Early Retirement Extreme Forums

A unique maker space out in the desert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgQlvJ2cNBo

Retirement at 40? Do without today, enjoy later.
https://youtu.be/_CtR6a-sd1E

Can turn on auto-translated subtitles for any language - they do a half-decent job...

Discussion items used by the Junto group, organized by Benjamin Franklin:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junto_(club)

The Junto's Friday evening meetings were organized around a series of questions that Franklin devised, covering a range of intellectual, personal, business, and community topics. These questions were used as a springboard for discussion and community action. In fact, through the Junto, Franklin promoted such concepts as volunteer fire-fighting clubs, improved security (night watchmen), and a public hospital.
List of questions

This is the list of questions Franklin devised to guide the discussions at Junto meetings (from Franklin's papers, dated 1728, and included in some editions of his autobiography):[5]

Have you met with any thing in the author you last read, remarkable, or suitable to be communicated to the Junto? Particularly in history, morality, poetry, physics, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of knowledge?
What new story have you lately heard agreeable for telling in conversation?
Has any citizen in your knowledge failed in his business lately, and what have you heard of the cause?
Have you lately heard of any citizen's thriving well, and by what means?
Have you lately heard how any present rich man, here or elsewhere, got his estate?
Do you know of any fellow citizen, who has lately done a worthy action, deserving praise and imitation? Or who has committed an error proper for us to be warned against and avoid?
What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or heard? Of imprudence? Of passion? Or of any other vice or folly?
What happy effects of temperance? Of prudence? Of moderation? Or of any other virtue?
Have you or any of your acquaintance been lately sick or wounded? If so, what remedies were used, and what were their effects?
Who do you know that are shortly going [on] voyages or journeys, if one should have occasion to send by them?
Do you think of any thing at present, in which the Junto may be serviceable to mankind? To their country, to their friends, or to themselves?
Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, that you heard of? And what have you heard or observed of his character or merits? and whether think you, it lies in the power of the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves?
Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?
Have you lately observed any defect in the laws, of which it would be proper to move the legislature an amendment? Or do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?
Have you lately observed any encroachment on the just liberties of the people?
Hath any body attacked your reputation lately? And what can the Junto do towards securing it?
Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto, or any of them, can procure for you?
Have you lately heard any member's character attacked, and how have you defended it?
Hath any man injured you, from whom it is in the power of the Junto to procure redress?
In what manner can the Junto, or any of them, assist you in any of your honourable designs?
Have you any weighty affair in hand, in which you think the advice of the Junto may be of service?
What benefits have you lately received from any man not present?
Is there any difficulty in matters of opinion, of justice, and injustice, which you would gladly have discussed at this time?
Do you see any thing amiss in the present customs or proceedings of the Junto, which might be amended?

Any person to be qualified as a member was to stand up, lay his hand upon his chest, over his heart, and be asked the following questions, viz.

Have you any particular disrespect to any present members? Answer. I have not.
Do you sincerely declare that you love mankind in general, of what profession or religion soever? Answer. I do.
Do you think any person ought to be harmed in his body, name, or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of worship? Answer. No.
Do you love truth for truth's sake, and will you endeavor impartially to find and receive it yourself, and communicate it to others? Answer. Yes.

Interesting documentary about how Cuba became an organic island and how sociopolitical events can lead to exceptions like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEHCRnWUQ_4

I thought this was a fascinating documentary on how making life more challenging can be beneficial.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/d ... 6/2046153/

Kiss the Ground offers a rare glimpse of hope in regards to climate change. It looks at regenerative agriculture from a variety of perspectives. It is currently streaming on Netflix:

https://kissthegroundmovie.com/

Andrew Huberman Labs
https://hubermanlab.com/

Andrew D. Huberman (born September 26, 1975 in Palo Alto, California) is an American neuroscientist and tenured professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He's made many contributions to the brain development, brain plasticity, and neural regeneration and repair fields. Much of his work is focused on the visual system, including the mechanisms controlling light-mediated activation of the circadian and autonomic arousal centers in the brain, as well as brain control over conscious vision or sight.

The Surest Way Out of Misery

https://youtu.be/R50MI4VXtOI

Don't Look Up (Netflix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbIxYm3mKzI

A satirical social critique in the same realm as Idiocracy.

2 scientists discover that a 5-10 km wide comet is going to hit earth and kill the planet, alert the president (a combination of Hillary/Trump) only to find that she and society can't be bothered due to politics, status, pop culture and more or less idiocracy.

There is a new series of Ben Fogle's New Lives in the wild on Channel 5 UK. Only yet seen the first two episodes. First one is about a sales manager who retired at 39 to a Portuguese mountain top (and made friends with local dominatrix who accidentally killed one of her clients...its slightly bizarre)

The second episode is a German/Austrian coupling who moved 40 years ago to County Mayo in a semi-self sufficient lifestyle.

