Interesting Political Article

Someone in England passed around this article that looks at the makeup and wants of those who want to be referred to"the Tea Party", a name they can't use as it's already being used to refer to a particular event and time when the participants were in actual danger. (How strange is it to want to steal that name? I don't understand that in the least. It's especially weird given that our taxes are at the lowest they've been in decades.) But I digress.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/may/27/tea-party-jacobins/?pagination=false

One of the things the author talks about, which I haven't seen addressed elsewhere, is a false reliance on self. I see this all the time. People who have spent their lives getting paid exorbitant amounts to push paper suddenly announce they're going "off grid" and will now be completely self sufficient, growing all their own food, obtaining their own water supply and keeping it clean, raising cattle, being their own army, sometimes complete with mines laid around their compounds, and providing their own electricity. Of course they'll be homeschooling their children, who will grow up in complete isolation and then will...? What will happen to them when they're old enough to start their own families? Will there be a wish list trade with another compound? One strong son who can feed the oxen in exchange for a daughter-in-law who can churn butter? Who is going to deliver any more offspring? Is any experience gained with the imaginary cattle going to show them how to be midwives? It's baffling.

I'm all for working towards your dreams, trying to add sustainable gardening to your yard, cutting down on your electric use, etc., but I'm concerned about people who are in no way prepared for such a change forcing it on their young children. It's one thing for a ranch hand to try and start his own ranch, he or she has experience and a good idea of what it takes, but for someone who can't remember the last time they did anything more physically challenging than taking out the trash to suddenly think they can provide everything (food, water, shelter, fuel, medical care, protection, etc.) from scratch for their families is a little worrying.