Doing Without Money (on purpose!)

Very much a retreat from reality.

I’m not saying there’s nothing we could learn from this, but for the wider community it’s just not practical. How would he cope with serious illness, old age, six weeks of frozen ground with no one handy from whom to scrounge?

I suspect he may not realise how much he’s still relying on the rest of society to keep him alive. He’s still wearing manufactured clothes, for example.

Another show-off. Thre would be no civilization if that mindset were prevalent. And he is still very much a freeloader (public library etc).

“Thre would be no civilization if that mindset were prevalent. And he is still very much a freeloader (public library etc).”

I agree- he’s a virtual parasite. He has friends who feed him, but surprise- THEY have to earn money to buy the food he consumes. Someone else has to earn the money to fund the library. Someone has to earn the money to fund the women’s shelter. If everyone went this route we’d all be cold, hungry, and sick before very long.

“Soon to come: “A Vagabond in America” book deal and movie contract.”

i wonder if his book would read like thoreau’s “walden”…….

He’s got his head mighty far up his own butt. But he’s harmless.

Ugh. This sort of lifestyle is the luxury of those who have the option to consume or not. People all over the world would gladly die so that their families would lifestyle that this guy could have.

I’d love to have the guts to live in a cave. Without the handouts, of course.

Yet another upper-middle-class whacko with a holier than thou attitude.

Everything he mooches, his jeans, his water bottle, his electricity, the internet he communicates with, all has been created by people who work and co-ordinate their efforts through the exchange of money.

He should move to Somalia and try to be a vagabond there. They’d beat him to death and take his stuff.

I dont think he is doing it for attention. His life experiences have obviously had a big effect on his mindset. Although, I think its ironic that he survives on the leftover of what he is rebelling against. Without the money-grubbing society he avoids, he wouldn’t survive.

If really wants to do it the right way, he should watch “Into the Wild”. That guy tried it without any help from the outside world, and he did not survive.

It’s Walden, no?

We have a guy like that over here in Germany, he lives in the woods for some years now, can´t remember his name, he even head a girlfriend for some time, but the couldn´t go without a real toilet.

Spot on felix the cat, took the words right out of my mouth. What did PT Barnum say, there’s one born every minute?

He’s probably already sending out feelers for a book and possibly a reality tv show/movie deals, courtesy of his facebook account (via the same friends that feed him from time to time).

Bling bling!

Splint Chesthair, bravo on the awesome Mstie Space Mutiny reference!

Seems like he’s lived a pretty balance life before, much more socially conscious than the callous people posting their frustrated anger here. He’s experienced cultures the rest of you can’t understand — most definitely none of the angry gripes posted here are from people who would make a sacrifice like volunteering for Peace Corp. I can only assume he saw things he found really distasteful in our society, cultural things he just wanted to minimize his contact with. He’s living his life the way he wants and the minimal resources he does use is hardly a burden to society in any way. If friends want to feed him every so often, that’s what friends do. For those of you who give something only if you expect something in return, that’s a sad way to live. If he wants to use the library every so often, so what? The building will be open to the public for certain hours anyway, no one has to make a special trip just to open it up solely for his use.
Maybe some day he’ll decide to return a more conventional lifestyle, maybe he won’t. Either way it’s surprising to see so many people here so upset about a simple human interest story.

edvim:

First, you’re not going to persuade anyone of anything if you start off telling your readers they “can’t understand” something, calling them callous, and assuming their posts come from “frustrated anger.”

Second, I don’t think anyone’s begrudging this guy the right to live how he wants; what’s bothersome is the smugness that radiates through everything he says. He talks as though he has seceded from society and is superior to all of us grunts who actually interface with civilization. But even as he disdains civilization and all that it entails, he’s benefiting from, and even leeching off of, its existence.

If he wants to live off of the discards from society, great; that’s no trouble to anyone. But to do so while condemning society seems morally untenable to me. It’s like a roommate who trashes the apartment, never contributes to running the house, and yet still acts as though he’s doing you a favor by letting you live with him.

Well, he has a headstart on all of us. When it all falls to shit, he’ll already know how to live. And you’ll all be clambering for your gov’t to help you.

Reminds me a of a friend of mine:

http://www.wiredgypsy.com/homeless.htm

star: Yep, that was what I thought of, Into The Wild. This guy needs an education on what being poor really means.

To each their own, I guess. But I hate self created martyrs. I suspect some unresolved issues.

Maybe Daniel Suelo’s purpose in life is to serve as a bad example. I showed this article to my son and told him, “If you don’t do well in school, you’ll end up like *that* guy. You’ll live in a cave and forage for food.”

lol shaolinrock, well said.

I also enjoy reading about these sort of experiments, like “no impact man” and such. While I don’t intend to try anything that exteme, I usually learn a little something from them. Things like living off the grid, urban homesteading…it’s in the same vein of trying to become less dependent. It takes some loons to make you think of different ways.

Every now and then I envy homeless people. Usually at 5:00 AM on Monday morning or when I make a mortgage payment, but then I turn on the air or use my own indoor plumbing and it goes away.

ROFL Chuck

Shaolinrock + 1
MadMolecule +1

“He’s experienced cultures the rest of you can’t understand.” -Edvim
I have experienced other cultures. That is what makes me more appreciative and concious of the little things that you seem to assum that “we” do not treasure.
I use my money to contribute to “welfare” societies, instead of holing up in a cave and trying to glamourize mysyelf.

He’s got a fricking BLOG!

The sad part is he’s trying to glamorize what’s a sad fact of life for many people, and he’s only making excuses for his failures. If I were a homeless guy in Moab, I’d kick his ass.