A Video On The Economy by Paul Wheaton And Thoughts

Over the years I have been a passive follower of Paul Wheaton and his Permies forum.  Paul's focus is on humble living, permaculture, and sustainable technology.  It is an interesting place if you have never been (membership is free and to my knowledge it is largely apolitical and deals with all things agricultural, permaculture, sustainable technology, food preparation, etc.; Friend of This Blog (FOTB) Leigh has been known to be there from time to time).

This week a short video he did crossed my inbox entitled "Prepare Now for Upcoming Changes".  This is a subject that has been on my mind of late, so I watched the video.  A transcript is below:  copyright obviously belongs to Paul Wheaton and any errors remain my own:

"I'm sitting at a table with three strangers. Our host shares that she's thinking of going back to college to finish her degree in software engineering. She explains that she wants a job that pays better than her current job.

I say, "Don't do it." The other two people agree with me.

“Then what should I study so I can get a higher paying job?” I suspect that for any field of study, there will be a lot of layoffs. The most productive people will stay on, and you'll find that you'll be looking for work with your freshly minted degree, competing against people with degrees and experience.

Again, the other two agree with me. “What do I do?” I think if you live more humbly, save what you can, and prepare for a long-term unemployment, you'll be in better shape than most other people. And then you can solve work stuff from a perspective of strategy instead of desperation.

I then suggested buying some sun chokes and sticking them in her yard with no further effort. In two years, there'll be enough food to feed several people through the Winter. The other two said nothing. I guess I became too weird.

Most people go to college and take on debt. The idea used to be that you would then get a higher paying job and pay back that debt. With heaps of cash flow, you can have lots of fancy. In time, you can boost your income further to get even bigger fancy.

Three strangers agree that this is about to change. Three strangers agree. Do not take on debt. Cut your expenses. Save your money.

My wacky advice is to retire in two years, maybe sooner. Fill your head with homesteading, gardening, and permaculture strategies. Practice fiscal humility. I think that a humble home and a large garden will solve all sorts of personal problems. It is the road to gratitude. To get land, I want to propose the SKIP program. Joining our permaculture boot camp and my attempts to get hundreds of thousands of homesteads to do what I call gardening gardeners for big garden. Please see my content about an automatic backyard food pump. 30 minutes of gardening will feed you all winter. A humble home and a large garden solves almost everything."

I have to confess I find myself strangely ambivalent about the video. On the one hand, I have been haunted by the last few weeks of a sense that something is changing in the economy, something that I cannot see directly by looking at it but only by looking out of the corner of my eye. It is that nagging feeling that one gets when there is an object about to hit you but you cannot see it.

It is clear, even in my own world, that many college degrees are not worth the paper they are printed on for helping to find a job in the field of study.  There are some of course; it is foolish to completely write college off as having no value.  And the idea of "fiscal humility" is one that resonates with me and that I have never heard expressed in that light.

And yet, I question the large term application of Paul's philosophy.

Cost of living and Land costs are probably the biggest reactions I initially have.  Yes, we can live more fiscally humble than we do, but if you are anywhere in an urban area (that many are because of their jobs), there is a level of fiscal humility beneath which you cannot drop without not eating or having a place to live.  The second, of course, is land on which to have a garden (see above comments on cost of living in urban areas where career field may be concentrated).  Home prices have dropped a bit over the last year but starting out 30 years younger, I cannot imagine trying to buy in any of the areas I have lived in for my jobs.

This whole thing disconcerts me a bit because I really like the message Paul presents.  I am just not sure how it can be practically and largely applied.

Video: (Run time 3:10)