survival versus primitive living

To me, primitive living is the result of a long-term survival situation. It's not a choice to do one or the other, one leads to the other.

As stated by The Architect, we all have "levels of survival we are prepared to accept."

Primitive living is what you resort to in order to continue surviving. The more "primitive" your lifestyle is, IMO, the longer you last. It's all about what level of survival you're willing to put up with. I can drink up all my bottled water now or I can setup rain barrels and start collecting my own, and save the bottled water for when I REALLY need it.

I've always been amused by people using the term "simple living" to describe a self-sufficient lifestyle, going back to the "old ways," learning to live with less, etc. In my opinion, the lifestyle we live NOW is simple.

Sure, our jobs may be complex, our "extracurricular activities" may be complex, but the part of daily routine required to survive, meaning obtaining food, water and (comfortable) shelter, is about as simple as it gets.

Today:
...if we're cold, we turn a plastic dial to make it warmer
...if we're hot, we turn the same dial to make it cooler
...if we need to go somewhere 10 miles away, we get in a car and arrive in 15 minutes
...if we're hungry, we pop something frozen into the microwave and eat 3 minutes later
...if we're thirsty, we spin a handle and get a drink

Can't get much more simple than that! Imagine the complexities involved in all the above scenarios in a "survival" situation, and tell me which is simpler!

perhaps it is just a juxtaposition of words. For most that are part of the self sustaining lifestyle simple living is learning to make do with what we have and learning to be independent. It is simpler because we do not take for granted the complex methods it takes to do simple tasks. For us it is "simpler" to just throw something into the fire and cover it with coals, than to be dependent on a power company to produce power, send it to us, measure it, bill us, and then sent it through a machine that we cannot repair, to cook something that tastes bad, is made from inferior products, may cause us bodily harm, that comes from another country, so that we can have more time to play on our other machines, while we become lazy and complacent. See it really is simple.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

reply to post by exile1981


I am sorry you received a lack of understanding. "Little House on the Prairie Skills" are just what we need. We have lost touch with what is really required to keep us alive. I really hope there is no day of reckoning, as the US will turn into a third world country the likes of no other, simply out of ignorance. There are really very few people that can manage to live such a hard existance, even fewer that can thrive in such an environment.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Primative living is eating peanut butter sandwiches...

Survival is eating ants and beetles...

Im going to have to combat you on this one ... I think people are so detached from nature that any time someone (avg joe) is in the wilderness ... they are probably going to die if they dont get wise quick ... but i would say camping in general is not surviving ... i believe surviving is being in the wilderness knowing that you have to catch your own food ... create your own shelter provide your own fire ... being self reliant in general ... its not primitive in any way. and i dont mean bringing your own food.