It is striking that the number of subscribers in this group went from 10,000 to 20,000 in just 7 months or so. I wonder if vandwelling is truly on the rise in a big way; if it is more often floating to the top of people's minds as a viable life option, and taken seriously.
And why not? It is an option that allows for a greater ratio of free time to work time, and a greater amount of flexibility.
Our system depends on a consumerist economy and does everything in its power to encourage citizens to work hard, earn a lot of money, buy a lot of things, and maintain a high level of luxury. It does its best to convince us that these things are not only desirable, but necessary. Listen carefully and you will see that these assumptions are built in to our society, they are ambient noise that people don't even notice anymore because they are taken for granted:
"I couldn't possibly survive without constant access to my own private flushing toilet, hundreds/thousands of square feet to store my belongings, a full kitchen, and household appliances. I can't be safe unless I have private property to exist on, where I can lock out everyone else. Since I must have these things, I must rent or own a building. Since these things aren't given to me without compensation, I must use money to buy them, and to get that money I must have a job, where I must spend a large portion of my waking life and probably hate it; any other way of life is unworkable or undesirable."
None of these assumptions is literally true: You can pee in a bucket instead of a toilet and poop in the woods or in public restrooms. You can get rid of the things you think you need floor space for, especially if you spend 0% of your time using them. You can cook simple meals with a few minimal kitchen tools, or eat raw. You can survive without the luxury of having your own washing machine, refrigerator, and shower. You can realize that the risk of being attacked or robbed in your van is not necessarily much different than being burglarized in your home; safety is mostly an illusion. Nobody has full control.
If you think you could make the above alterations without becoming unhappy, why not live in a van? You'll have everything you need. Some people don't have the same priorities and standards, and nothing's wrong with that. If one of the above statements seems unworkable to you, a van is probably big enough to accommodate a couple of luxuries; you can build in a nice kitchen, or a real toilet, or install a good security alarm, or work around many of the dealbreakers.
Even if you absolutely need to live inside a building for your personal happiness, many of the assumptions that usually follow that decision are still false: It is possible to find someone who will rent you a room cheaply, or as a full or partial work exchange, instead of paying a lot of money for your own house or apartment. It is possible to earn money without having a normal (9-5) job. There are many creative ways to earn money that are flexible, mobile, and/or passive. It is possible to survive by working a part time job and keeping expenses low. It is possible to change careers and find a job where working 40 hours feels satisfying rather than torturous.
In short, there are very many choices a person can make if he or she doesn't wish to work 40+ hours per week at a job they hate. There are different traps like being in debt or being responsible for other people's survival, but even those can have some good workarounds if you're willing to get creative.
All you have to do is get in touch with your own priorities, separating them from the priorities that society expects you to have. Then you have to be willing to let your mind envision a future in which you have made the necessary choices to follow your priorities and leave the fake stuff behind. Then, you just have to do it.
Of course, this is threatening to the system. The billionaires who run the corporations who sell us unnecessary conveniences surely won't like it if people start van-dwelling en masse. Most people probably don't have an innate need for the extreme luxury of middle class life; it hasn't even been around that long as a mode of existence.
Why don't more people quit? Well, there's stigma. What will your friends and family think? Won't potential lovers think you're poor or low-class? How will you have any credibility in society if you don't work hard and play the game? For anyone who can get past those stigmas, they suppress another wave of people by making it illegal, and some people are afraid or opposed to breaking the law.
But we know (with homelessness for example) that the system isn't always capable of forcing people to stay inside of it. They can make the alternatives illegal all they want, but people are being pushed past the breaking point by this untenable, dehumanizing system. Many of us do not want to reintegrate to housed life, having seen real benefits to living outside, or in a van. (Yes, many homeless people would absolutely rather have a building so they can have security and stability to get their shit together, and I think that's entirely valid.) The system can struggle to contain us all they want, but in the end it's a losing battle. We ARE pushing beyond civilization in a way. And maybe the rising numbers of this reddit group are evidence that people are becoming more and more willing to reevaluate our assumptions and stigmas, as we increasingly realize that money never made anyone truly happy, free time is life, and friendships are more important than luxuries.
It is this re-visioning of lifestyle that makes me excited to be a van (car) dweller.
As a side thought, I think it will be good if less of us prioritize stealth. What do we have to be ashamed of? We are doing what works for us and that is wonderful. We can't keep shaming ourselves for being different, constantly hiding our style of existence from our acquaintances and co-workers, striving to appear as though we iron our clothes and shower every day, constantly living in fear of discovery. We are on the rise and it is society and law that will have to adjust to us, not the other way around.
Submitted November 23, 2015 at 07:29AM by spongue http://ift.tt/1PIUu0o vandwellers
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