Miles Rose Blog and Portfolio

Conformity Enforcers of the "American Dream" Home Construction and Lifestyle

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As a renegade off-grid eco-hermit weirdo, I have to wonder... Are we actually living in a "Free country"? It is surprisingly difficult to find places to (legally) live off-the-grid in a minimalistic, low-impact, environmentally responsible way.

There’s a huge attempt to force everyone to conform into the same conventional white picket fence permitted and code obeying "American dream" house and lifestyle, and it primarily just benefits the elite, at the expense of the working class (not to mention the environment)

This conformity enforcement benefits the banks and financial industry (due to the interest they'll accrue on the increasingly massive loan you'll need to build a "legal" home) it benefits the construction and lumber industry owners (for the huge amount of *often toxic* building materials and hired licensed labor to build that oversized McMansion that meets all of the arbitrary code and permit requirements, their disallowing reclaimed lumber or reused building materials, their disallowing of natural building materials that you could collect from the land and build yourself, etc) and ultimately it benefits the rich corporation owners (because you'll need to sell 30 years of your prime life working for them in order to pay for that oversized mortgage and interest. If you dare to rock the boat in the corporate world, how will you pay for your mortgage when they fire you? They've got you by the balls, and you need to be subservient to them)

All of these massive rich corporate industry owners benefit from maintaining the status quo at all costs, and so it's in their best interest to lobby(bribe) The State to enact laws to codify all of their "requirements" and The State is happy to do so, because they'll be getting more property taxes (due to that vastly increased "property value") and they'll be getting more income taxes(due to all of those decades of work you're forced to do to pay the mortgage)

And if you personally don't like the little lifestyle plan that your State/Corporate overlords have gracefully lined up for you, if you dare disobey, if you dare build a little off-grid-eco-oasis-of-freedom outside of their walled garden and oversight, they'll fine you into bankruptcy, threaten you with jail time, and send a wrecking ball right through your beautiful tiny home, rendering you homeless, penniless, and possibly in jail with court fees...

"Land of the Free" more like "Land of the Two Headed Corporate/State Leviathan"...

If you're ONE step ahead of the curve, they'll call you a genius...

Sun, 05 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

...if you're TWO steps ahead of the curve, they'll call you crazy.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I truly believe that the type of lifestyle that I have designed over the last few years, and the types of ideas that I come up with, are decades ahead of the current time.

In a future involving a drastic decline in energy and resources, environmental collapse, and the crumbling of the complex systems that society depends on to function and exist, the uncomfortable fact is that everyone will need to adapt, or die. So, the ability to not only survive, but to thrive on a mere 5-10% of the energy, water, money and material resources that the average American consumes would be an indispensable skill set.

People may look down at me, think I'm paranoid or crazy, or think the way I live is "extreme", and to an extent it is extreme... But not nearly as extreme as the fact that Americans constitute 5% of the world's population but consume 24% of the world's energy. That is far more extreme, and it is going to have extremely horrific consequences for everyone on earth, but at this current moment in time it's still normalized in our society, so we don't realize how extreme and horrific it truly is. This is not to blame the average American *individual* at all, this system was designed before we were born by the ultra wealthy and top capital owning classes, primarily to their benefit. The average American didn't sign up for this system, we were all simply born into this late stage capitalistic hellscape.

The point is, collapse is inevitably coming, and I'll be more likely to be ready for it, but I want to make sure our communities are ready for it as well, the challenge is persuading them without sounding crazy. No politician will ever be able to acknowledge these truths because it would necessarily entail drastic economic degrowth, which would be career suicide to any politician who dared propose it. They need to be cheerleaders for "more jobs" and Infinite economic growth on a finite planet, and business as usual on a fundamental systemic level. But that system is killing us, there is no reforming it. It's revolution or death. And as much as I try to remain hopeful and optimistic, a lot of the evidence is pointing to death. But that won't stop me from doing everything I can to turn things around, by both living the change that I want to see at an individual level, while at the same time advocating for a fundamental systematic restructuring at a collective societal level. And in the meantime, I'm doing my part to help create a parallel society, prefigurative support structures to meet all of our survival needs, essentially creating the "new" within the shell of the "old", so that during and after the dominant society's collapse, there will hopefully at least be some anarchic support structures to emerge from the rubble.

