Of nature we are born and unto nature we shall return. Somewhere in the middle, our perceptions and realities of our relationship with nature become obscured. Never has this been more evident than in the recent battles the state has had against sustainable, or off grid living. Disconnecting from the city’s water and electric hubs means less money for them and more freedom for you. States realize that if everyone went off the grid, there wouldn’t be a need for their services or the big corporations connecting citizens to energy anymore. State and local governments have done everything from fines to sending SWAT teams after individuals and whole communities who choose to live on their own sustainable terms.
One case that received media coverage was the case of the Garden of Eden. Based in Arlington Texas, the Garden of Eden, a small sustainable community, had existed for years without bothering anyone. They had successfully lived off-grid and started teaching others how to do the same. Their living off the grid wasn’t a problem until the state became aware of their existence. What started with fines ultimately resulted in a SWAT response. A SWAT team raided the Garden of Eden with a warrant for drug trafficking, based purely on speculation and conjecture. Only one arrest was made, that of Quinn Eaker, the founder of Garden of Eden, for an unpaid parking ticket. No drugs were found and no items were seized. The raid was an obvious attempt to stop off grid living.
Florida is another state trying to ban sustainable living. Robin Speronis, a Cape Coral woman, disconnected her power and water in an experiment in off-grid living. She turned to solar panels and the collection of rain water for her daily survival. As the pattern persists, Robin was okay until she discussed her off-grid living with a local news crew. That’s when her problems began. She was told by the city of Cape Coral that she was in violation of the International Property Maintenance Code. In a quite contradictory message, the city told her that she had to be hooked up to the city’s water supply, but didn’t have to use it. She was given permission to remain off the electrical grid as long as her method of supplying electricity to her home was approved. Her lawyer is fighting the decision and her case is still unresolved.
Living in nature is such a foreign concept to some that they impose their ignorance on the rest of us. Allowing the Earth to provide for your daily needs is not just a concept, it’s where we came from. As states’ wage this war on sustainable living, it becomes more obvious that they are motivated by power and their own corporate partnerships, not the will of the people. As the cost of living continues to skyrocket, everyone is looking for ways to save money. Some turn to living sustainability as not only our natural right, but should become a legal one as well.
Sources: Collective Evolution, Off The Grid News.
This article (The War Against Sustainable Living Continues) is a free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Alek Hidell and AnonHQ.com.
food for thought, what would happen if we got enough people to do this that we actually bankrupted the corporations that run our daily lives. no more wages for police forces, or GMO scientists, no more corporate grocery stores, not too mention the huge decline on imported goods. really makes you think how far we have come as a populous, and was it really in the right direction?