Dateline: 15 May 2016
For those who don't already know, David the Good and family, formerly of Florida, have left America. David revealed this in his Blog Post a couple days ago. As explained in the short YouTube video above, they are renting a cocoa farm at "an undisclosed location near the equator."
Those who have read this blog for awhile know that I've mentioned David several times. We "met" back in 2013 when he purchased a Whizbang Wheel Hoe kit from me and reviewed it at his blog. Later, when I came out with my Classic American Clothespins, David bought some and reviewed them too (Here is the Review Link).
And David is, like me, a self-published gardening book author (see his books Here). He also has a slightly zany sense of humor that is frequently manifested in some of his YouTube Videos. For the most part, I get the humor and appreciate it.
When you move your family from Florida to a cocoa farm in an undisclosed location near the equator, taking all your stuff can be expensive. So you just don't take all your stuff. You take only the most essential and valued items. Which means, of course, that if you are a "survival gardener" you take your Whizbang wheel hoe, and I was very pleased to hear that is exactly what David has done.
At this point, I don't know if the clothespins and David's Planet Whizbang Hat were deemed necessary and worthy enough to make the journey.
Now, as I pondered this move, it occurred to me that David would have at least one problem moving to an undisclosed location near the equator. That problem being that his blog is titled Florida Survival Gardening.
But I just looked, and it's now titled The Survival Gardener. So I guess that little problem is solved.
David and family (his wife and a number of children) are among a growing number of American expatriates. It's an exciting idea to consider, and I wish this family all the best in their new tropical homestead.
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P.S. I've been privileged to know about this planned exodus for some time, and I actually know where the undisclosed location near the equator is. But I've been told it is Top Secret (for now), and I'm very good at keeping a secret.
Who knows... I might want to head down there myself someday. Wouldn't that be something! And I'll change the name of this blog to The Deliberate Tropical Agrarian.
I don't care how bad it gets here in The USA, I spent 20 years of my life running around the globe with an airplane and a gun trying to preserve this Republic, and I'll die right here in this house either from old age or from a bullet delivered by some unelected bureaucrats minion! Everett
ReplyDeleteHi Everett,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your sentiments. You are well rooted in a place where your family has lived for generations. That is a rare thing these days.
I often wish I lived in northern Maine where my family on both sides was similarly rooted. But I was UProoted and transplanted here in NY, and totally separated (by a lot of miles) from all extended family connections, when I was 5 years old. I am typical of a great many Americans. We are a transient people.
Actually, for me to live where I am now for 42 years is kind of unique, and I value the connections I have in this rural community. I really don't want to (or expect to) ever leave.
As for the worst case scenario you mention, I have a feeling you will not be finished off by any bureaucrats. As government tyranny rises, the powers that be are going to have their hands full keeping the mainland populations in order, especially if the economy really goes south. And then, when the collapse comes, most of the government minions will stay home with their own families. The government isn't going to care much about your little island.
And, in the case of such an event, lots of those more transient Americans will wish they lived on a remote island like you.... or maybe they will wish they had moved their family to the safety of a remote island in the tropics.
Everyone's situation is different.
An interesting aside..... Joel Salatin's parents were expats before buying their farm in Virginia back in 1961. They had a farm in Venezuela and lost it because of some sort of political upheaval. So expatriates are still Americans, and a lot of them eventually come back.
Another interesting aside... look at Venezuela these days. Wow. The country is collapsing. People are desperate for food. It's a seriously bad situation. I know a family that left Venezuela several years ago and moved to our area. They saw the handwriting on the wall and got out before it really fell apart. They aren't wealthy and work hard to make ends meet. They miss their home and the family they left behind, but they thank God they got out of that place.
In a recent news story about the situation in Venezuela, I read that many Venezuelans are now fleeing the country and some are going to the numerous Caribbean islands off the coast of Venezuela. But I digress.
Where one lives or wants to live can be fraught with emotions. I've lived in two countries besides the U.S.A., and have seen both modern and third-world living first hand in these other countries. But, I have come to understand that the best place for me to live is where God has actually placed me. God has led my wife and me to live in many different places in our married life. What I can say with some confidence is that when we were at a place that wasn't God's will, it never turned out good. Conversely, when we were sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit to live in a place, God did amazing things.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that I am not identified by the place I live in, nor by the place from whence I came. My identity is a follower of Christ and therefore my location is not the focus. Therefore, my citizenship to any given nation is subordinate to my citizenship in the body of Christ.
