He is awesome in the show (Mountain Man), he comes out natural and honest, not sure how commercialized he got since the show started but he has a solid vision and idea of how to live his life. Truly inspirational. Personally, I think that there is a middle ground, I want to have my own "turtle island" but I also want a fiber connection to the world, not only for entertainment but to read and learn. YMMV
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First, Eustace writes, the family should get rid of the television set. Other appliances should then be abandoned, one at a time. Slowly, the family should stop using electricity and start collecting water from streams. Then the family should move into the backyard, in tents. It should begin learning how to grow and hunt its own food. Of course, the house would be there, as a security blanket, but the family would need it less and less. Eventually, when it comes time to move into the woods for good, the family will have already grown accustomed to the lifestyle.
I have such fantasies. It's seems so natural and right yet technology feels so natural and right in certain respects. Technology is like life on steroids and we all want to be Barry Bonds at least as much as we want to be "natural." I sense we can have both but most of us live beyond that balance. I certainly do.
I know lesser men than Eustace Conway (in fact, I only know lesser men than Eustace Conway) who have found marvelous wives, but his zeal is going to be difficult to match.
I've met a few zealous types like this and had the same thought. In one case at least, the man didn't look long before finding a great partner with their own type of zeal. Eustace's real struggle might be the coincidence of also leading a rural life.
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I can relate to Eustace Conway, I definitely think anyone can do what I'm doing, and I hope to inspire everyone to try.
I think there is great lessons in doing things yourself and learning to do them the "hard way" at first. I look up to people like Eustace, I saw a video about him and turtle Island years before starting on my homestead journey and thought to myself, theres no way I'll ever be on that level. However, while I may never be as skilled or accomplished as Eustace, I will always continue building capital, especially in the form of intellectual and experiencial. It's always surprising to me how much of a compounding effect continuously learning and applying knowledge has on building further skills and knowledge. I think many who walk the pioneering path of Bitcoin and further seeking sovereignty in a society addicted to convenience and central authority deal with similar feelings as Eustace. It can be a lonely isolated world, surrounded by people with seemingly nothing worth talking about. Surrounded by a culture that just doesn't make sense. Unlike Eustace who will likely never find the culture he is searching for and striving to create (because in some ways he is too many generations ahead of his time) we as bitcoiners have the opportunity to build what we seek. The divide isn't so large and challenging to cross that those who can find their way will do so alone. We can build a culture and a system which isn't so far outside of "reality" that only an accomplished minority can grok but one that is waiting with open doors for those who find us as the squeeze gets harder and harder. I recently listened to the audio book, One Straw Revolution, by Masanobu Fukuoka. Both Fukuoka and Eustace have a similar message at the root, a life lived in harmony with nature reveals truths that cannot be witnessed any other way. I think that both Permaculture and Bitcoin help us who have been poisoned by a life detached from nature find a path towards harmony and thus unveiling these truths that cannot be known otherwise. We have the antidote to fiat but as Eustace shows the only cure is hard fucking work.
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