October 2, 2014

Live free or die.

We watched the first episode of that National Geographic series "Live Free or Die," about 4 men and 1 woman — the woman is paired with one of the men — who live under quite primitive conditions, not in some "Survivor"-like competition, but as their chosen approach to life — presumably genuinely chosen, though the cameras are there too, so there's an untold meta-story about why, having retreated from civilization, they are inviting the world into their secluded place. Perhaps the answer for each of the 4 men and the woman is different. I assume that none of them are seriously psychologically disordered, that they are weird enough to be entertaining but not so weird as to distract us with worries that National Geographic is exploiting them.

You can watch the episode at the link. You'll see that one man seems to be on a post-divorce rampage. He had a big house and some sort of financial consulting job, but whatever that ex-wife did to him, his reaction has been to go rogue on some island in a swamp and live on trapped beaver (metaphor alert) — selling the pelts and eating the meat. Another man, named Thorn, seems closest to being the wilderness equivalent of an urban street person, and he's the only one who doesn't get his meat, after trudging around all day looking for a squirrel to shoot with an arrow. He ends up eating rice and lentils, which is not what he wants. He needs meat. A third man is out in a very dry part of California hoping to catch a pack rat with a cartoonish-looking trap that drops a big rock on the little beast. He's exultant when he finds his "flat rat," and he roasts it over the fire, scraping the fur and skin off as it chars, and then he nibbles away at it, tail and all. It's delicious, we're told.

But my favorite guy is the one who has a woman, because it's a lot more of a challenge to live under primitive conditions — no electricity, no running water, etc. — when you've got not just your body and mind to preserve but a relationship. And what woman would humor what man this much? The life is much harder than just working in town at a little minimum-wage job and economizing like mad. And what meat! These two cook and eat a bobcat, found dead and in a state of rigor mortis by the side of the road. I mean, who eats cat in the first place? I know people eat roadkill, but isn't that usually something they know just got hit, not something that's been lying around long enough to have rigor mortis? Here's the woman, snuggling in the bobcat fur:



I found an interview with this couple — Tony and Amelia — and they talk about why they chose to do the show. Tony seems to come at it from an abstract, intellectual direction: He went to college and took courses in environmental studies, then determined that he wanted to live off the land and spend no money on food. He speaks of "harvest[ing] rain water" and "fell[ing] wood in winter without killing it."

Amelia, on the other hand, attributes her interest in living like this to her upbringing on a farm. "After living on dad’s farm then a few other places unusual; a small homestead in Nashville where I had chickens and an organic garden, I met Tony."

About doing the show, Amelia says she wants "to share" and "inspire people to live in a way that they will feel more satisfied with their life, and bring more happiness to our world." Tony is more ideological: "I have ideas in my head I want the world to hear." But he also seems more laid back: "I want to encourage people to do what they want to do. To live like me or not. Just to be happy and free. If you want to be a painter or a space shuttle engineer – just do it. We are not bound by the expectations of society."

53 comments:

Big Mike said...

And what woman would humor what man this much?

Maybe he's humoring her? Guys do that, ya know.

rhhardin said...

I've thought about stopping on my bike commute to ask the nice farm lady who's weed-wacking the grass under a long, long fence if she knew about scythes.

A scythe would do the job at walking speed and be quiet as well.

Since then she's applied grass killer under the whole fence so there isn't any more grass this year.

Anonymous said...

I generally hate hippies as a matter of principle but I wish them well. Of course, I am hoping more people follow their lead, resulting in Whole Foods going out of business. I hate Whole Food Hippies.

Ann Althouse said...

"Maybe he's humoring her? Guys do that, ya know."

Well, he had already adopted the lifestyle. It was his house on his land. She then moved in with him. I think it's harder to understand a woman moving in with a man like that than to understand why he'd do what was needed to have her.

Bob Ellison said...

Professor, your "tags" list are sometimes the most entertaining items on your posts.

Tags: divorce, fur, hippies, meat, metaphor, psychology, rats, relationships, solitude, squirrel, survival, Survivor

It could be a series-- maybe a quiz show, naming what news item the tag list could or should be referring to!

Tags: Palin, snow, platypus, astronomy

Tags: incontinence, onomatopoeia, Oklahoma State University

Ann Althouse said...

