As a 'compensation' for being in the slogging away all hours / paying over the odds on rent or mortgaged up to the hilt trap, the bastards spend a lot of energy effectively bribing us with distractions and amusements to try and keep us in their loop. As the above graphics make abundantly clear, while you may be on the treadmill, they'll do their level best to make it feel not just normal but 'desirable'. The all embracing metaverse we've been 'promised' is the next step in keeping people plugged in and compliant. That's if we let them...
I've seen more than enough anecdotal evidence to suggest a growing number of people realise that being stuck on this atomising, dehumanising treadmill is not the way to live and that they want a more spiritually fulfilling life built round a solid connection with nature. The hard part is pulling away from the dystopia we're in and starting to build the new world we want on our terms.
There are a very few people who have to means to move away from the crap that traps us and live their lives off grid. The rest of us have to find a way of exiting dystopia one step at a time to get to where we want to be. A process that in my opinion, is best done in tandem with other like minded, free thinking individuals who've had enough of the toxic dystopia we're being sucked ever further into. The more of us there are rebelling, the more likely we are to cause some serious and long overdue disruption to a system that's screwing us over.
It starts with getting out of the cycle of constantly upgrading and instead, making stuff last longer with an emphasis on repairing rather than replacing. Questioning whether you actually need all of the stuff that surrounds you is is next step. That involves reassessing priorities. A small example - rather that sitting isolated at home glued to a screen, get together with friends and neighbours for face to face interaction and analogue amusements:)
It goes onto deciding that not every household has to have expensive pieces of kit - purchase one between a manageable number of households where there's a good level of trust between you and share it. Even at a purely materialistic level, think of the money you're saving!
There's getting out and being active in your local community. From neighbourhood food kitchens and food banks through to resident run parks and community vegetable plots, these are all ways of forming social bonds and building community solidarity. Also, they're a way of starting to bring power back down to the grassroots where we, the residents, can have more say in how our communities are run and how they develop and grow.
I've written a lot about food security and growing your own food. Taking control of at least some of your food supply by growing and processing it yourself is another way of breaking out from the system. Again, it's another endeavour that's better done in tandem with others as it will build strong, independent grassroots networks.
I'm just throwing out ideas here. I'm sure you have plenty more of your own. The point is realising that there are considerably better ways of living than the dystopian, digital prison we're in now. Once that realisation has happened, then it's time to experiment with creative ways of freeing yourself from the system with the eventual aim of bringing it down. Let me know how you're getting on as these experiences can be a basis for future posts that will hopefully encourage more people to take this step:)
I would caution there is no utopia. I did abandon city life 5 years ago, and my remote work hours are down to 10 hours a week. The area where I live is beautiful with trout streams and bears. My problem is loneliness, the people out here are dull! All they want to talk about are their trucks, and getting drunk or high. I have no friends other than people I know online. I have no talked to anyone other than a store clerk for months. Also the downside of “tight community” is they are intolerant and narrow minded. I am harshly judged for not mowing my acre of land. Fuck em’ I like the birds and bees that benefit from that better than these chuds. I suppose there may be some utopian off the grid community in California or Vermont, but land is prohibitively expensive there, and woke is everywhere.
Good article.
I just read another new 'stack post that matches up nicely with yours.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thefreethinker/p/why-the-narrative-refuses-to-die?r=1ih90&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web