Could you live without money?

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   CMHypnoposted 11 years ago

   A man in Utah has apparently lived without money for 12 years?  Do you think that you could be happy living like this?
   
   It does puzzle me though how he manages to write a blog and does he get revenue that he is squirrelling away somewhere?
   
   Which also begs the question of how would it work if everyone chose to live like this, as he is obviously depending on others to provide a certain amount of technology?
   
   And where are the profits from that book going?
   
   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article … years.html

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      Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I couldn't live like that, but Moab is the kind of place that a tough person could live. It's unbelievably gorgeous, good for the soul, there's adequate food and water, and TONS of tourists and mountain bikers discarding stuff, so it's a fairly easy place to scrounge for supplies. And there are indeed caves. People lived in places like that for thousands of years with far less than what this guy's got (stove, discarded bicycle, pots and pans and tools.)
      
      But it sounds like he's getting his food and water from the land. There is enough food in the desert... if you're frugal and know what you're doing. Cactus, seeds, and (as the article says) he's getting roadkill, which is easier than hunting and fishing.
      
      As for a blog, get a free blog on wordpress, bogger, livejournal, etc, then all you have to do is hike into town and log on with a library computer.
      
      I used to go out with a backpack and live in the desert for a few days. I'm not up to long-term survival: I packed food in and out. But it was very, very restful.

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         CMHypnoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I would imagine that it is an amazing experience to live out in the wild, free from worries about work, finances etc, but I'm not sure how many of us could do it for 12 years like this guy.
         
         Trouble with trying to do it in the UK is that it rains too much and there is nothing more miserable than being wet all the time!

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   EmpressFelicityposted 11 years ago

   The thing is that this guy Suelo still gets a small but real "trickle down", in the form of possessions discarded by those who *do* have money. So it's not true to say that he lives entirely without money.
   
   If you plonked a group of people down in a fertile valley where they had no communication with the outside world and had to fend for themselves, I guarantee that they would first start by using barter and eventually would develop a primitive form of money using whatever medium of exchange was handiest.
   
   When it comes to all but the most primitive societies, living without money is an impossibility.

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   1. 82

      CMHypnoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Greekgeek pointed out that he could write his blog on a computer in the public library, but that means that he is still depending on other people maintaining a money based/technological society for him to a certain degree.
      
      I think there is a big difference to choosing to live on the fringes of society when that society is still functioning and you can choose to come back any time you want to and being in the middle of a wilderness with no option but to fend for yourself

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   kirstenblogposted 11 years ago

   I have daydreamed about this sort thing many a time. I do think it is possible but the more people who do it, the less possible it gets, kinda going back to what EF is saying I guess. I think one of the hard things for me would actually be the people who would worry about me (friends and family). They definitely wouldn't go live in the wild with me and I am not sure I would want to leave them with no easy way to contact me (since they already live in another country).

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   1. 82

      CMHypnoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Would sure make it difficult to know where to send the Christmas card!
      
      Humans are social primates, so most of us need to be with other people in families and other social groupings, so the the solitary aspect of his chosen lifestyle wouldn't work for everyone

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