"I've thought about stopping on my bike commute to ask the nice farm lady who's weed-wacking the grass under a long, long fence if she knew about scythes.
A scythe would do the job at walking speed and be quiet as well."

I don't think ladies really want a stranger approaching and starting to talk about scythes….

gerry said...

The descent into terminal goofiness continues.

Bob Ellison said...

"I'll take Squirrel Stoles for $1,000, Alex."

traditionalguy said...

It is Obama like self hypnotism to assert that there is an easy and "free" sustainable life style of roaming in the woods and eating road kill and rats.

To be sustained life forms always require three things: 1)an abundant food supply, and 2) survivable procreation in sufficient numbers, and 3) a defensive weapon/shield from predators that either escapes or kills the predators before they can kill you.

The Great Plains horse Indians had horses, mules and followed buffalo herds in the millions. But even they wanted iron for tools and captives to do the hard work. And they were always at war to protect their terrirory.

Tibore said...

"We are not bound by the expectations of society."

Hate to say it bub, but other than not effing up your surroundings (which you seem to be adhering to just fine), society has no expectations for you. You're rebelling against an expectation in your head, not one actually imposed.

etbass said...

The environmentalists would have us all living like that.

cubanbob said...

"To be sustained life forms always require three things: 1)an abundant food supply, and 2) survivable procreation in sufficient numbers, and 3) a defensive weapon/shield from predators that either escapes or kills the predators before they can kill you."

Why is it the left in general and especially the more extreme progressives promote policies and agendas that if fully employed would be completely in opposition to these three basic needs?

jdallen said...

Rigor mortis onset is quick enough that it doesn't mean the meat is ruined. If rigor has come and gone...soon after that, you're getting iffy.

traditionalguy said...

One reason Florida has so much weirdo crime is that it draws the semi sane drifters mostly living outside who have to go there in winter to be free and not freeze, and they stay on.

cubanbob said...

I never understood the attraction people have for these shows. How real is it when there is a camera crew to record it all and frankly how is this in the least bit entertaining?

rhhardin said...

I don't think ladies really want a stranger approaching and starting to talk about scythes….

People are pretty unsuspicious, you can talk to anybody in rural places.

The context would be wrong though - a guy on a bicycle talking about scythes is obviously a lefty loon, whereas in fact a scythe would work for her faster and probably more enjoyably.

Another context negative is that there's audible morse code coming from the basket on the bike. It's very pleasant to listen to the lower 14MHz band and see what fades in and out as you pedal along. Mostly Europe talking to the eastern and mid US.

It would take time to explain the musicality of morse code to account for it.

Anonymous said...

Bikes, rural areas, scythes and Morse code on a bicycle: I want a TV crew to follow rhhardin for awhile -- I'd watch THAT.

Bob Boyd said...

@ rhhardin

Just be careful. While you're explaining the musicality of Morse Code she may decide her best option is to try for your eyes with the weed-wacker.

LYNNDH said...

rhhardin, you said, "whereas in fact a scythe would work for her faster and probably more enjoyably". I would imagine that the weed wacker is much easier and faster to use and more efficient. Spraying afterwards means that she has more time to do other things that need to be done. It seems you have time on your hands so you can commute by bike. I get no joy wacking weeds, want to get the job done, and would get far less "joy" in using a scythe.

Anonymous said...

Need not be rural: I would enjoy employing a scythe on some Seattle streets. Plants, pedestrians, whichever.

rhhardin said...

A scythe is definitely much faster than a weed wacker under a fence.

Probably ten times faster.

A scythe can't do inside corners, and its efficiency around a post depends on your skill level aimingwise.

Fencewise, you can do two passes, one from each side, to deal with the awkward post if necessary. You'll be walking back anyway.

Did you know that morse code is faster than texting too.

Bob Boyd said...

I'm picturing rh showing up with his own scythe and generous intentions.
But the lady sees him coming and drops dead in the ditch from a heart attack. Her last thought is, 'When did Death start wearing shorts....'

Lewis Wetzel said...

Cubanbob wrote:
"Why is it the left in general and especially the more extreme progressives promote policies and agendas that if fully employed would be completely in opposition to these three basic needs?"
Because whatever you do to advance your interests works against the interests of the state.

