Nilore Vagan

Every so often, I feel like I need to share a little quip or short story with the online community. My first instinct is to log onto Facebook to do so.

I call it an addiction to convenience.

I don’t need to share every little thing. If I do want to share something, I don’t need Facebook to do it.

It’s called ‘conversation.’ Many of us have lost that.

Seeing the direction that many companies seem to be going, I’ve decided to go ‘off the grid,’ so to speak. The intent isn’t a total obliteration of communication, but limiting how much support I give the large, corrupt companies… to zero, if at all possible.

I’ve removed the Google tracker and ads from my site.  I’m deleting my facebook account, and checked my phone to make sure it doesn’t have a CIQ tracker installed. I may have to give up the phone entirely anyway, since it’s a Google OS, and after that fiasco of iPhones tracking your every move, I’m not particularly sure if Google isn’t going to be doing the same thing. Are they? I don’t know. I’ll need to look into that. Maybe I can patch in a modded OS or something, since Android is open source. More research on this is required. All I know is that Google isn’t entirely trustworthy… not since they were represented in the Bilderburg.  (Along with Facebook, Microsoft, yadda yadda yadda…)

It’s not entirely accurate to say that I’m paranoid, though that does hold some truth. It’s more like I value my privacy. “Don’t put anything on the Internet that you don’t want the world to see” holds a lot of truth, and I intend to follow that advice.  But the amount of control over information that the US government has is, admittedly, scary.  I’ve nothing to hide, but the mere fact scares me.

And all of you people with the mentality of “You should only care if you’re guilty” are the ones letting them do these things. Letting them get this kind of power. It’s because the majority of America is pacified that the Federal and even some local governments have been allowed to run amok. We can blame the government all we want, but this country is a representative republic. These people are our employees. We pay their wages. We hold that power over them, but we pretend like they’re our leaders. Like they have power over us. It’s our fault.

And I intend to do something about it. I intend to hit them where it counts, in the only way one person can: their bank accounts.

I’m not talking thievery.  I’m flat-out denying them the privilege to have my money. And no, I’m not talking about tax evasion.

These people up at the top, they’re run by companies. Corporations. They’re run by the people who have money. Do you know who gives those people money? Us. They’re companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, GE, etc., etc., who truly own this country. The only way we can stop them is to simply deny them. To ignore them.

When a big corporate giant falls, small companies can spring up all around them. These small companies are better for the economy.  You know, those little mom-and-pop places… like that one Greek restaurant down the train line, or that guy who sells corn on the side of the road every year, off his farm. Supporting these people are important… it might be more expensive, yes, but we need to stop looking at price alone, and start looking at overall quality. Not just of the goods, but the people. Supporting these multinational behemoths just because it’s cheap is killing our country. Rotting its economy.

America was a great country when we produced all our own stuff. We had factories, mines… people made their own clothes, made their own food. That was the time when America was at its strongest.

But I digress…

I’m going to try to document my … ‘adventures’ in attempting to go ‘off the grid.’ Trying to become more self-sufficient. Of course, some things simply need to be imported. I can’t produce everything here at home. I neither have a property large enough, nor the man power to do it all. But… I can be careful whom I import from, and attempt to produce as much as possible on my own.

Food. Food is surprisingly easy. So long as you have a yard, anyway. And even if you don’t, you can still buy fresh foods from local markets and use those to prepare your meals. My family buys wheat, and then we grind that wheat on our own to use it as needed. Vegetables can be tricky… fresh vegetables need to be used quickly, or else they go bad. Fruits, too. But grains… grains can last years. The problem with buying food from the major companies is the crap they put in their food. It’s either preservatives, which aren’t healthy for you to begin with… or maybe the grain or fruit is GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). Some countries have banned GMOs, others require companies to label GMOs, in order to give buyers a choice. The US doesn’t grant us this luxury. We have to either guess, or do some serious research on a company if we want to avoid GMOs. The best way to avoid it entirely is to buy certified organic, and to buy local.

Clothing can be tricky. Unless you happen to have the equipment required to make your own clothing, you pretty much have to buy it. And there aren’t many local tailors these days. If there are, it’s likely to be expensive, because it’s hand made, not mass produced. Your best bet would be to invest in a good sewing machine, find some patterns, and a good supplier of cloth. Cloth can be expensive, depending on the material… anywhere from 2-15 dollars per yard.

Home appliances. Need to be careful. GE is a company to avoid. It’s not that they produce low-quality goods (They really don’t), it’s that they support the government war machine. I’m not kidding here. The same company that makes your light bulbs and telephones make engines for war planes. They also happen to be the only company immune to certain carbon tax laws (just like how WalMart and McDonald’s were waived for the Obamacare stuff). The laws that are meant to shut down coal power plants ignore GE. So, be sure to avoid GE appliances. Most stores only carry GE lightbulbs… so take your business elsewhere.

Electricity. I have no qualms with the local power company, really. But it’s still nice to be off the electrical grid. This is a step that only those with lots of expendable income could make, though. Solar panels are expensive, and it takes a lot of them to power a house. Wind mills can be nice, but they don’t generate a consistent supply of power.  If you’re feeling fancy, you can install a hydrogen reactor in your house. Yeah, that’s possible. Perfectly safe, too. Only issue is the cost of installation… but after installation, it can be as low as 1/10th the price of standard electricity. It depends also on the local power company itself. Rocky Mountain Power will even reimburse part of your investment, as well as buy extra power off of you… but not all power companies will do this. Be sure to check.

But anyway…

From here on, I’ll be trying to record my experiences in trying to be more self-sufficient.