Our Dream of Liberty

Most would agree that it is sad and even tragic that our dream (mentioned in a previous post) of living off grid is almost impossible due to the "illegal" and taboo nature surrounding our lifestyle.

I long for the freedom to be able to do whatever it is that I decide I would like to do, but more importantly I long for liberty to return to our nation. Liberty that would bring about the freedom to be able to do what is best for my family. Liberty is freedom in all areas, complete freedom.

I believe that our country needs liberty and needs it now, but most of the country (including people I know) may say they want "freedom and liberty", but really they just want to do what they want to do. When they hear what "freedom and liberty" would bring most would run from it. With liberty (which is true freedom) comes great responsibility. (sounds like a comic book character line)

Liberty and responsibility are not separate and cannot be separate. Without responsibility liberty turns to anarchy and despair. True liberty would look like this

1. I live my dream lifestyle of living off grid having a compost toilet and all the other non-traditional methods of living mentioned previously.

2. The young man up the street sits out in his porch smoking weed. It would be legal along with every other kind of substance including raw milk.

3. No one would get tax breaks for being married. Straight, gay, boyfriend girlfriend, everyone would be treated equally under a fair tax or flat tax system (no more income tax or IRS to get tax breaks from)

4. There would be no government run medicare, medicaid, food stamps, health insurance, social security, FDIC mortgage loans, public education, environmental protection agency, USDA, etc.

5. All those social welfare programs would be run independently by the people of their own free will. Churches and soup kitchens would feed the hungry, neighbors would help those who lost their job, families would live together in a close knit circle to help each other survive. Our children would be home schooled or taught at a school each parent helped pay for the teacher.

6. There would be no Homeland Security, TSA (Transportation Security Administration airplane people), and no "protection" from the Patriot Act.

7. There would be no subsidies or government intervention on corn, oil, cars (GM and Chrysler), sugar, wheat, or any type of food.

8. Business would rise and fall based on their product and customer service, not based on the governments "need" for them. Banks would fail and default if they made bad decisions.

9. Stock Market investors would make millions and lose millions based on their willingness to take risk and assume the responsibility.

10. There would be no suing each other without consequences. You try and sue me for $50,000 and lose, you pay me $50,000 and vice versa.

If one of these things listed didn't make you cringe and want to say "Never mind I don't want liberty" you are either already a liberty loving Libertarian at heart or you didn't read the list right.

Responsibility is scary. There is no blaming anyone else. If you got sick from ecol i then you had chosen to buy your meat from someone who probably didn't let their cow eat any grass. That is your fault. No one to blame, but ourselves.

Yet that is what we need. That is what we must have to succeed in changing not only our culture, but more importantly ourselves. It starts with you and it starts with me. We can't change our culture or our laws instantly, but we can change on how we think about things and change the way we deal with situations. We need to start taking responsibility for our own actions and then through our actions we will start to infect the culture with liberty and responsibility.

One of the most obvious actions we can take (but not always the most productive or important in comparison) is voting for our elected officials. I have until recently been very naive and uninvolved in this area. I have done lots of research and I care very much about my country and who we elect as President all the way down to our local officials.

I wanted to let you know the why prior to telling you who I endorse as president. You may not care who I endorse and I would never want you to vote for someone prior to doing your own research (just know I've done a lot!)

I strongly and emphatically endorse Ron Paul for president. I endorse him even to the point that I will write him in as a third party candidate if the Republicans do not give me a solid option. (and I don't see it happening unless it is Ron Paul) Ron Paul has a message of "liberty and personal responsibility," He wants to cut 1 trillion dollars from the budget the first year. He wants the government smaller and personal responsibility and liberty bigger. Even if he gets elected he won't be able to get us to the point of the list above, but I believe we will start heading in the right direction.

I do not like any other GOP (Republican candidate) and will not vote for any of them even when it comes to going up against President Barack Obama. I know I am to vote for who is the best candidate not who an organization (GOP) tells me to vote for.

Take it for what it is worth to you. If you have any questions feel free to comment or email me, or check out my blog at bantamvoice.blogspot.com but I won't go on any further with politics (unless it directly relates to self sufficiency) because I have a whole blog for that.

I became passionate about politics because I wanted to take responsibility for my own actions and I met resistance everywhere I turned from the government and our culture. My lifestyle dictates that I care about politics and I hope that we can find common ground with Liberty.

