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Notes -
A Look into Hickman, wherein a Sensitive Young Man discovers the positional utility of money
Link the relevant tweet
I've written about Hickman before because I find him to be a very interesting character. This is a man who was purposefully homeless for years, a self-described constantly drunk anarchist, who then joined the coast guard to clean up his act, become a kind of hardcore catholic that doesn't quite fit neatly into the Online RadTrad mold, got married, had a kid, and now, apparently, self-supports via writing online. He's also something of budding real estate investor.
And although he still "hates money" he just can't deny that it's got some pretty nice features; like being able to live in good neighborhoods where your kids are safe as well as being able to choose the rough outline of your socio-political environment.
Hickman's journey isn't unique overall. It's definitely got a lot of color to it, of course. I see it, however, as a pretty normal process of becoming aware of second order social effects. As kids, we're inherently self-focused. Adolescence brings some awareness of things outside of ourself. Young adulthood continues that up to family formation. For most, however, it takes the actual having of children to ignite thoughts about the beliefs, behaviors, and opinions of larger groups of strangers.
Being 25 and single or dating means I have more or less complete control (or perceived control - memetic influence is for a different thread) over the ideas I let effect me. But a parent realizes that short of keeping their children locked up in the basement, their ability to totally control the kid's ideological intake is far from complete.
It's unremarkable to point out that what happens next is people use a combination of money and social organization to choose and maintain the ideological ecosystems within which their children live. Money can get you access to the right zip codes and/or private schools and clubs / sports. Social organization can get the right (wrong?) books banned from the public libraries, and the right (wrong?) drag queen story hour performers. Enter the ongoing culture war.
The interesting thing, to my mind, that Hickman's post illustrates is the reach of these topics. Hickman, although not living on the street anymore, is certainly on the fringe of "normal" society. He's a very-online yet pseudo Amish dirtbag Catholic who lives in dying upstate NY. Yet is talking in the same direction that leads to HOAs, school boards, zoning, planned communities and all the other things that are top of mind for the most milquetoast suburbanites. Short of a true EXIT mentality, you can't not be in the culture war.
And I think there's something useful here to contemplate in terms of the very Vibes based general feeling of anxiety that generates thousands of thinkpieces across main stream and alternative media and internet outlets. If many of us feel like non-voluntary conscripts in the culture war, it follows that we're fighting the war just to survive and get back home. But then the question becomes "what the hell is home?" There's no 40 acres and a Good Wife (TM) to walk with into the sunset. The HOA has problems with our lifestock and Wifey is at therapy and thinks we need to have a conversation about emotional labor. Or, for my progressive friends, the need to return that 40 acres to the indigenous rightful owners is really getting difficult because of the tax implications of the real estate sale and my polycule keeps breaking up while I'm talking to my lawyer.
Of course I'm having a little fun here, but the point stands; the political dream of the West post World War 2 was that a mix of economic and political liberality could ultimately result in an appreciable degree of autonomy for, at least, an individual if not a family. That no longer seems the case and there's been no real alternative identified. On the left, it's a kind of utopic socialism that can't ever actually work. On the right it's a very vibes based "RETVRN" ethos with some nihilstic streaks.
This is so... Psychological. I mean that in a very negative sense, not a generous one.
My wife and I are literally in the process of buying ~40 acres around an hour from where we live. We will be close to friends and family; be able to limit our children to exposure to the Internet or the more depraved parts of public education; and have a concrete connection to the land.
Could every American do this? I'm not sure; depends on usable land. But many could, and, in particular, you (you being the You reading this comment, not the particular you who wrote this comment) could be doing the same.
You don't need to kowtow to imagined indigenous owners or the spirits of different people you've betrayed. They did the exact same thing, times a thousand times. Your life is your life, and once you stop worrying about imagined obligations to anonymous others who would throw you under the bridge for a nickel, you can make a great life for yourself and help people you care about. You have the agency to create a wonderful life for yourself and your children: do that.
There are about 60 million plots of 40 acres each (including inhospitable areas), so it's probably close to possible if you have extended families on single plots. If you reduce it to five acres (enough for a cow or two, some chickens, a garden, etc. if the climate and soil is good), then it obviously increases the number of plots to 480 million.
Of course, you point to the more important point: any American could do this if they had the means, as there is at least one plot of land available near them, wherever they are.
This is making the very bad assumption that those 40 acres plots are useable as residence/homesteading from the get-go.
Buyer, as always, beware. I’ve seen ten acre plots that look excellent on map and paper only to go to them during a large thunderstorm and find the entire property under several inches of water due to surrounding development. Whoops!
It's making the even worse assumption that those 40 acres are actually land, and not in the middle of a lake. Although seasteading??
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