Ann Althouse said...

"Bikes, rural areas, scythes and Morse code on a bicycle: I want a TV crew to follow rhhardin for awhile -- I'd watch THAT."

Me too!

Maybe round up 4 Althouse commenters and cut the footage together into one show.

You know you want to see how Crack lives and what effects he has as he goes about his daily life path in San Francisco or wherever he lives, right?

Who else?

Or maybe those 2 would be enough. A sharp contrast.

chillblaine said...

"Did you know that morse code is faster than texting too."

I did not. I do know that these people will be able to communicate when all the cell towers are compromised.

RecChief said...

they should go back to the late 60s where they belong

madAsHell said...

I've never understood the attraction people have for these shows.

Uncle Milton's ant farm.

Rusty said...

Subsistance living is tough. It's why our ancestors worked so hard to domesticate grains and animals.
Why thow all that hard work away.

madAsHell said...

"Did you know that morse code is faster than texting too."

I find that hard to believe. Have you ever seen a 14-year-old girl working an iPhone?

Fernandinande said...

No diversity. Or does the chick count?

chillblaine said...

These guys are amateurs compared to the Lykovs. Not surprised that Althouse had blogged about them in 2013.

Also, not surprised to see that the Professor would like to see the commenters 'rounded up.'

cubanbob said...

madAsHell said...

I've never understood the attraction people have for these shows.

Uncle Milton's ant farm.
10/2/14, 10:14 AM "

Horror shows are also something I don't understand the attraction of.


" Rusty said...

Subsistance living is tough. It's why our ancestors worked so hard to domesticate grains and animals.
Why thow all that hard work away.

10/2/14, 10:15 AM"

If people want to be voyeurs of poor subsistence level people why not have the production companies send crews to English speaking really poor countries like Liberia? I'm sure Ebola will really add excitement to the horror show reality TV and the costs of doing those shows must be a lot cheaper there as well.

cubanbob said...

madAsHell said...

I've never understood the attraction people have for these shows.

Uncle Milton's ant farm.
10/2/14, 10:14 AM "

Horror shows are also something I don't understand the attraction of.


" Rusty said...

Subsistance living is tough. It's why our ancestors worked so hard to domesticate grains and animals.
Why thow all that hard work away.

10/2/14, 10:15 AM"

If people want to be voyeurs of poor subsistence level people why not have the production companies send crews to English speaking really poor countries like Liberia? I'm sure Ebola will really add excitement to the horror show reality TV and the costs of doing those shows must be a lot cheaper there as well.

Bruce Hayden said...

Subsistance living is tough. It's why our ancestors worked so hard to domesticate grains and animals. Why thow all that hard work away.

There is a trade off between freedom and convenience, or, maybe more accurately, between different types of freedom, with one type of freedom being the freedom from hunger and subsistence living.

I think about this in looking at the continuum of, say, NY City through the Alaskan interior (small islands, etc). Some years we move back and forth between a MT county of maybe 8-10k and an area of several thousand square miles, to metropolitan areas of 3-4 million. On the one hand, you have your food right there, of often a far higher quality than you can get in stores, almost no serious crime, know many of those around you. On the latter hand though, you have everything you need close by in the city, including numerous types of fast food, etc.

I will admit that we cheat. Rural MT is glorious in the summer, but brutal in the winter. Which is when we bail. But, if those survivalists were here, they could be living on deer, instead of rat (saw 15 pre-venisons yesterday evening in the maybe 2 miles between downtown and the house). A surprising number here cut the wood they need to warm themselves and partially live off the deer, etch that they kill in legal subsistence hunting.

gerry said...


It would take time to explain the musicality of morse code to account for it.


Is the 14 MHZ band still amateur, worldwide?

Bob R said...

Back in the early 70's, I found a old, rusty scythe in the back of a shed on our farm. Tried to get it in shape to use, but it never worked well as anything but a Halloween costume. Yeah, if you had it razor sharp (and kept it razor sharp) it would be better for cutting under a fence, but the weed wacker is a better multitasker (assuming one of the tasks isn't cutting a couple of acres of wheat.)

