Another bit of the story of my life. Going off the grid and leaving the rat race behind brings you enemies. And those enemies are relentless at harassing until you cave in and quit.
When I went off the grid many years ago, leaving the rat race behind, I started to collect some not so friendly followers. They are commonly called Trolls in YouTube language. But trolls love to spread some pretty bad junk about you. They rant and rave and spew out all kinds of stuff in the hope of hurting someone.
Trolls are mostly people who are hurting themselves. It makes them feel good to hurt others. Gives them a feeling of power. Pulls them out of the hurt for a little while, a bit like a drunk can drown your sorrows temporarily.
But there are side effects to those trolls. Some people believe the lies they spread. Some people become so convinced the the trolls are speaking the truth that they join in the effort to bash you into oblivion.
With time the trolls started befriending one another. They even formed a group where they could plot and plan together. They started inventing very good and very believable stories. More people started to believe them. You see, if this person says it is true, then it must be true. Or if joe blow said john smith tried to harm his family well then it must be so. I mean joe said so.
So the group grew and got stronger. Some people decided to take the law into their own hands and went on vigilante hunts to destroy my family. They came to our property destroying things, stealing things and trying to scare us off.
Now things went from simple, harmless trolling to real criminal behavior. Now the original trolls sit back and invent great stories about me. The plot about ways to destroy me. They invent crimes and turn me in for them in hopes of one day making something stick.
But even then, the original trolls are relatively harmless. I mean sure, the authorities are always at our place investigating some complaint or charges against me. But we always come out clean. We have spotless records after all. Anyone can do a $20 check on us to find us squeaky clean.
But its the ones that are spurred on - driven to take action that are the dangerous ones. Those who feel it is in the best interests of the World to run me off the face of the planet. Those are the ones who are really dangerous.
The dangerous ones are also on the forum where the trolls gather and plot against us. They sometimes brag about their success on the forum and sometimes in other places. I have screen prints. Often the trolls will put together donations to fund a trip to our property. Its all on the forum.
But the authorities either cannot, or will not, help. You see, here is where the ironic twist comes in. You see - its on the internet - it must be all false. See the irony here.
So when my wife and I packed up our belongings to head across the States for a new homestead, we thought we would have some peace for a while. But they found us before we unloaded the moving vehicle. A purchase is recorded in town hall for public knowledge. Sadly our town was very fast in filing their paperwork. Very fast.
The harassment continued. But it also spread out.
They attempted to get my family members fired from their jobs. They plot about smear campaigns to ensure I am shunned form town. They find out which companies I deal with and get me shunned by telling their wonderful stories.
And all the while their one and only desire (so they say) is that I get a normal job. They want me to leave the internet forever. Some of the conversations are here, right on steem. I wanted them to elaborate and they clearly stated that I am to leave the internet forever.
But you see, here is another problem. I am trained in PHP programming, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social networking, YouTube video marketing and such related fields. My entire career is built up on the internet.
So I asked if they would be satisfied if I left my field of work and got retrained at age 48. They all said, yes, yes, that is what you must do.
But another problem comes, which I mentioned earlier. I cannot get a normal job really. They would have me fired in the first couple days. Nothing I do is hidden anymore.
I once cut my wife's hair hidden and secure on our property a mile from the last road. I told nobody. But would you believe that they were talking about it on their forum the next day? Yup, I have screen prints.
So I am left with trying to make a living online. They have nearly driven me off YouTube. It was my main source of income for many years.
I came to steem to make a new start in life. I did not think they would find me here. I studied and studied about this new steem community. I have learned much here. Even made a bit of money here already.
I am addicted to this community. I have huge hopes of making this one of my top sources of income.
Now one thing I will promise you. Read the comments below. You will be sure to see all the little green nasties come out here. You will see some pretty serious accusations and some very colorful stories.
One thing you should know about me though.
The harder you beat me up - the stronger I stand. I will not back down.
Those of you who read this can help me by giving me a vote up. I am getting 10 down votes for literally every single comment and post I write now.
I need your help!!
Please give me a vote up. Help me win this battle.
Dont engage in the discussion with them. I dont want anyone to take on their hate. Let them continue to spend their energy on me. I am tough. But others are not so tough. I have withstood this over 5 years now.
Help me with up votes.
Thank you.