Doing more with less.

When I was a kid, I hated hearing that line. It was a mantra my dad sang quite often. NOW, as an adult, I understand perfectly why he sang it: Fact is, I have to sing it to him now. He doesn't 'get' why I want a small house, or just a 'shed' as he calls it. I DO understand his dilemma though. He tried very hard to raise us kids right, in his mind. He knew what growing up in a depressed economy looked and felt like. He knew what it was like when the only food on the table was what you shot or grew yourself (or could harvest from the woods.). He really wanted us to be successful enough for that large house on the hill, the large fridge stocked full of nummers, and a pantry that was overflowing. That to him was 'success'.
But that mentality is only the bait in the trap that was laid by those in power a long time ago. To get to that point required you to subjugate your values to a life of indebtedness. Debt is slavery. You can look at Debt in two ways. A means to an end, OR, the end to a means. With our economy set up like it was in 1913, it is only a ends to a means. The means in this case are enslavement of the working class. The media has sold this hype quite well, and continue to do so even in times of strife.

I know, I know, Preachin to the choir again.

This brings me to the Unions. (yes, Capital U. They are a force to be reckoned with, therefore, they earn that moniker.) The Unions, originally were established to give the average working man a lever to use in negotiations with unscrupulous business practices. Well, that was the myth anyway. Here in coal country, The unions did some damned good things, at first. You only need to research the term "Redneck" and you will find lots of history of 'evil' coalmine owners, and massive abuse of workers, and work conditions. Heck, my dad was telling me a story about his dad (Rare event, My ears were WIDE open) having to go to the mines for weeks on end, to cut rock, without pay. They were only paid for coal, by the ton, and everything else was on them. If they had to cut rock out of the way to get to the coal, they received NOTHING in return.(I won't even go into the use of Scrip and The Company Store, or the company supplied housing that the miners were charged rent for.)

Ready for the kicker.

This was in the late 1940's. Not some time back in the late 1800's or even pre-WWI. This was AFTER WWII.

It comes as no surprise that my dads dream of "us kids" having a better life than he had is his biggest driving force.

I don't know at what time the Unions started 'round here. Doesn't really matter. The fact that there are still companies that skirt safety issues shows that the Union doesn't really work for the worker any longer but for themselves. That scourge is no longer a cancer in our society but a full grown, separate beast unto itself now. It has transcended being a servant to that of being a master of those in its realm. You only need to look at how un-aware or un-caring those in WI are acting, to see that they are only serving the beast, THAT THEY FEED.(oh, and that we also feed since they are "Public Servants" themselves, being paid with Tax revenues.)

At one time I thought the dividing line would be a bit racial. I had my reasons for that thought, but in hindsight, its going to be Federal vs State again. The key point here being that a vast majority of the racial divide is in the employ of the federal beast.(that whole Affirmative Action thing in play) So, in a round-bout kind of way, it will be racial. Heck, you could even say that the coming conflict is over slavery again. Only now, the slaves have reversed the role and they are the Federal Govt: Demanding that they be taken care of Cradle to Grave.

This conversation can be played out a million times and the end result will be the same. The people that 'want', will twist the tables every turn. If you call them out as the racist, they blast you with apathy. I you try to point out the facts that things aren't sustainable, they blast you with racism. etc etc etc. They don't give a fuck so long as that gravy train continues to roll along.(and yes, I dropped the f-bomb)

And it won't keep rolling, its only a matter of time. God help us when it stops.

Back to the conflict I am having with my dad. Yes, he wants more for me than I desire. That is how dads are. (and I should know as I hope for more for my daughter) When he sees that I won't back down, he does back down, but like any good dad, he finds ways of showing his displeasure at his upstart kid. LOL. Maybe I am an empath or something, but I can feel it when he 'ain't happy'.

What brought this up was a recent purchase I decided to make. I found an old, derelict truck camper for dirt cheap. It has all of the hardware in it, but massive water damage. (that old plywood just doesn't hold up long when wet) I don't want it for the camper itself so much as the gear within it. That three burner stove, the 3 way refrigerator, the 12v AC unit ( maybe even the little furnace though I doubt that). All of this can be made to work in my little 'shed' far better than, oh, that $1000 stove that is 4 times the size of the little camper stove. PLUS, picking the unit(the camper) up for $250 means less money spent elsewhere on similar items. Since I want to go with a solar operation instead of grid, any 12v or gas appliance is more of a boon than a curse.(as Spud said in the last post comments:"power ,water And fuel are not a concern for me.") I have been scouring RV/Boating sites to turn up as much information as I can about anything that can be modified for my chosen pathway.

IT may be a shed, but damned if I won't be comfortable in it. And I will be far more comfortable in it on those 'rolling blackout' nights than my neighbors. They may be warm but they are going to have to adjust without Electric to power the stove, fridge, or the glass teat.(And I weaned myself off that teat a few years ago.)

(OH, that brings something up too. For the one that sent an email, afraid to face the comments section I guess: YES, I have an alternative for the lathe. This lathe uses a pulley system and it doesn't take much to convert something to power the lathe other than the 3/4 horse motor on it now. Maybe waterwheel, or even inertia wheel like the old presses used, but no, I won't be without 'power tools' when things get real rough. That was one consideration I took into account when buying it, and that won out over the inability to cut threads with it, I can modify it for thread cutting later.)

Now its just a matter of winning over the Dad to the new "Successful".