But since I'm thinking so many steps ahead of the curve, they'll keep calling me crazy... All the way up until they can't deny their reality crashing down on them anymore. But by then, it will be far too late. It might already be too late. But I have to try anyway.

My Resource Consumption Compared to the Average American

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I did the math and it turns out my lifestyle uses just 6% of the water that the average American uses per person. And my electrical usage is about 8% of the average American per person. Imagine if everyone in America (and all industrialized nations) used such few resources, there might be a chance of beating climate change.

Each American uses an average of 82 gallons of water a day at home. between my garden, my Partner, and myself, we use at most 60 gallons a day, 50 for irrigation and 10 for the trailer. Many days, irrigation needs are even less. That amounts to 5 gallons of water for personal use each, which is 6% of what the average American uses.

American Residential daily consumption of electricity is 12,000 watt hours per person. My battery bank has a maximum capacity of 2,400 watt hours, but I would not consume that all in one day, maybe 2 or 3 days, which would be between 800 and 1,200 watt hours per day, which could be rounded to 1,000 watt hours per day for easier math. So the trailer's electrical consumption is about 8% of the average American consumption.

This is not to blame the average American *individual* at all, this system was designed before we were born by the ultra wealthy and top capital owning classes, primarily to their benefit. The average American didn't sign up for this system, we were all simply born into this late stage capitalistic hellscape.

Petit Bourgeoisie, Revolution and Dual Power

Sun, 05 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I think that if more small business owners understood how manipulative capitalism truely is, and how they themselves are being manipulated and played for suckers by the system as well, and let go of the false notion that they too will one day join the billionaire class... Then more small business owners would voluntarily convert their businesses into worker-owned and worker-managed co-ops.

If my sole proprietorship business (Earthly Wilds Farm) ever expands to the point of needing more labor, that would be my goal, to recruit "partners" (comrades?) who would (either immediately or eventually) have equal ownership and control over the business. Unless I choose to just remain at a micro scale where the farm labor is small enough that I can easily do it all myself. One part of degrowth philosophy is questioning "growthism" which is the dogma that a business (or society) must always expand and grow indefinitely in order to be "successful" ...

I think the issue with "revolution talk" is that people often just imagine a bloody violent sudden revolution. I feel like that idea actually comes more from non-anarchist leftists who want to see a brand new socialist/marxist state authority replace the old capitalist state authority... But in the scenario of a sudden violent revolution, the working class and marginalized people would suffer the most, at the hands of the military police, backed by capital interest.

On the other hand, a general strike would bring the capital owning class to their knees. They only have their wealth and power because they extracted productivity from the workers, the ultimate source of value (aside from nature itself). "The great resignation" from 2020-21 that I sort of participated in was kind of a small taste of that, the capitalists were terrified, and it shifted the labor market in favor of workers even to this day. But in an actual real general strike, the strikers would need to have all their basic needs met during (and after) the strike, otherwise they would be forced to return to work out of necessity. That's why strikes often fail or never begin in the first place, because there's no solid resilient support structure to fall back on and to care for the workers who are exiting the workplace.

Capitalism needs a desperate underclass in order to function, "it's a feature of the software, not a bug"... That's why it is important to build dual power within the current system right now, decentralized networks that can cover all basic human needs outside of the capitalist and monetary system. That's where things like mutual aid, street medics, gurilla gardeners, off grid living, etc, can step in to fill the void. So in that sence, by developing robust mutual aid networks and tinkering off the grid, we are already "fighting" in the "revolution" right now, in a way that the dominant system cannot fight back against (or even perceive) ... Plus, the more the dominant system fails and disenfranchises more and more people, and the more mutual aid networks need to pick those people back up and show them another way, we can slowly shift the hegemonic culture and public consciousness from the bottom up, away from the dominant system. That's the real "revolution" to focus on, in my opinion.

