anyone is on the fence about the idea, they're welcome to stop by my place this summer on a day when we're putting up hay. I'll happily pay you minimum wage, which is reasonable for farm labor. You can go up in the haymow and spend a couple hours stacking hay. (It's only about 120 degrees up there on a hot summer day.) And, it's not easy work to stack those bales tightly, at a pace that is controlled by the person sending bales up the elevator to you.