“Off the Grid”: The growing appeal of going off the grid
Posted by admin on 08/09/2010
For most Americans, tap water, electricity and heating are not only staples of modern convenience — they’re absolute necessities. A small but growing number of Americans, however, have ditched the comfort and convenience of their utilities and chosen instead to live off the grid — unconnected to gas, water, phone and power networks, and, in some cases, making their life from whatever they can grow or hunt on the land. In 2009, British journalist and documentary filmmaker Nick Rosen traveled around the United States visiting these unplugged Americans to find out what it means to live an off-the-grid life.
He discovered something unexpected: Living off the grid may be a fringe activity, but it’s not restricted to any one fringe. America’s off-gridders are pot farmers and 9/11 truthers, committed environmentalists who grow their own food and libertarians living out of their cars, old school horse-and-buggy Mennonites and hypermodern owners of “earthships” (eco-conscious houses made of dirt-filled tires). They live in towns, on farms, 100 miles from the reach of another human being. They work — or don’t. Pay taxes — or not. But all of them are committed to a simple goal, living without dependence on utility providers.
Rosen chronicles his trip — and the quirky cast of characters he met along the way — in a new book, “Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America.” Although the book tends toward heavy-handed commentary, it also provides a detailed look at a population and a lifestyle we rarely hear much about (though that, of course, is generally the way they prefer it).
Salon talked to Rosen about where the grid came from, off-the-grid living's bipartisan appeal and why it’s becoming more and more popular.
via “Off the Grid”: The growing appeal of going off the grid – Nonfiction – Salon.com.
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