Some time ago, I abandoned all that I had learned about life in America. Simply put, I awoke out of the current American Dream and basically hit the reset button. The current way our society generally operates became unappealing to me, and with good reason. I felt as if I had either been born in a cage or lured into a trap, and either way, I wanted out, and fast. Our debt-based economic system suddenly seemed too foolish to participate in any longer. The fast-food mentality we (as a culture and as a nation) have so whole-heartedly embraced basically says give it to me now, fast and cheap, even if I'll end up paying extra for it in the end. Too many of us do not own our cars, our educations, our houses, and everything that we just bought on the credit card. Technically, the bank owns a lot of the things many Americans possess. I no longer wanted to spend 30 years paying off a mortgage that would eventually cost me twice as much as paying cash for my house. I didn't want to tell my wife "til death do we part" and then leave her all day, almost every day, until I turned 65 and could retire. A new game plan for existence was created and implemented.
REDUCE THE COST OF LIVING TO INCREASE THE QUALITY OF LIFE
So, what does that look like and how could steemit be a missing piece? First, we decided no debt, whatsoever. The only debt we had was the mortgage, so we sold the house for more than we owed on it and turned an instant profit. By never having to pay any interest again, the cost of things would be significantly less than most others would end up paying. Second, own some land outright. No payments, rent-to-own or leasing. The house sale money is for investing in land. Cheap land with low property tax. The less we pay as rent to the government for owning something (property tax) the less money we would need. The main purpose of the land is twofold - food and residence. The residence will be a modest home built as we can afford it so no debt is taken on. Food is relatively simple too. Real food either comes from plants or animals, both of which need land to live on (space to exist). By reverting back towards an agrarian lifestyle of providing much of our own food, less food would need to be bought.
EXAMPLE: Every apple I can grow is one less apple that I need to leave my family to earn a dollar for so I can purchase it.
Simple, in theory anyway. Being a husband of one and a father of four, I believe that I have a purpose inside my home with my family. As the sole provider (since my wife stays at home raising little ones and home-schooling slightly bigger ones) the less I need to provide, the easier providing will be. If I can drop the cost of living enough through some of the methods mentioned earlier, perhaps I could even work from the property. Maybe manufacturing smaller items, writing, plant propagation, farming or something else could begin to supplement my income and eventual provide all that we need.
THEN CAME STEEMIT.
Is steemit the key? Is it the missing piece in my puzzling life? Could it work?
That remains to be seen, but so far, steemit has accomplished what no other web-based platform could.
It got me posting.
Things that are fun and interesting generally do well anyway, but when a potential financial benefit is added, then the sky ceases to be the limit. We'll see what happens.