The question for the contest: What is holding you back from feeling more free?
This is not the simplest question. But it will be a fun one to answer and I am sure there will be a lot of participants...
The list of reasons could go on and on @Sagescrub!!! But I will only give you three, because I do feel pretty free, even if I am not working for myself 100% of the time (I do have the freedom to come and go, relatively as I please) and all these reasons kind of go hand in hand.
Health Insurance...
The main thing that is keeping me feeling trapped at the moment is a health concern. Here in the United States there are many questionable practices in the health industry.
Somwhere down the line we realized having an unhealthy population was profitable. The pharmaceutical industry would rather invent a disease in order to sell (addictive) medication that comes with a thousand side effects and is only a fix, or a patch if you will. The health industry is not interested in curing what ails you, that would be unprofitable.
That being said with the price of insurance and lawyers on retainers to fight against claims of malpractice, seeing a doctor is not very affordable. And I don't really care if we are by law, obligated to buy health insurance or not that is not the point of this post.
It is the price of staying healthy in this Society that keeps me from feeling more free. Even by doing the right thing, eating the proper foods and exercising, I feel like I need health insurance. Luckily it is probably one of the cheapest out there as well as one of the best because of my work. But I still feel like I need it, I depend on it, my family depends on it, and that is not good for us. It's not good for our freedom. I must stay working a specific amount of time (away from our homestead) every six months in order to keep this insurance.
A Sue-Happy Society...
The next thing that keeps me feeling enslaved would be the fact that I live in a country that is trigger happy with lawsuits.
What kind of place do we live in where a robber, for example, can sue your ass if he breaks a leg whilst breaking and entering your home? What kind of place do we live in where owning the trampoline could cost you everything because some dumb dumb decided it was your fault someone got hurt?
I guess once again it's a concern of insurance another industry set up to hurt the population through fear...
Part of being self-reliant is owning up to your responsibilities. If I hurt myself in your home it is my responsibility, not yours... Now if you push me into the fire-pit it's a whole different can of worms. Don't be stupid people, suing is really for the lowest of species...wake up!
Building Regulations...
My third reason for not feeling as free as I should feel comes from building regulations. And I know I could vote with my feet but you know what, I really like the area we chose to build a homestead and we're close to our friends and family. So we're staying and finding ways to go around it all to build with natural materials!
I understand a lot of why building codes are the way they are but sometimes enough is enough or less is more you could say. There are plenty of ways around the code, it's just a pain in the ass to decipher for usefull loopholes. In our case we are lucky enough to have chosen an area of New York State (yes the Big Bad Wolf for homesteaders and taxes on retirement!) where there is a hunter's cabin provision in the code. This means we can build pretty much whatever we want without a traditional foundation and as long as we call it a seasonal Hunter's cabin.
This might not be ideal for a lot of people but we are travelers and we don't mind moving around from time to time... we rather like the change, and this time we will do it on 20 acre of land, staying close so we can have animals, take care of them and the garden!
~ QUOTE OF THE MONTH (@Olawalium) ~
I want love to be the trend and laziness to be a thing of the past.
~~~
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