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Urban Nomads | (Read 582 times) |
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alexisavoire
Posts: 120
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March 02, 2008, 11:36:07 PM |
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The homeless, despicable as they are to many of us, are a group of citizens who live sustainably in an urban setting. Since charities do not provide for the homeless anywhere near what they need to subsist the homeless adapt and live admirably among us. They eat out of garbage cans, which recycles our wasted excess. They wear minimal clothing and their bodies learn to adjust to temperature extremes. They live without plumbing, water or electricity. They get by without an income or life, medical, dental or eye insurance. They travel long distances on foot or by thumb, on trains or rideshare. They live outside year round watching the seasons change, seeing the moon wax and wane, noticing the perseid showers, the comets, the strange and unusual, the warming climate, the northern lights deeper south this year and a host of natural phenomena invisible to city dwellers and house-rats. They survive on rice or bread, without coffee or chocolate, they consider a cigarette a luxury, and luxury an extravagance. They just as often travel with animal friends that are equally unwelcome in the civilized world or feed the birds, name the feral cats, notice the pigeons. They work odd jobs, collect recycling or panhandle for just the bare minimum. They own almost nothing because that is what they can carry.
They camp out on public land to remind us that public land isn't really public, they light fires to remind us that the oldest way to heat ourselves is now illegal, they sleep in doorways and on sidewalks to remind us that coming and going isn't just about commerce, they squat in condemned houses to remind us that freedom isn't free and they show us that we need to remember that there is something lost when living and alive are separated into two different categories - one meaning to make money and one meaning to be in existence.
When Intentional Community is considered think about being homeless - it just means nomadic, or tribal. Sustainable means maximizing minimalizing. Minimal living is sustainable and if we are willing to pay for sustainable then we should be willing to approve of minimal. If we can admire the native ways of life we can admire the Urban Nomads and learn something about being less fastidious in order to be more intentional about waste and want. Doesn't matter how you got there, once you get grubby you are already closer to going green and being organic than you were before.
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MJ Solaro
Administrator
Posts: 131
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March 03, 2008, 08:14:39 PM |
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Reminds me a bit of the "freegan" movement, which certainly isn't homelessness, but in many ways leverages the extreme waste of urban areas to fuel their lifestyles. From what I understand, Freegans boycott purchasing just about everything, choosing instead to dumpster dive for food, clothing, and furniture, eschewing cars, and sometimes living in "rent-free" housing.
Another thing I admire about the freegan lifestyle is their tendency to take abandoned lots and turn them into beautiful community gardens.
I'm not sure I have the guts to walk away from my current lifestyle to such an extreme, but it's inspiring to know that people can do so much with so little, and makes me want to consider how to reduce my footprint more.
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alexisavoire
Posts: 120
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March 06, 2008, 10:30:22 AM |
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That's so cool! Have heard homeless kidz discussing it but didn't realize it was a movement. Awesome.
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rachael hamblin
Posts: 129
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March 28, 2008, 12:28:06 PM |
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Freeganism generally has to do with not purchasing animal products (similar to veganism) but consuming free animal products that do not contribute to animal exploitation. Cheese isn't vegan but cheese found in a dumpster is freegan because no money is going to the industry producing it. However this can be extended to choosing not to provide any input to the industrial economy and only consuming things that are free.
A lot of other ideas come up with by the poor and/or freegan kids are really innovative ways to be more green as well as save money.
If you're interested in more about the freegan culture, here are links to a couple of really excellent zines. They have some really terrific information. They're in half-size book format so you'll have to print them to read them, print double-sided if you can and change the print setting to short-edged binding.
Ghetto Garden: http://olymedia.mahost.org/ghettogardening.pdf
Feral Forager: http://olymedia.mahost.org/feralforager.pdf
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pixelphoto
Posts: 44
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May 05, 2008, 11:02:12 AM |
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The homeless, despicable as they are to many of us, are a group of citizens who live sustainably in an urban setting. Since charities do not provide for the homeless anywhere near what they need to subsist the homeless adapt and live admirably among us. They eat out of garbage cans, which recycles our wasted excess. They wear minimal clothing and their bodies learn to adjust to temperature extremes. They live without plumbing, water or electricity. They get by without an income or life, medical, dental or eye insurance. They travel long distances on foot or by thumb, on trains or rideshare. They live outside year round watching the seasons change, seeing the moon wax and wane, noticing the perseid showers, the comets, the strange and unusual, the warming climate, the northern lights deeper south this year and a host of natural phenomena invisible to city dwellers and house-rats. They survive on rice or bread, without coffee or chocolate, they consider a cigarette a luxury, and luxury an extravagance. They just as often travel with animal friends that are equally unwelcome in the civilized world or feed the birds, name the feral cats, notice the pigeons. They work odd jobs, collect recycling or panhandle for just the bare minimum. They own almost nothing because that is what they can carry.
