This book was recommended by one of the other posters to these sites. It is titled How to Survive Without A Salary and is by Charles Long. Costs 14.95 in paperback although I have not seen it in book stores. It is available at the libraries, and is available on Amazon.
Here are a few samplings from the preface.
..."the importance of debt remains paramount. Debt is an even bigger monster than before. Simply,consumer debt shackles the debtor to his job. When the job sinks, the debtor goes down with the job, no matter how low interest rates may be."
"Surviving without a salary, for most, still means a little self-sufficiency and a lot of flexibility. Debt robs the individual of both self-sufficiency and flexibility. You can't settle the Visa bill with home grown tomatoes and a counter-offer to barter chores. Ironically, credit companies prefer cash. The discipline to get out of debt and stay out of debt is the same in the new economy as it was in the old."
"Perhaps the most direct answer to an economy that has abandoned its workers is for workers to abandon the economy, seceding one by one to make smaller, independent economies, family arrangements, neighborhood co-ops, alternatives to the consumer machine. Become a company of one. make your own rules, set your own goals. Be your own Board of Directors. You decide what gets cut from the costs of this mini-corporation. Fire General Motors by not buying the car? Done. Slash the family deficit? Downsize the tax bill? Cover child care costs in-house instead of out-sourcing? Increase dividends by paying yourself instead of the mall? Why not? They've been doing it to you for years .
If the global economy has lost its way, let it go. declare the larger economy a big mistake and start anew. This time make it small enough to work for you."
OMG I remember that book! I bought it at a book fair MANY years ago because I always like Charles Long's writings in Harrowsmith Magazine......and besides he lives nearby.
I'm going to go get it from my personal library right now and read it again - I know I'll find things that I never 'saw' before....
Thanks Chilcotin!
wow, now that right there is some food for thought!!!!
Further quote from How To Survive Without A Salary. The idea is timely because many who have never grown up on, or near farms believe they possess the skillset for survival in rural conditions, and even within a prepper community. As far as skill goes they are probably right. But a VERY important element is psychological readiness. There is no way to prep for this one easily. It lies somewhere deep within our psyche. Charles Long, the author of the above book gives a classic example.
From our study of Canadian history we may remember mention of the journals of Catherine Parr Trail and Susanna moodie, two immigrants from England to Upper Canada in the 1830's. Their journals into pioneer life at that time provide a wealth of information. Now to my point. The two women were sisters, from identical backgrounds. They lived within a few miles of each other and so faced the same hardships in Canada.
I quote: "Susanna Moodie pined away for English comforts. She was resourceful enough to make coffee from dandelions, and hard-working enough when necessity demanded it, but the hardships engendered more bitterness than cheerful accomodation. In the end she wrote 'if these sketches should prove the means of deterring one family from sinking their property, and sipwrecking all their hopes by going to reside in the backwoods of Canada, I shall consider myself amply repaid for revealing the secrets of the prison house, and feel that I have not toiled and suffered in the wilderness in vain'.
Her younger sister Mrs. Trail faced the same hardships with more cheerful determination. Obstacles to her were challenges, not defeats, and she adapted and thrived until she died at the age of 97, a mother of nine, a respected botanist, and widely published author. In her introduction to The Canadian Settlers Guide she wrote, 'In Canada persevering energy, and industry, with sobriety, will overcome all obstacles, and in time will place the very poorest family in a position of considerable comfort. to the indolent or to the intemperate man Canada offers no such promise... Canada is not the land for the idle sensualist'. It applies as well to today's refugees from urban pressure. Some will make it and there are some who won't.
...Happily there are many halfway measures on the way to a conserver lifestyle that provide the advantages without the risks of actually telling the boss what you think of him."