Off the Grid

The idea of living "off the grid" is appealing to me in many ways. Our dependence on social systems and services has left us weak and unwilling to work. Once able to provide food and certain essentials for our own families, we now look to a conglomeration of corporations and the incestuous idiots in places like Olympia to feed and fend for us. Easy, it is, living on the grid, but the long term effects of our current corporate care system are starting to show. Build a fire, field-dress a deer, grow a bunch of broccoli - all of this seems so unnatural to everyone. With so many people spending their weekends sitting in front of screens, eating food from God knows where and purchasing imported products designed not to last a lifetime. Regress we have.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I heard about Nick Rosen's book, Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America. Probably picked it up somewhere and didn't set it down. Happens. Whatever the reason, Rosen's research about off-grid living is rich and rewarding. It's not a how-to guide, but more of a here's why. Offering a look into the lives of those living the disconnected dream - be it all the way undone, or just a few of the required wires - Rosen's book is broad in its appeal, providing insight and ideas for the serious and the not-sot-serious alike. So if you're at all interested in unplugging, whether you want to disappear into the woods or just reduce your dependence, I recommend you read this.