'The Lone Mountain Man' vs My Opinion

Visions of the Rewilding Renaissance
#1

This post is a sort of response to the analysis of ‘the lone mountain man’ by Jhereg
(http://www.rewild.info/conversations/index.php?topic=259.0)

My response is somewhat complex, so forgive me if I cannot properly articulate it :slight_smile:

My opinion is that people should just go and do it. Stop sitting around and procrastinating…find the very best location for you in the world, and rewild.

People need a tribe in order for them to have the best chance of survival. Since all of us reading this article have already been born into society, we don’t have a tribe out in the woods waiting for us, or even an idea what our tribe would even look like.

When you ‘rewild,’ you will undoubtedly do it in the very best place you can find. A place that will give you the very best chance of survival.

The world is finite. There is a countable number of the most feasible rewilding spots on planet earth.

So, do it. Find the very best place for you to cut the ties with civilization, and do it.
When you arrive at your ‘rewild’ location, other people will be there. Like minded people who have chosen this same spot for the same reason! It’s sort of democratic; the majority succeeds…the best places with the greatest chances of sustainability will be found.

Hopefully my response makes sense :slight_smile:
-Calvin

#2

It’s nice to see you have a lot of enthusiasm for getting out and doing something!

Please remember the forum guidelines:

“Tell your story, ask a question and interperet generously.”

Your post above is very classic of a new member here in that you are not telling us your story, but giving us unsolicited advice. A more appropriate and inspiring post for you would be to describe how you are rewilding in your place, with your people. Don’t tell us what you think we need to do: tell us what you are doing.

Please use your enthusiasm to show us your successes and failures so that we may learn from them. Too often people come here and say, “Just get out and do it” without telling a story. Usually it’s because they haven’t gone out and done anything, and if they have, they are a much more hardened elder here who understands how difficult and near impossible it really is. If you’ve got a secret or a way that’s working for you, please share it!

#3

Sorry, I didn’t mean for this post to become advice. I was trying to explain a concept, but after reading it again I can see that it will probably come across as an attack on other people
…sorry, again, I did not intend it sound that way :slight_smile:

#4

I think what you say has truth in one sense, that rewilding people will naturally gravitate/congregate where rewilding is most possible - the “holes in the map” of civilization, as Jason talks about (see the 30 Thesis link on the Online Rewilding Primer thread). Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that they would actually encounter each other, or end up living together in a community. With the current population of humans, and the vastness of the land, it seems very possible for like-minded people to live near one another and yet never actually meet each other. It takes specific efforts on their part for them to connect, things which I’m still figuring out. I actually think such efforts are more difficult for rewilding folks, since the nature of our quest often sends us away from modern human society and modern technology (the internet, telephones, etc) - the very means by which most people connect with each other these days (which I think speaks to the shallow nature of most human interactions, but I digress.)

In fact, I think this exactly illustrates the importance of this forum, as a way for us few rewilding folks to connect despite living so geographically isolated from each other. I know that I myself live geographically isolated from most other humans by living on a (relatively) small island - where I’ve chosen to live exactly because I want to rewild. One would think that other rewilding folks would live here too, for similar reasons - and a couple do - but unfortunately there are just so few of us that of the few rewilding-minded people around, I haven’t yet met anyone who could really be a part of my life. I’m hoping that that will change after I put more effort into it, but I have a feeling that even on this island with a population of 10,000, I’ll only find one or two others of like mind (unfortunately most here have the wetiko “pioneer spirit”, which means a very adversarial relationship with the land, just like the rest of rural Canada :-).

#5

I suppose that after we rewild, our appreciation for other human company may greatly increase. In primitive times, people congregated in tribes. This is probably some kind of instinctual thing that would eventually ‘kick in’.
What do you think? We are all lone wolves, but as soon as we start living like wolves, we would see the value in a ‘pack’.

#6

Yeah, I already see the value in having a “pack”, even though I’m mainly still living in a civilized way. I kinda doubt there’s any worse-feeling situation than feeling isolated while still trapped in “the box”, trying to get out but without having any help or support. That’s why we all need to find ways to band together, in every stage of the journey out of civ.

#7

I believe in rewilding, establishing a “primitive retreat” land based upon primitive bushcraft skills and fostering a small, eco-village/commune tribal group living AS CLOSE to the land as possible, this is my vision. The “weekend rewilder” view seems very spiritually and physically… limited… to me. I agree that we must begin to cut almost all ties with industrial civilization.
This video is of a true mountain man and shows dedication to nature. His name is Dick Proenneke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJKd0rkKss
Proenneke arrive at and remained at Twin Lakes (Alaska) for the next 16 months, when he left to go home for a spell to visit relatives and secure more supplies. He returned to the lakes in the following spring and remained there for most of the next 30 years, going to the lower 48 only occasionally to be with his family.