High Unemployment Rate Doesn't Have to Be The End of The World

The rising unemployment rate is a big concern in many industrialized nations. There are many reasons for the rising unemployment rate. Some people blame globalization, which has allowed companies to outsource their manufacturing to countries with cheap labour. Other people blame taxes and regulations that drive companies away in the first place. And of course, there are those who fear that automation and computerization would render many jobs obsolete.

 

All of this concern over the unemployment rate is based on the assumption that only businesses can create jobs. This is not so. A job is simply a role where you do work, and then you get resources. If you have been priced out of the modern economy, what's to stop you from living off the land?

 

People used to build their own homes. They grew their own food. They boiled their own water. They raised animals, and these animals provided furs for clothing. If you're really good at this, you might even produce a surplus of food and furs that you can sell to other people.

 

Yes, this is a primitive lifestyle, but it sure beats starving to death if you have no other options.

 

Living off the land is possible in the modern age. In fact, I would say it's easier to do it now than back in the pioneer days because the climate is warmer, there's more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and these conditions will lead to higher crop yields. Moreover, we know a lot more today than we did back in the pioneer days, so even if we don't use modern technology, our modern knowledge would give us a tremendous advantage. And it's not like we've forgotten how to live off the land. The Mennonites and the Amish still live the pre-modern lifestyle.

 

Imagine multiple communities stretching out across the countryside where people just live off the land. They are completely off the grid, and 100% self-sustaining. They have their own economy separate and distinct from the modern, high-tech market. They trade amongst themselves what they produce. They might even develop their own currency. It's unlikely they'd be able to produce any good worth selling in the mainstream market, but that's fine. They don't need to be plugged into the modern market to survive.

 

People who cannot make it in the modern, high-tech world, such as low-skill labourers who have been replaced by machines, can sell all their possessions and move into one of these Amish-type communities. The people already living in these communities can teach newcomers how to do everything from erecting a homestead to growing crops.

 

These communities don't have to foreswear technology altogether. Those who are skilled mechanics and electricians who cannot find work in the modern world can sell their services in these self-sustaining communities by retrofitting scrap electronics and machinery into useful products. These products made from salvage may not be competitive in the mainstream market, but that's fine. The customers who buy these products don't have access to the mainstream market either. They've been out-competed by machines and cheap overseas labour, so they will create their own internal, self-sustaining economy. Who knows? Perhaps one day, economic conditions will improve, and they'll be able to rejoin the modern, high-tech economy.

 

All of this sounds nice in theory, so what's preventing people from doing this? Why do the number of unemployed keep growing, and why do they never go out there, carve out a piece of land for themselves, and create their own self-sustaining communities? The knowledge is there. You can learn how to do this. It is possible. It is doable. People keep complaining about the modern age, about how we've forgotten how to live without modern technology. Bullshit. We can easily learn how to live off the land. Heck, it's probably easier than spending four years in university learning highly-specialized, obscure knowledge that may or may not be useful. So why don't people do it?

 

Because it's easier to get the government to force other people to subsidize your existence than to actually live off the land. And despite how people complain about the modern world, they love it. They love the comfort, the luxury, and the technology. They don't want to give it up, but they still pretend like they prefer a more primitive lifestyle.

 

Also, I'm sure the government wouldn't allow these self-sustaining, off-the-grid communities to spontaneously develop. If you settle an uninhabited piece of land, the government will claim that you're trespassing on government property and throw you in jail. Also, I'm sure you'd still have to pay property taxes to the government, which means you'll need money. Since you don't have a job, you don't have any money. That means getting together with a bunch of like-minded, independent, unemployed people to build your own community is illegal. Do it anyway, and the government will forcibly remove you. Resist, and they'll kill you.

 

 

So when unemployment levels reach record highs and people are starving, you ask yourself who is responsible for this disaster. Do you blame businesses for not giving you a job because you feel that you are entitled to one? Or do you blame the people who would have you jailed or even killed for attempting to earn your own keep? Who is the one with blood on their hands?