And you can look up how to apply for a permit, and how to meet code, and the exact point you can get to before a tradesman is uncomfortable signing off on it for $50 and a plate of brownies.
Yeah, a house from scratch on your own is a stupid task. Even before all this nonsense that was a community project so taking that from my argument is like assuming I told you to make your own economy to escape this one.
On the other hand, doing a good job to restore a shitty building on the creep isn’t that big an ask. This year I get to use salvaged wood, stolen gravel, and Walmart brand power tools to lift and level the floor in my house because the previous owner wanted it off the ground and didn’t take the time to put enough support under it. Few days in a crawlspace and the cost of pizza and beer to save $20k plus materials and I get to make sure the job is overdone instead of underdone.
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, or you need to know how to do taxes, or restore/construct furniture, or need something very niche constructed out if salvaged parts, hit me up and I’ll help for pizza and the support of the community. If all of us know some things and help each other, we can all make it out together.
cecilkorik@piefed.ca 2 days ago
As it stands, that’s true, but the theory is that as empires fall and the edges of civilization fray, you will increasingly find there are places where that kind of petty bureaucracy can no longer effectively or reliably reach, and exactly those places beyond the reach of the failing grasp of the collapsing regimes will be places that you and like-minded individuals will begin to seek and be inevitably drawn towards. It is then that you will suddenly find your ability to build a home (or any other skill related to creating a functional and self-sufficient society) to be quite a valuable and important skill.
The fall of civilization does not necessarily have to be bloody and violent, but even in the most idealized scenario it will almost certainly be quite disruptive to the kind of lives we have been promised and continue to picture for ourselves. Change is necessary. If you do not voluntarily choose change, it will eventually be forced upon you.