What I Got out of my Experience Off-The-Grid

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Before I had ever lived off the grid, I had a lot of doubts and uncertainties about my ability to do so. I had been a city slicker my whole life, and while I had done a lot of research on off grid living, without the direct experience I could not be certain that I would be able or willing to live off the grid for an extended period of time.

At the time of writing this, I have been living off the grid for about 16 months. There have definitely been challenges, but I overcame each challenge as they came, and now I am living quite happily and comfortably off the grid. I am now confident that I can not only survive, but thrive in this context indefinitely.

This is a huge achievement. There has been a massive shift in my thinking and my confidence level as a result. I know that, given modest resources and a year's time, I can establish a decent start to an off grid homestead all by myself.

There is one more thing that I would like to prove while I am here, whether or not I can make a modest living based on selling my market garden. If I can manage to do that, it would be another massive achievement and it would provide a financially sustainable method of continuing this lifestyle indefinitely. Hopefully by the end of October 2023 I will be able to answer that question.

If it turns out that I can successfully earn enough money to support this frugal off grid lifestyle, then in my mind, that is kind of a "complete package" of skills and abilities for being an off grid farmsteader successfully.

At that point, it could be more bearable to temporarily re-enter the traditional workforce in order to earn enough money to buy my own land one day.

In the past, when I was working a traditional job, I felt very alienated and uncertain about my goals and direction, since the idea of off grid living was still something of a low resolution pipe dream, and I was unsure about whether or not it was a reasonable goal to work towards. Now that I know the reality that it is indeed possible and realistic, I could make more concrete plans to work X amount of time at a traditional job in order to save up enough money to purchase my own land. Or possibly, pooling my money with like-minded people and buying land together. Or moving into a commune and becoming the farm manager. The point is that I now have the confidence, skills, and equipment to live on my own off grid farm, and I can take all of that with me for my next piece of land that I end up on.

Spirituality?

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The word “Spirituality” has always been tricky for me since it seems to have a different meaning to each person. That word tends to most often be used by people who I do not share much in common with philosophically. Since I don’t have any beliefs that could be considered “supernatural” or "mystical" I have usually leaned away from the term “Spiritual” as well. I do not believe in any intelligent designer of the universe, or gods. I do not claim to know with 100% certainty that such entities do not exist, however, since I have not yet seen any compelling evidence of their existence, my default position is disbelief. That is my thought process for whenever I hear a supernatural claim. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary amounts of evidence to support them". For me, it all comes down to epistemology, the study of knowledge itself, the questioning HOW you know what you know, and what standards of evidence are needed before I'll be able to consider a theory valid or invalid. I'm skeptical of everything, even my own conclusions.

However, despite this, I have had people tell me that they consider my lifestyle and philosophy to be “very spiritual” so maybe others are more easily able to see the spirituality in me which I am not able to see myself. But still, “spiritual” is not a label that I am comfortable applying to myself.

That being said, I do still feel that it is possible to derive spiritual value from naturalistic sources, especially the fields of Ecology and Cosmology. When studying the universe, it can initially make a person feel very small and insignificant, on a cosmic scale. However, with a shift of perspective, we can realize that we do not "only" exist as tiny specs in the universe, but the universe also exists as tiny specs within us as well, we are mutually in it as much as it is in us, which literally makes us as one. Each of the heavy atomic elements inside of our bodies which make life possible were forged inside of the dying stars billions of years ago. The water inside of our bodies was carried to earth by comets and asteroids streaking across the skies of a glowing molten earth. The very seasons of the year which our natural lives have evolved around, and which we have based so many spiritual traditions around, are linked to the celestial impact of the planet Theia, which collided with the earth 4.5 billion years ago and gave the earth its 23.5 degree tilt, the cause of our seasons.