Yet, I am currently blessed to have been put on a piece of land to steward and to witness to others about God's desire for our lives. We have a place in the world, but not without having God put us there. It's been my hard-learned lesson to pay attention to where God wants me to be, regardless of that physical location on the globe.
It's also been my observation that it's very difficult to "go back" to a place where one is from. This theme is so prevalent in literature and film, that you can almost find it in any story. But, the point is that when we leave a place, we as people continue to grow and change while the place we left changes at the same time. Then, when we return, we and the place are not the same ... in a very real sense, we cannot return because the place we are returning to no longer exists.
Finally, my point is that I have come to the conclusion that post-Pentecost Christians focus entirely too much on place when what we are doing in any given place is the more worthy part of who we are. As I said, this is an emotional topic and others will not agree with me. Be that as it may, when I study the life of the Apostle Paul or Christ, I believe place (though called by God to be at those places) was subordinate to the action.
@Dan Grubbs
ReplyDelete"It's also been my observation that it's very difficult to "go back" to a place where one is from."
True in my experience, too. I grew up in the city of Ft. Lauderdale. Too crazy for me to live there now. The city is not the place for me or my children. The current moral climate of the broader USA is quite sick, too. We've lived in a few different places in the South and planted fruit trees everywhere.
I didn't leave the Republic... it left me.
@Herrick
Thanks for the mention as always. You'd like it down here. The soil is good, it never gets too hot or cold and the people don't care what you do on your own property.
I just put up a long tirade about all the tribulations of leaving and coming home and while finishing the last sentence, hit the wrong button or something and it all went away! Probably just as well! See you later Everett
ReplyDeleteDan, when I left this place it was an isolated town,lost in time and more like the 1930's small towns in any mainland location. I left in 1956 to join the USN and in those 20+ years lived in three other European countries. When I came back here it was virtually the same as when I had left all those years previously! That was in 1975 and within two years, we had been "discovered" by all the NYC, Boston, NJ liberal elites. The first group bought up big plots of land for virtually nothing, divided it up and sold it to their friends at five to ten times what they paid for it. Mc Mansions by the dozen were popping up all over the place. This being an Island with finite resources, mainly water, A few of the locals figured out what was happening and we instituted ZONING LAWS TO TRY AND SLOW THIS BUILDING CRAZE DOWN!
ReplyDeleteNow with all those houses, where does the sewer run off go? Why it goes right into the Local aquifer! How to remedy that, Build a $8-10 million waste water facility with all the necessary pipes and pumps.
And as any one knows if you take a glass full of water and keep sticking straws in it and sucking the water out, soon it will be empty! The same applies to a finite aquifer! The ONLY way we get to replenish it is by annual rainfall. A few of these intelligent intelligensa (sp), even drilled wells right on the shoreline and within a year the wells were contaminated by salt water incursion.
SO here we are 40 years later with all the ills and tribulations that they came here to escape, they brought them with them and installed,nay, inflicted them on us. Now we just try to live with it and keep it from getting any worse. We are less than a year of being at total buildout!
I keep telling my kids that when,"TEOTWAWKI' Arrives, all those big houses will make a lot of firewood!
Hah! It "came back" so I just posted it without proof reading it See YA
ReplyDeleteElizabeth L. Johnson said,
ReplyDeleteWell said, Everett, and dittos from me, after visiting China and Mexico this spring. I wouldn't leave America to live, unless it was in the Lord's plans. At this time, I haven't heard any directives other than to stay where I am. I was further convinced after going overseas, how amazing and wonderful our country is; the people, our rule of law (Declaration and Constitution) among many things! AND I just got a copy of Voice of the Martyrs, the entire issue about China. Life and laws are different per province. It is unlawful to proseltize (msp) children. In some instances, the circumstances of that socialist government sound like Nazism: i.e. pastors can disappear. Venezuela is suffering terribly from socialism. I don't know about the rest of south America. I feel sorry that no other country in the world, ever, has been founded on principles solely from the Good Book. None.