The Bantam Voice
"Free People Free People"

Our Dream (Imagine if You Will)

I thought I would take a moment to share our dream and what the vision my wife and I have for our life. Looking a few years ahead this is all subject to change, but humor me.

We plan on building several alternate buildings near our camper with our own tree's milled by our own saw mill. By clearing these tree's we are able to plant grass that does well in wet areas (which the back half of our property is) and allows for it to dry enough to turn it into a grazing ground for our animals.

One building will be for an outside kitchen to cook in during the summer. We will also use this building to can and store food. We will use the other builders for storage and eventually a shower house. We have multiple ideas of building types including sand bag houses, shipping containers, underground houses, etc.

We also have talked about building our own log cabin with our own wood. A small 16x16 (or close to it) cabin that is a one large room with a bathroom in the corner and possibly one small bedroom.

Outside our home will be our natural blackberry thicket and native plums. We will have fruit tree's planted all over the property providing privacy, fruit, beauty, and a wonderful fragrance. We would like to use it to make our own wine and for medicinal purposes on top of enjoying it canned, fresh, or dried.

Our chickens will be grazing in one of their five pens for a week at a time eating all the varieties of tree's grasses and bugs. They will move to a new pen every week giving the ground a chance to restore itself and replenish their food naturally. It will be an omnivores paradise. Their nighttime chicken house will provide shelter from predators and a spot for us to collect their eggs.

A little farther away from the house will be our jersey cow milked twice daily to provide up to 6 gallons of milk a day while being fed mainly by grazing on the pasture.

Our great Pyrenees livestock guard dog will be roaming the property making sure everything is as it should be chasing off the foxes, coyotes, and any other unwanted predator from it's animal siblings.

Our house will be the picture perfect example of "off grid." Cooking mainly on a wood stove, campfire, propane, and alcohol. Drying, salt curing, dehydrating, fermenting, canning, and pickling our food to preserve without using refrigeration for most of our food.

We will have no power through any power company and use solar, wood, and propane as our primary power sources with a good dose of moderation mixed in.

We will have water through our well and use a gray water system to re-use the shower and kitchen water. We will use a compost toilet system for our sanitation and even use it (after the compost process) as fertilizing for the animals crops.

Our crops will consist of everything from tomatoes to swiss chard. From red clover as a ground cover crop to bamboo as a building material.

We will travel from farmers market to chicken auctions making money selling the fruits of our labor.

We will invite other people to come and help, learn, and enjoy a historically normal lifestyle away from the insane modern culture. Sharing our lives, morals, views, and values with people of all backgrounds pleading our case for sanity in their lives.

We will have campers set up on our property to house those that want to come and be a part of our life. We will teach them how to slaughter chickens, milk the cow, work a compost toilet,chop wood, prepare REAL food, and start a fire.

Homeschooling our child would be a mix of our lifestyle and history. Teaching Sol how to count by counting the eggs in the chicken house, how to read and write by labeling and picking the right seed jars, biology by working with animals and teaching each part of their body and their make up, and teaching him how to live life the way we all were intended to live, aware of what is important and where food comes from.

Our Doctor would be reserved for true emergencies and we would handle most ailments with our herbs, natural remedies, and common sense. Vaccines would be forgotten because Sol wouldn't be in the school system and would hardly ever visit a place like Wal-Mart and would have a strong immune system.

Our days of shopping would be spent going from local farmer, to the butcher, and stopping by the local hardware store to see what was on sale. We would end the day cooking a feast of homegrown food and play music and tell stories around the fire. We would go to bed early looking forward to the morning rise of 5am to milk the cow and do the chores.

Life would be full of life. Family would be a word that meant something. Food would be nutritious and a joy to eat. Happiness would be what you made of the day and no one could tell you it wasn't how you were suppose to live.

Unfortunately that isn't the world we live in. Most of what I listed here is illegal and could cost you your child. We truly aren't free in a country that is suppose to be a beacon of freedom. We are told that we don't know what is good to eat, we can't take care of our own, that you have to get power through the monopoly power company.

Why do I even bother writing about such a magnificant life if it is impossible? Unobtainable? Is it important that we should be able to live the way you want to live? Is it right? Does it matter?

I'll address why this is all so important and why I am bringing it up in the following two posts.

The Bantam Voice
"Freed People Free People"