Earth's unique quality of supporting life could have an ecologically based spiritual component as well. During the earth's history, the sun's heat output has increased over billions of years. Theoretically, this should have resulted in the earth becoming too hot for life to exist, yet it seems that the cumulative effect of life existing on earth has changed the atmosphere to an extent that the earth is able to thermoregulate, like a living being that cools itself off by sweating when it gets too hot. In living beings, this is called "homeostasis" so it is possible that the earth itself can be thought of as a living being, one capable of regulating certain parameters and variables between the atmosphere and the geology in order to maintain favorable conditions that will allow life to thrive. Whether or not this can be considered an "intelligence" is unclear, there isn't much evidence that I'm aware of to suggest any kind of conscious intent behind the planet itself, but possibly new evidence might be discovered one day that does prove that gaia is conscious and intelligent.

If the earth is a living entity, then it could be considered a superorganism comprised of many trillions of smaller organisms. This would be similar to the way that a human being has more cells of microorganisms than human cells in our bodies, and without these healthy microbiotic cultures living within us, we would get sick or die. If we zoom out, we can look at the earth itself and ourselves living on it as microbes who can contribute to making the world a better place (or contribute to its destruction)

The term “Biophilia” or, the “love of nature” seems to be present in most mentally sound people and animals. This love of nature only makes sense, we evolved in nature and not in artificial environments. So we prefer some expression of that nature, even if it is fake and decorative.

My own biophilia has led me down the path of permaculture, to work with nature closely every day.

Does nature have a conscious intelligence? Probably not in the sense that we think of human conscious intelligence, but what other examples do we have to compare to?

Plants and fungus have their own intelligence. Trees remember, learn and count. Slime mold solves mazes. Fungal mycelium connects tree roots in a forest, transmitting chemical/electrical information to them about what else is happening in the forest. If one tree is being attacked by insects, the wood wide web lets the rest of the forest know so that they can defend themselves with naturally produced pesticides.

If an entire forest can have intelligent behavior, could the entire planet? There doesn’t seem to be a single mycelium network that spans the globe to be able to transmit information. But there might be other ways to transmit information on wind or in the ocean, if not underground.

What kind of properties would an intelligent entity have that spans the biosphere and is 4 billion years old? We can barely understand the intelligence of a plant or mushroom. We can barely understand our own intelligence.

If there is a planetary intelligence (and I am still not sure that there necessarily is) would it have the ability to transmit information to individuals, in the same way that a fungal mycelium network can transmit information to individual trees? Is that my “muse” directing me down a path of biophilia and permaculture in an attempt to heal some of the wounds that humanity has inflicted on the earth? Or is that too much of a grandiose vision for my own purpose? “I have been called by an ancient goddess to do her bidding” doesn’t really sound like something I would proclaim with a straight face.

How much land do you need to sustain a small group?

Sun, 01 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A lot of this depends on the soil quality, slopes, water availability, and sunlight availability.

For this region (northern Michigan), I think the ideal plot of land would have a gently south facing slope, without much shade from trees further south, with a shallow water table easy to access with a DIY Sandpoint well, and loamy soil. Heavily wooded near the road for privacy.

Also, it depends on what is grown on it. Most studies you'll find about "how many people can an acre feed" will probably be based on conventional farming methods using commodity crops that are very inefficient on a small scale. (E.g, the least efficient usage of land on a small scale would probably be to grow grain to feed beef cattle.)

More efficient would be something that supports a diverse, mostly plant based diet with a small amount of chicken meat and eggs, just enough to meet basic protein needs. Substitute a rabbit hutch or a fish pond if you want. And obviously, any wildlife you manage to hunt.

The best survival (annual) crops are things that will give higher calories like potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, beans and corn (both Sweet corn and Field corn for cornmeal) and the best (perennial) survival crops are nut and fruit trees. That covers protein and calories, but for nutrients and vitamins, leafy green annuals and dark berry bush perennials are best.

But the real determining factor in how much food a given piece of land can produce depends on how much labor is available. If you put more time and attention into maximizing a small piece of land, you can grow more food than someone who is putting minimal time and effort into a larger piece of land. There is a saying "the best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow" which means if the Gardners are active and out there, keeping on top of things and looking for every nook and cranny to put new plants, the garden will grow better.

With good design, a one acre garden with chickens could feed multiple people.

I have a Love/Hate Relationship with the "Back to the Land" Movement

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I hate the glorification of the pilgrims.

