Going Off The Grid

Interested in protecting yourself from ever-bigger Big Brother? Not interested in being tracked by the NSA, MI6, Mossad, or any other “intelligence agency”? Don’t want to be hounded by the IRS for tax forms detailing your assets? Don’t want banks reporting your accounts to U.S. authorities?

You’re not alone…and there is a solution:

Go offline.

I’m not talking simply about logging out of your email account, turning off your computer, ditching your smart phone, and de-friending the world on Facebook, though that’s the place to start. I’m talking about getting back to basics. I’m talking about no electronics…no telephone…no bank account.

That’s the extreme you’ll need to go to if you’re serious about escaping Big Brother. No, it’s not easy, but it’s possible.

You can do it in many countries. I know people who have effectively accomplished this strategy in Panama, Argentina, Uruguay, and Ecuador.

Buy a piece of property that can produce food. You don’t need a lot of land to produce enough food for you and your family. Five acres can be enough. Or you could buy a larger plot to farm for a profit. A friend in Panama has planted coconuts and bananas on 40 acres. Once the plants and trees produce, he’ll have a nice income, as well as a steady supply of fruit for himself.

Another friend bought a few thousand acres and is raising cattle in Argentina.

Next, build a self-sufficient house. You’re ahead of the game if you choose to settle and build your new off-the-radar home in a place where you don’t need air conditioning and a fireplace is all you need for heat. Solar systems today are small, affordable, and efficient. Self-composting toilets and other “green” septic systems are easy to find and install yourself.

I read last week about a guy who built a home completely out of materials he found on his land using a hammer and hand-saw. That may be a more extreme approach than most of us are up for, but the house looked comfortable and was energy-efficient.

Next, turn off the electronics. Once you’ve bought your land and built your house, turn off all the computers, phones, tablets, and other gadgets. Dump your Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts. No more Internet. No more email.

Finally, dump your credit cards. Go back to cash and bartering.

Follow this plan, and you’ll be hard to track. Of course, you’ll also be living a basic and isolated life. But you’ll be off the radar of government agencies worldwide. For some, that reward compensates for the downsides.

If you’re not up for turning the clock back a hundred years, then expect to be tracked to ever-greater extremes. The U.S. government is going to “protect” us Americans until it crushes us. Stand up to it as and when you can. Denounce it when appropriate.

And create a backup plan that includes a small farm in a remote country where you could escape should it all become more than you can take.

Lief Simon