Get Back to Basics

The United States was founded on the idea that each generation should be “better off” than their parents. This meant a higher quality of life, more income, and to live comfortably. At what point do we say enough is enough and stop believing that we still need to strive to do better than our parents. Society’s mentality for our generation is to go to school, get a good paying job, get married, have kids and have enough money to not only live comfortably, but buy whatever you want.
I think society is pushing us in the wrong direction. We should be working towards learning skills that have been lost to our grandparents’ generation. Everyone can relate to visiting grandma’s house and the first thing she does is offer you a mound of homemade food. Chances are if your grandparents grew up in a rural area, or used to live in one, they had a large garden, canned a lot of food for over the winter and either prepared wild game or raised their own animals. My point is they didn’t rely on money as their main means of survival. They knew how to do things for themselves, produce some of their own food, and could live self-sufficiently if need be. They didn’t have cable and weren’t worrying about how they were going to afford the next new phone or computer.
I think there is more joy and reward in trying to live simply and ignore many of the superficial things that people want but really don’t need. Life is much less stressful when you aren’t focus on your high paying stressful job to afford all of the things you THINK you need. There is nothing wrong with having a lower paying job if it is rewarding and you enjoy the work. Society frowns on the “hippies” that choose to live off the grid and trade for goods that they cannot produce themselves. I am not saying that I think everyone should go to that extreme, but I think it’s wise to start doing more things for yourself. Even if you have a city lot and can only plant a small garden, it’s more rewarding and better than not planting one at all. Eating wild game such as venison in lieu of ground beef purchased from the store is not only healthier, but environmentally friendly.
These are just some suggestions in a long list of ways you could live a more sustainable and rewarding life. I’ve found that eliminating modern conveniences like cable and videogames are not very difficult and you find more productive things to do. Start small and ask yourself as you go through your daily routine are the things you think you need really that important. My reason for eliminating unnecessary things and learning how to do practical things for yourself is twofold: 1. there is more satisfaction in producing your own goods, whether it be food from the garden or a cabinet for the house. You learn to think about and appreciate things more when you produce them yourself instead of tossing them in the garbage when you’re tired of them. 2. as a general rule the fewer things you purchase the more environmentally friendly you are going to be. When you buy things try to buy locally as it reduces transportation waste and puts money into peoples’ pockets, not corporations. Buying local food or growing your own is one of the best ways to be environmentally friendly since large scale agriculture is degrading land at an unsustainable rate, but that’s a whole other discussion.
I would like to conclude by saying that I am not an environmentalist or a hippie, rather a realist. I see the things the way they are and am by no means an extremist. I am an avid trapper and outdoorsman who has an interest in subsistence. I speak my piece today because I think society has missed the ball and is pushing our youth in an unhappy and materialistic direction.