> Nothing says “Fuck the System!” like solar panels and a wood burning stove I guess?
Pithily put. I can definitely attest that this is my plan and the plans of a few others I know. Home baked bread and sour dough starter feel pretty anti-corporate to me.
That said, I do recognise that going off grid requires heavy machinery and tools that are produced by the biggest of corporations... but somehow Milwaukee tools seems less evil than Nike, because Milwaukee is selling you just tools, versus an identity, a brand, a value system etc.
Be a machine tool in human form -- a tool that helps make other tools.
To me, true punking is equally material and social/emotional.
No one can be an island, especially without being reliant on corporate largess, but you can do your part... and form bonds with those of similar mind and help them.
And honestly, I get a perverse sense of satisfaction in being friends and nice to people with whom I may have many disagreements.
To me, punk strong feels like (a) giving people shit whenever you feel they deserve it, (b) being introspective enough to take shit when it's directed at you, & (c) helping the oddballs, weirdos, enemies-of-the-system when you can, even if you disagree with part of their beliefs.
When you unplug from mass culture, you lose the central touchstone that person-to-person relationships normally have, so have to be okay with an expanded definition of what "friend" looks like.
Or be a hermit, but that feels like passive punking.
I’m doing this, and yes you are still dependent on corps, but the dependency is different. There’s something very different about buying a skid loader at auction and repairing it yourself than there is with living in an apartment complex where maintenance feels it’s ok to come into your apartment whenever they please (after “trying” to call).
Merely owning things that corps make isn’t bad. It’s bad when it becomes feudalism and you lose all control over the things you “own”.
Milwaukee tools seems less evil than Nike, because Milwaukee is selling you just tools, versus an identity, a brand, a value system etc.
It's funny you bring this up, considering Milwaukee's multi-national parent company got questioned by the same congressional committee over the summer as Nike for using forced labor in their products.
You're also lucky to not have to hear people argue about DeWalt vs Milwaukee (vs Makita, vs Ryobi, it goes on and on)...
The trick is to buy those tools used where you can.
It's all about recognizing there's a spectrum of participating within the mainstream, and pushing to get as far from the center out to the edges. Actually getting out of the stream and up on the shore is impossible for we fish.
I am picturing a Braveheart-style battlefield with warriors face-painted in the brand colors of choice, roaring and brandishing various battery-powered implements of destruction.
I am a member of House Ryobi, but only out of accidental convenience not generational loyalty or studied disdain.
Pithily put. I can definitely attest that this is my plan and the plans of a few others I know. Home baked bread and sour dough starter feel pretty anti-corporate to me.
That said, I do recognise that going off grid requires heavy machinery and tools that are produced by the biggest of corporations... but somehow Milwaukee tools seems less evil than Nike, because Milwaukee is selling you just tools, versus an identity, a brand, a value system etc.