Did you know garden gnomes were based on real people who were hired as ornamental garden hermits by wealthy Europeans during the Victorian Age?

3 min
The curious phenomenon
of the ornamental hermit


[link to youtu.be (secure)]

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Author Gordon Campbell discusses
the historical and cultural significance
of the ornamental hermit in English,
Irish and Scottish gardens.

He talks about some of the
curious features of hermits
that have developed over hundreds of years.
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Deep in a forest in North Carolina
lies a community of people
who've left their jobs,
given up their cell phones,
and seceded.

A former cybersecurity official,
an engineer,
a woman and her wild blue-eyed eight-year-old

the inhabitants of Wild Roots,
as they call this place,
are disillusioned with the ways
of the modern world
and react by living with,
and off, the earth.

Living off the grid,
they pickle bear meat,
harvest chestnuts,
and, during the summer,
bathe naked in a nearby stream.

And yet, every so often,
they venture into town to check in.

Are they happy with their forest life?
Are they lonely?

And, are we living in the real world,
or are they?
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Anyone who has been in Scotland
and especially the last few days
will know the hardship
this guy has chosen for himself.

I see the appeal
and think about it myself
(but)
just with minimum effort
he could be a lot more settled
in that spot and still be off grid.
.

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if he’s not connected to the
‘the grid’ (then) he is,
by definition ‘off grid'.

...self-sufficient...

in the UK every effort is made
by the government
and local authorities
to event people being self-sufficient.

Essentially the system in the UK
wants the citizens to be dependent
on the state

... by taking away the means
of production of food
from the citizens
to force them into the wageEconomy
to earn money to exchange for food.

Have a great advantages in that
it can siphon off large portions
of the money (Energy)
that a citizen would otherwise accumulate.

The state can therefore
prevent citizens
from becoming financially independent.

The system therefore insures
that citizens remain slaves

for the most part the citizens
are either blissfully unaware,
or resigned to it
or happy with it
whilst there are no upsets
in the economy

but when the inevitable cycle ends
the citizens start to wake up.

It is at this point
that the state invites
a change of government
to give the impression
that the citizens have the power
to change the system.

When of course all the changes
is the actors on stage.


At the end of super cycles
(i.e. now 2022)
the government usually
have to rely on something more dramatic
like war / famine / catastrophe.
to distract the citizens.

In addition
they use monetary policy as a weapon
to disenfranchise the citizens again
and push them back down.

They encourage the citizens
to save currency in banks
that pay no interest

then they impose inflation above 10%
(UK will be 13 to 14% official
and more like 20 to 25% unofficial
this year)

that means that the value
of your currency held in the bank
will reduce by this amount each year.

So if this carries on
for 60 months (5 years) -
the currency holding the bank
could reduce in value by 50 to 75%.
Omg!
.

Like My Man Godfrey.
Forgotten men for hire.


[link to youtube.com (secure)]

An excellent movie by the way.
An art deco masterpiece.

Best line...
"Prosperity is right around the corner,
I just haven't found the right corner."

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This scintillating comedy
was the first film to be Oscar-nominated
in all four acting categories.
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