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Ann Althouse said...I think it's harder to understand a woman moving in with a man like that than to understand why he'd do what was needed to have her.
Traditional gender roles alert, sound the alarm! Women aren't some prize to be won by doing what's needed to have them, they're coequal members of the human race and all relationships are always perfectly mutual and equitable w/r/t attraction, effort, etc. Obviously.

Bruce Hayden said...

At least here up in MT, women can do the subsistence thing. Last year, a new store opened up, somewhat akin to an old dry goods store, but with cut price merchandise - except for their gun prices. Still, they have reloading stuff, and got into a discussion with the girl working there one day. She does her own reloading, and has enough reloading stuff in her truck, if things fall apart (I think the people in rural America are more worried about Armageddon, etc than in urban areas). And uses it for subsistence hunting. Mostly deer, of course, and probably never mice. Should have asked her about bobcat. She does have a guy in the house, but he has a regular job, so she does most of the hunting.

John henry said...

I suspect that there may be only 2 of us here who actually know what a scythe is. Wikipedia has pictures. Handle is about 6' long with a 2-3' long curved blade. It is generally intended for harvesting wheat. It seems like it would be too light weight to trim weeds. Amazon mainly carries them as costume items.

I suspect that what people are thinking of is a weed whip or brush cutter. Shorter handle for 1 handed use, heavier construction for more hitting power and a 2' or so blade, usually serrated.(http://www.amazon.com/Ames-True-Temper-1945000-Discontinued/dp/B00004S1RZ/ref=sr_1_44_m?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1412271005&sr=1-44)

I further suspect that those suggesting that it is easier to use than a weedwhacker have nver actually used one. Chopping weeds with these is massively hard work. We did it for punishment in the Navy, back in boot camp.

Anyone who says it is easier to use than a string trimmer (I have lots of experience with those, too)is full of shit.

John Henry

John henry said...

I can think of one advantage to a scythe in the example, though.

When the pea brained, busybody bicyclist stops to offer advice on something they clearly know nothing about, a scythe would be a better tool for cutting the spokes out of the bicycle.

Secondarily, for moving the now pedestrian along.

Perhaps it is possible to teach a bicyclist something. A scythe might be a useful teaching tool.

OTOH, many bicyclists have historically shown that they are not smart enough to learn anything.

John Henry

Kirk Parker said...

gerry,

Yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20-meter_band.

hombre said...

It's probably better to opt for such a life only if you know how.

Based on the Professor's description of the quest for meat, these folks either don't know what they are doing or have carried the "roughing it" concept to unrealistic extremes.

FullMoon said...

Huh!, Not as hard as being an 80 year old black woman searching for food in trash cans while living and dying on the mean San Francisco streets.

rhhardin said...

I've cut my acre of lawn with a scythe for many years.

tim in vermont said...

If it weren't for a certain three inch triangle, the most expensive real-estate in the world, large numbers of men would be perfectly happy living in huts along the river, or the ocean, or a beach somewhere and living off the land.

Women won't tolerate it. Men who don't humor women drop out of the gene pool. Civilization is born.

tim in vermont said...

(I think the people in rural America are more worried about Armageddon, etc than in urban areas)

I think it is more like people in rural areas know they have a shot, so they think about it.

RecChief said...

The picture of Amelia reminded me of "half-pint" on the little house on the prairie tv show. Tony reminded me of John Lennon in his "Bed In for Peace" days.

Danno said...

So National Geographic has stooped to reality tv programming now?

Saint Croix said...

"metaphor alert," you kill me, A. HIlarious.

Nancy Reyes said...

Want to bet she is on birth control pills? Having a baby might change their minds.

Maybe living in the rural Philippines, I am less enamoured of those who love living what they think is a primitive free lifestyle.

John henry said...

Rhhardin:

I thought I posted this yesterday but it seems Google ate it.

Apologies for doubting that scythes are useful for cutting lawns. Apparently I am wrong on this.

OTOH, while it is great exercise, it still looks like an awful lot more work and time than a lawnmower would require.

John Henry

tim in vermont said...

Hmm, I have a drainage ditch that I cut down twice a summer with a machete. It is not terrible hard work, but I bet a scythe would make it something I could do every week.

Anonymous said...

You should try Jerusalem artichokes. They grow 10 foot tall in the summer, look like daisy's, use very little water. You dig the roots and eat them thru the winter. Great vitamin source taste good eaten raw and cooked.