Who is off-grid-living for?

Kirsten Jacobsen • June 8, 2022

There are a lot of preconceptions about the "kind of People" who live off-the-grid

OK, close your eyes and say the words "off-the-grid" to yourself.  What images pop up?  Dirty Hippies? New Age Crackpots?  DIY Mountain Men?  Gutter punks?  People have very strong opinions about who they think are living off-the-grid.  Even before they know anything about the person, the house, or the lifestyle, the very idea of living off-the-grid can elicit strong opinions from the public. They are often taken aback, somewhat confused and/or exceptionally curious to the point of being invasive.  Living off-the-grid seems to be a lifestyle so out of step with the majority of society as to be akin to polygamy.  They may perceive it as a rejection of civic duty and a refutation of modernity.  It is an idea that is visceral.  It smells musty, looks dirty, feels crunchy, tastes earthy, and sounds like a sad guitar.  The idea also feels dated,  "Yeah, I heard they tried that back in the 70's and it didn't work".  Examples in popular culture reinforce these misconceptions.

 

The generalizations extend to several stereotypes: 

• Stereotype 1

Hippies living in wooden shanties with glazed eyes, ripped ponchos, bare feet, Mason jars, quilts, dirt floors, chickens, goats, outhouses, and aprons.


• Stereotype 2

Survivalists in camo pants living in underground bunkers with generators, wall-to-wall MREs, their own surgical and dental equipment, high-tech filters that turn urine into drinking water, iodine tablets, fluorescent lighting, ammo and guns, guns, guns.


• Stereotype 3

Fugitives of all kinds.  Deadbeat dads, conspiracy theorists, convicts, the mentally ill, tax evaders, etc…


• Stereotype 4

Cult Members chanting in lotus pose.  Robes and drape-y clothing.  Incense.  Tambourines.  Dynamic male leader with a harem and a HumVee.  Devotees swaying with eyes closed and hands raised.  Daisies.  Transcendental meditation.  Bunk beds.  Tragic endings.

• Stereotype 5

The Super Wealthy who are not permanent residents but have their multimillion dollar escape palace built in an abandoned missile silo with marble floors, endless entertainment options, a fresh air exchanger, elevator, wine cellar, and rooms for servants (the lucky few plebeians who get to hunker down with them).


No matter which stereotype is depicted, there's a general sense that people who live off-the-grid are escaping the current politics and rejecting popular culture.  Also, that these smug folks think they are better than everyone else because they have found "the answer" and are creating their own utopia.

 

One seemingly acceptable way for people to live off-the-grid is if they are testing out living methods for the colonization of the other planets.  For some reason this is not "crazy" like all the above.  It is serious science involving  penis-shaped rockets, billionaires, jumpsuits, and celebrities.

Who exactly is the brainwashed cult member?  Maybe it's everyone living ON the grid? Everyone who truly accepts that the government and private corporations are going to supply their most basic needs indefinitely.  For a price, yes, certainly we all accept that.  We accept the constant connection to the life support of the grid.  We accept the industrialization of our food supply, the dominance of the automobile, the contamination of our air, the privatization of our water, the continued construction in flood zones, the loss of biodiversity, and the very real destruction of our natural world.

 

This is the cult of the "real world.”  The world of the non-escapists.  The world of the sane, rational, clean, and scientific.  Every day we continue to live in this world we say, “yes.”  "Yes" through our acceptance and unquestioning fidelity to the System.  "Yes" to believing that the modern world has evolved by natural selection, in the most efficient, safest, and most beneficial way for 99.9% of humans.  We are agreeing that everything works the way it was designed to work, and that any global environmental threats can be eliminated with a yet-to-be-developed-but-most-certainly-on-the-horizon-we-put-a-man-on-the-moon-and-a-smartphone-in-every-kid’s-pocket-“Dammit!-OF-COURSE-WE-CAN!"-technology.

 

Living off-the-grid is not a marginalized concept because it does not work. It is marginalized because of faulty preconceptions that prevail in our society, and the dominant forces that uphold the grid-connected status quo of the conventional building industry.

 

And while some of the people who fit the aforementioned stereotypes, do live off-the grid, off-grid living can be for anyone.  

People who move off-grid feel they have only gained from the experience instead of sacrificed.  They have learned about their home and themselves, they feel more comfortable and secure than they ever did in a conventional home and now can never imagine going back. There are simple, low-cost approaches and high-tech, luxurious applications and everything in between.  We are here to help you develop a personal set of values for your off-grid home that will guide you through the process.


Do you wanna go off-the-grid but don't know where to start?

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