I usually don't make SP threads because they usually suck, so if this needs to be moved to chit chat or the lounge please feel free to do so.

But my question is, is it even really possible in today's American culture to live off the grid? Sure there are a lot of people living in poverty that probably do this on a daily basis. But to be able to function without a cell phone and internet?

I think about all the things I do via a smartphone and my internet connection...and these recent data mining revelations has me thinking about an efficient way to live "off the grid" so-to-speak. This would mean having to mail all correspondence via USPS, no internet connection for TV so no netflix, no online gaming, etc.

But even if you did cut the cord, your bank information is stored electronically, regardless if you are taking advantage of online banking.

Now that I think about it, this should probably actually go into the "first world problems" thread in chit chat, because that's pretty much what it is.

6/7/2013 10:38:48 AM

are you talking about living without electricity or simply not having a wire connecting your home to the electrical grid?

either way, both are possible.

6/7/2013 10:59:11 AM

Most of our information consumption, and even cell phone needs, are luxury items. As in, you don't need them.

Work will require you have a cell phone. This will put you on the grid, but you also should remind yourself that the average cell phone bill is something like $70 / month, which is about 8 time as much as it has to be with a bare-bones tracfone.

In our work relationships we also don't mandate that perpetual connection to email is mandatory. It's still considered reasonable to check personal email once a week. Work is different, but you know... you're at work.

Quote :

"But even if you did cut the cord, your bank information is stored electronically, regardless if you are taking advantage of online banking."

Well that's unnecessary.

How are you going to rent an apartment? Those records are stored. And shared. No problem, you'll buy your own place. In which case, F your privacy. They've automated the systems to look up deed owners. There are websites where you can search by name, and browse through properties and pop up owner names right away.

There's doubtfully anyone who will take your payment in an untraceable format, although it's not theoretically impossible.

You should also google bank "know your customer" regulations. Open sharing of virtually all financial information with the government, and possibly inter-governmental organizations, has been proudly boasted about before even the internet. This is why it's hard to disrupt the financial industry. The government is happy with an oligopoly because they get a cut - high quality information to track their opponents.

Anyway, ownership is impossible with tracking. You can avoid money, but like property, your name has to be on any asset if you want the protection of the law. Now-a-days, that means traceability. Anything that's not traceable, it's disputable whether you really own it. You can still not own anything and live off-grid. Or you could have ownership recognized in a small community.

6/7/2013 11:04:00 AM

Yea, I was speaking specifically to interconnected network devices, not the electricity grid.

6/7/2013 11:23:45 AM

Ed Begley Jr. does it (sort of):

Quote :

"Begley's home is 1,585 square feet (147.3 m2) in size using solar power and also uses wind power via a PacWind vertical-axis wind turbine, an air conditioning unit made by Greenway Design Group, LLC., and an electricity-generating bicycle used to toast bread, and he pays around $300 a year in electric bills. Arguing that the suburban lawn is environmentally unsustainable, especially in Southern California owing to water shortage, he has converted his own to a drought-tolerant garden composed of native California plants. Though he is noted for riding bicycles and using public transportation, he owns a 2003 Toyota RAV4 EV electric-powered vehicle."

6/7/2013 12:59:01 PM

define grid. u don't need to be off it to be above it.

6/8/2013 9:38:21 AM