Shawn of My Self Reliance built up a new homestead last year-some of ahouse, greenhouse, root cellar etc and filmed the whole process. I really like the style of his greenhouse. Seems like you could add a table and chairs in there and have a really nice spot to hang out (and escape the bugs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qagf0Q8hlqk


I also found this kid really impressive. 18 yo is building this cabin in Sweden with pretty much just an axe. A remarkable end result, and with no prior experience!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBX5qh09OIE

Happen Films recently released another full length documentary for free on YouTube. If you've followed their channel, you'll recognize some of the stories, but there were plenty of new interviews too. It is called Living the Change: Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq9sg397ee8

Excuse the broken English + non-perfect YouTube auto-generated transcript, but I'm getting serious ERE vibes from Jon Jandai in this video.

"...In the near future, if we keep developing in this way, and in the same time for people when we use money but don't use physical body we will have less skill to help ourselves.
When we have less skill we have less chance in our life right now.
When we use money to buy everything in our life many people don't know how to cook food, don't know how to grow food, they don't know how to make a fire, they don't know how to make anything.
They cannot, many people cannot swim, many people cannot climb up trees.
Even we have a lot of water on this earth even we need to live on the big tall building but we don't know how to use our physical body, we cannot bend ourselves in different direction. We just sit on the chair and lie down and sit and walk we use our body less and less direction, less and less skill,l so that's that's not secure - just make our life is very vulnerable.
So we'll be weaker and weaker in this way…"

https://youtu.be/ZTICLatjs2k

One of the most interesting podcasts I have watched with Joscha Bach and John Vervaeke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK7ux_JhHM4

Joscha coming more from a comp sci / AI background and John from a cognitive science background. Both reaching similar ground later on in the podcast but required going back to Plato to do so.

It is hard to search for this on here because basically every few posts have these words, so apologies if already posted. This is my new favorite youtube channel. Starting from stone age gradually making tools from scratch and then leveraging those to make even more tools into metal working etc. Really cool progression. I found because I was looking at making traditional paper.

How to Make Everything:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLXf ... tF7I1-H6Gw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03jgK_9aWoM

Kirsten Dirksen profile of Dwight Streamfellow and his land. He bought remote land in Northern California bordering Six River National Forest in the mid 70s and has lived on it with his family since. He gets nearly all of his food from his land via vegetable gardens, orchards, chickens, pigs and also hunts for deer. There are a few tenants on his property he doesn't charge rent, but rather has them do one hour of work on something on the property each day. Covers lots of different topics we touch on here, debt free living, off grid, self reliance, renewable energy, permaculture and more.

Filed this one away as another inspiring example of what I'd like to be like at 68 years old.

theanimal wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 11, 2022 8:40 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03jgK_9aWoM
There are a few tenants on his property he doesn't charge rent, but rather has them do one hour of work on something on the property each day. Covers lots of different topics we touch on here, debt free living, off grid, self reliance, renewable energy, permaculture and more.
Filed this one away as another inspiring example of what I'd like to be like at 68 years old.

I also loved this vid. Its a very very good look at an analytical guy (reads INTJ stack through and through) who is trying to solve the problems one at a time with what he has and what is accessible and seems to always be running a number of interesting trials. I especially loved that the whole time he was talking, there were just tons of kids running around and having the time of their lives in this little slice of magical fairyland. Overall one of the coolest general systems creations I have seen, and you gotta love the guy who will just go on and on and on for what was probably hours or half a day or something about the massive incredible interconnected systems basically all built back before any of this was feasible with solar panels. I also love the iterative building he seemed to embody, and how much thought was going into all the things he built and finding the best ways of doing things through trial and error since for most of his life there was nobody to ask and nothing else to reference.

Slight correction that I think he does have them pay a pretty trivial rent these days now? I think earlier in the vid he tells a long story about he used to just trade room and board for labor, but has since moved to a mix (with pretty excessively low rent).

Ego wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:24 pm

A new Adam Curtis - HyperNormalisation

https://youtu.be/thLgkQBFTPw

A history of management by crisis.

For those who watched Hypernormalisation, you will remember Vladislav Surkov. Here is a snipped of the section where Surkov is introduced.
https://youtu.be/3UstNBrmJFc

He went on to other big jobs at Kremlin including running Ukraine policy. It has been reported that Surkov was recently arrested.

It will be interesting to see the lessons that come from it.

SkillCult (Youtube)

Video demonstrations of many self reliance, homesteading, gardening, permaculture, bushcraft etc skills.

Channel description:

A Self Reliance oasis for like minded souls seeking credible knowledge, insight and authenticity, welcome home

SkillCult is not a survival, homesteading, prepping, or primitive skills channel, but it kind of is. It is motivated, less by fear of a disastrous future, (however valid) and more by wonder at the world of ideas, knowledge, resources and possibilities we walk through daily, but which is unnoticed by most. It’s about a hunger to point ourselves in a direction where we grow to become more self reliant, more self contained, and as a result, less like helpless adult babies suckling at the toxic teat of industrial society. In short, it is about free thinking and empowerment through knowledge and skill, and the true confidence and power that those bring to our lives, ongoing, however and wherever we live.

I strive to make this a life raft of insight in a sea of mediocre information.