Is going off the grid rebellion?

Hard to say.  If it is rebellion, it is passive rebellion.  No fighting is required.

Generally speaking, rebellion is defined as defiance of authority with a desire to replace it. OTG is subtly different.  Going off the grid tends to simply ignore authority as much as possible in the hopes that the favour will be returned.  No replacing required.  Live and let live.  So, there is no defiance and no effort to replace Caesar, Big Bro or Obama.  OTG is no more a defiance or rebellion than was Jesus in Judea, I guess.

In other words, defiance may just be in the eyes of the beholder.  Like being black is often perceived as defiance by the police in the USA.  Or being anything but old stock Canadian was to Harper. GW Bush famously said, “You are either with us or you are with the enemy.”  George had no room for Mr. In-between.

So, to those people, we are rebels.  To us, we are not.

To be fair, I do consider myself a bit of a rebel but rather more of a passive one than a bad guy. I am not openly defiant.  I don’t even have a stud or a tattoo.  I am actually just a spoiled-brat kind of rebel.  I pick and choose my somewhat random acts of passive defiance whimsically most of the time.  Hormonally, at the very least.  Basically, I just seethe a lot.

Aside from getting off the utility grids (power, water, sewer, gas) but exploiting them to my benefit when it suits me (roads, communications, health care), I basically just advocate for making every effort not to facilitate Big Brother or any of the holding companies in every way possible while still staying convenient to myself.  I don’t hate them.  I just don’t like them.

Which, I think, is fair.  They neither like me nor hate me.  They, and all institutions, are basically structural psychopaths who don’t care one way or the other about the people they interact with.

So, we try to avoid, by-pass, replace, recycle, do-it-ourselves and maybe even barter now and again.  We shop local whenever possible but we know that the corporate-world plays hugely in even local transactions.  My closest tire store doesn’t make tires, for example. BF Goodrich does.  EXXon supplies them.  So corporate world gets a piece of me.

I try to pay cash but resort to credit card when it’s impossible otherwise.  Like when using Amazon online.  If I pay cash, then I deal only with the human seller.  If I use a card, I involve many, many others and the government as well.  All but the seller and I acting in a very parasitic role.  We resist but we do not fight because you cannot win against the parasites.  And, because, like so many other minor ‘establishment’ intrusions into one’s life, no single trespass from a parasitic psychopath warrants much more than a shrug of surrender and frequent bouts of Head and Shoulders.

There are, however, so many small intrusions in modern life that it makes one feel like death by ten thousand cuts.  It did to me.  If one really begins to feel all that systemic violation of person, one may attempt to flee.  We did.

But, if you choose to go, I advise fleeing some distance.  Big Brother does not tolerate even passive rebels gladly in the city.  It’s even harder if you live in the suburbs.  It is against the law in many jurisdictions to collect your own rainwater (for drinking) or to turn off the power or the gas supply.  Ironically, the utility companies can turn off your power and this – even if you are in agreement with that decision – will make your home officially ‘unsafe for human habitation’ by the city and they will prosecute you for that.  Basically, you can’t win.  You can’t get off any of the grids and still live in the city.  You can try but, really, you just martyr yourself.  If you have any doubts about that, read some of the stories of the rebels who didn’t want smart meters installed in their homes.

So, back to the question: Is living off the grid rebellious?  I think not.  OTG is more like living like a Quaker or the Swiss.  It’s an attempt to stay neutral.  And healthy.  And free. But we pay our taxes.  NOT a rebellion.

Please tell them that when the SWAT team has kicked in my door and beaten and tasered me.  I was officially NOT a rebel up until that point.

*Sal’s hairdresser claims to be a sovereign citizen.  So, he should know.