Off The Grid: Life On The Mesa
November 3rd, 2008No, it’s not another Mad Max sequel.
Via: SnagFilms:
Twenty-Five miles from town, a million miles from mainstream society, a loose-knit community of eco-pioneers, teenage runaways, war veterans and drop-outs, live on the fringe and off the grid, struggling to survive with little food, less water and no electricity, as they cling to their unique vision of the American dream…
Research Credit: Technoccult
Long ago I thought hippie communes were the way to go, till I found that they invariably become infested with these types. A successful survival community has to be run like a boot camp, weeding out the wackos, slackers, and parasites as soon as they pop up, something like East Germany on a good day, and good bye peace, love, and do your own thing. Ergo, might as well live in mainstream society, where thousands of years of trial and error have produced laws and protections that allow just about everybody, from straight-arrows to hermits, to make as much as they can of their existence, such as it is.
Kudos to these Mesa folks for getting off the grid, but what exactly do they care about besides freedom? I recently visited a very isolated, sustainable farm community that’s working on amazing projects in permaculture, sewage treatment, alternative energy, and spiritual studies. What are the Mesa people doing besides blowing stuff up and singing songs about how they’ve been wronged?
To each their own, but the angry vibe at the Mesa looks just as wrong to me as any suburban bliss.
this was *extremely* interesting.
i make no presumptions or interpretations on why you presented it, but i am very very glad you did. -just to know about the movie.
-and the mesa.
…actually, i believe i’d heard of it before, a long long time ago.
so i googled around here tonight and found a page that said a bit more:
http://techyum.com/2007/09/off_the_grid_live_on_the_mesa.html
now that was interesting. -i might have well ended up there a year and a half ago… (leaving oklahoma city.)
but instead ended up in caribou, maine. selling adjustable rate mortgages for countrywide home loans as telemarketer for sitel corp. didn’t know jack about any of it, i swear.
http://zuma.livejournal.com/134403.html
http://zuma.livejournal.com/134403.html?thread=780803#t780803
i had been interested in new mexico a while. since seeing a PBS special on it. (i still want to order that video.)
Remembered Earth: [New Mexico’s High Desert]
http://zuma.livejournal.com/133205.html
all this interest from my time in arizona in 1999.
you got me hunting down 9 year old files from that time…
all i found was
http://zuma.vip.warped.com/landshow.txt
not the really descriptive file i’d written on that property in queen creek,az. -my buddy patches had moved out there about 1981 when there was nothing there, but i digress. arizona the land is great but so is new mexico, and they’re not the same at all, even as land. politically/culturally, they’re even further apart. so new mexico has great interest to me. and so too this documentary.
that techyum.com page says a lot about that particular locale and it’s people and experience. it sure isn’t for me, not by a country mile, but still, i am way glad to know of it all.
thank you so very much for this post, kevin.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=5564219
“The area defined may be that west of Taos, NM, generally that west of the Rio Grande river to US 285, Tres Piedras, NM to the north to Carson, NM to the south.
Within that general area there are specific spots, such as the Greater World Earthship community just east of US 64 shortly after crossing the Rio Grande river. Also the alternative community of Tres Orejas, NM, which is south of there.
There is quite a spectrum from multi-million dollar Earthship houses with every modern convenience, to those entirely owner built, over time as funds were available, and modest by most any standard. Water is one of the limiting factors and due the very deep ground water levels in many areas many residents do rely on roof top collection and cisterns for all their water needs. Solar is very practical in this region; some residents have the means to install solar systems capable of generating all the electricity they could ever want, others make do with one small solar panel and a car battery, and not much more than a table lamp, until they can afford more equipment.
Splendid or not, distinctly different from common American suburbia.”
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http://www.2pks.com/