Putting these settler colonists on a pedestal implicitly involves disrespecting the indigenous people who were displaced / genocided to make the westward expansion possible. Which is especially ironic, since it was the indigenous societies who have the most to teach when it comes to long-term sustainable survival in balance with nature over many thousands of years, not the pilgrims. But since the prepping and homesteading movement is so dominated by white right wingers, it is no wonder that this sort of colonist LARPing is so popular.

Speaking of which, another thing I hate about the movement is the insistence on Rugged Individualism, an outgrowth of right wing libertarianism. The concept of one individual or one nuclear family being 100% self sufficient is completely ahistorical, it just doesn't happen in reality outside of prepper fantasy novels. It takes a collaborative community with different skill sets working together in order to survive long-term.

ALL THAT BEING SAID, there are still some very positive aspects to this movement. I currently live off the grid in a self built structure, I grow a big garden, and I'm learning more about wildcrafting. Is this to "survive total ecological collapse?" Hell no, I'd still die without an intact ecology like everyone else. I do these things because they improve my quality of life and happiness RIGHT NOW, and it allows me to not have to participate in the rat race as much as I used to. And when times get tougher, I could use what I've learned to be an asset to my community, helping others and passing on the skills I've developed over the years to them so we can work together.

Community organizing, collaboration, and mutual aid are vastly overlooked "survival skill sets"

Does Clinging to Attachments and Outcomes Cause Suffering?

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Are my attachments the cause of my suffering? If so, is it worth it?

I am attached to an evolving idea, a future goal for myself. I have integrated it with my own identity. Because of this, my identity seems to suffer when this goal is not fulfilled. This is a major source of anxiety and depression. But these feelings often motivate actions as well. Actions to close the gap between my current reality and my possible reality.

I fear that I have become too attached with a long term vision of my future lifestyle. This vision is only a tentative possibility, glimmering like a mirage in the distance of the desert wasteland of my mind

If this goal is only an illusion, then what? The goal might evolve and be replaced. But that is still an attachment to a future reality which will cause more suffering.

I developed my goals to help make my future life more bearable, even enjoyable. But I have sacrificed the present at the altar of the future, an eternal bargain that can never lead to future happiness because it is never "tomorrow"

Do I need to discard that which I think will help me most? Am I clinging to an illusion while my real world burns around me?

What is the difference between those who fight relentlessly to bring their dream into reality, vs those who fight in futility, climbing the wrong ladder and getting more and more blinded and lost?

If the ideas that I am attached to serve to motivate me to endure hardships in the expectation that "it will be worth it when…" am I really working toward a better future, or am I simply digging my own grave?

If I decided that I have everything I need right now to be happy, and stop trying to follow attachments and build up to something else, would I find peace? Or would I stagnate into mediocrity?

A Future where "Jobs" and "Careers" Don't Matter Anymore

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

In my opinion, the whole concept of a "job/career" that we have become accustomed to over the last 200ish years, with the usual employee/employer relationship for a fixed wage/salary is mostly an industrial invention. That concept is very well suited to our current society, and for some, it is still an effective strategy to accumulate resources for the anticipated lean times ahead... However, when industrial society can no longer be sustained and it inevitably collapses, the economy will collapse too, and so too will the usefulness of this whole "job/career" concept as we currently know it.

But even in non industrial societies, people still always needed goods and services in order to survive. The same will be true for post-industrial-collapse societies. The future will still need sustainable food producers, safe shelter builders, various healers, even folks skilled at salvaging and repairing various useful tech, etc... Things like "trauma field medic EMT / herbal medicine" or "small electrical appliance repair / off grid solar installation"?

Personally, I'm heavily leaning toward learning as much as I can about small scale intensive permaculture market gardening, using hand tools and various nutrient cycling techniques to minimize all outside inputs. One day, I'd love to make a living this way. I'm lucky because this also happens to be a huge passion of mine.

Historically, look at the Cuban organic gardening innovations that happened as a result of the embargo, when they suddenly had no access to industrial fertilizer and no fuel for tractors. The whole world will be in their shoes eventually. Best to get ahead of the curve while we still can.