They camp out on public land to remind us that public land isn't really public, they light fires to remind us that the oldest way to heat ourselves is now illegal, they sleep in doorways and on sidewalks to remind us that coming and going isn't just about commerce, they squat in condemned houses to remind us that freedom isn't free and they show us that we need to remember that there is something lost when living and alive are separated into two different categories - one meaning to make money and one meaning to be in existence.
When Intentional Community is considered think about being homeless - it just means nomadic, or tribal. Sustainable means maximizing minimalizing. Minimal living is sustainable and if we are willing to pay for sustainable then we should be willing to approve of minimal. If we can admire the native ways of life we can admire the Urban Nomads and learn something about being less fastidious in order to be more intentional about waste and want. Doesn't matter how you got there, once you get grubby you are already closer to going green and being organic than you were before.
Heck I dont have medical or dental insurance LOL 
My aunt didnt have water or plumbing up til she died a year ago she was 94 yrs old. She had a nice old country house. She would use a slop jar and a bucket to retrieve water from the creek. She was old in her ways and a tough old gal.
Squatting in condemned houses doesnt remind me freedom isnt free. thats called trespassing and nowhere in life are you promised a free house. Freedom doest give you the right to own a home. Freedom gives you the right to go out and work for it so you can buy one freely.
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kelda
Posts: 265
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September 08, 2008, 09:14:47 PM |
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I had the interesting experience of moving straight from a fairly off-the-grid , lifestyle on Orcas Island straight into Capitol Hill in Seattle. One of the biggest shockers to me was the stigma in the city against folks who were even 'dressed for the weather'. On Orcas there was this equalizing effect (maybe because even the folks living in tents were still likely to come from pretty privileged backgrounds) because so many people lived off the land in many ways.
Then in Seattle I get those interesting looks just wearing a wool hat and hauling a huge backpack on occasion. I had an appreciation for how the stigma against homeless people makes it that much harder for them to have access to resources (like a library bathroom or something). Orcas, true, is a false reality in many ways, but when varied people are living off the land then varied people have equal access to resources.
This a thought, not on glamourizing the homeless but in appreciating of the two-way street that information can be flowing in. (Homeless folks may be more likely to know seasonal patterns and what's happening throughout the city for flowering times or something, and a gardener with food to spare may appreciate that info)
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Jimmy Pardo
Posts: 11
Life is Change.
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November 05, 2008, 02:20:36 PM |
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Word Alexis,
I dig where you're coming from. There are lessons to be learned from the "Homeless". Not all homeless people are on drugs or thieves. In fact most of the homeless in Yosemite are Physicist and authors that just decided they rather climb and sleep in hills. I can't point fingers, but we all live short hard lives. Not just the homeless. It's what we already expect from life that makes it hard or kooshy. I'm not trying to be homeless, but if I can live without certain things and still be happy, I've lowered the amount of impact on the greater society, and maybe then there will be some bread left for my neighbors and vice-versa.
Really I think the main point isn't, "Hey homeless people got it figured out", but "Wow, maybe I can survive if I eat smaller meals or leave the heat off and just pile on the blankets." If anything is a great excuse to cuddle. 
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Yes, we can...I think.
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SueinWA
Posts: 313
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November 06, 2008, 07:53:40 PM |
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An interesting original post here. Romantic and not very accurate, but interesting.
There is a wide range of reasons why people are homeless, from severe mental problems, to a basic inability to deal with the problems of life, under- or uneducated to the point where it's almost impossible to find a job, etc. Some are only homeless rather temporarily. For others, it's virtually almost all they know.
They eat out of garbage cans to survive, not with any high-minded ideas of recycling. Their ability to deal with temperature extremes can vary tremendously, as many die from exposure, although few make the news.
They don't usually live without plumbing, water or electricity, they use public buildings, public restrooms and if they are lucky enough to have a vehicle, public rest areas, even if they're only there at night.
Many of them do have some kind of income, although it amounts to close to half of poverty level.
"Getting by" without medical care means they tend not to live very long. A study in King Co, WA, indicated that the average age of death of homeless people was 47, and most of them had at least three health conditions, and some as many as eight. http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/news/2004/04121301.aspx
They live outside in the weather because they have few other choices. The weather is not a romantic notion so much as an enemy that can kill them in a few hours if they're not careful.
They don't live outdoors, or in abandoned buildings to make a point --- it's the bottom line to survival. Many are beaten, stabbed, raped and threatened in their search to find a safe place to sleep. It isn't nomadic, tribal or romantic, is is bare survival. Some go to sleep and never wake up.
Sue
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