Land

Off-Grid living and Government Bureaucracy are totally opposed to each other. Many people go off the grid just to get away from the Bureaucrats. but you can never escape them altogether. An anonymous rancher from the mid-west tells his story:

I’m sure most everyone would agree that public service is a noble calling. We are indebted to all those since our founding fathers who have stepped up to serve the greater good. Unfortunately, serving the good of the public and that of the bureaucracy seems to be almost diametrically opposed.

I know many ranchers who have considered just moving out of the system entirely versus dealing with bureaucrats and bureaucracies. But the reality is there is no way to avoid them, no matter how frustrating, impersonal, complex, incompetent, and arrogant they may be. In fact, the reach of bureaucracies into our daily lives seems to be growing exponentially, almost at the pace of their incompetence.

In business, we have to innovate, we have to do things more efficiently (reduce overhead), we have to improve the quality and timeliness of our decision-making and we have to become more customer centric and deliver more value. It is a never-ending, daily struggle for survival that ensures that businesses have this type of focus.

The great irony is that bureaucracies, because of their nature, often perversely have the opposite incentives. They must spend all their money, grow their sphere of influence and gobble up more and more resources while often doing less and less.

Thus, innovative, cost-effective, efficient, customer focused, responsive to change, or even user-friendly are not words that one usually associates with bureaucracies, and for good reason.

For example, I recently had to go to a local social security office—local when you are a rancher includes traveling 180 miles to the nearest government office—to get a replacement social security card for my son. I won’t go through the month of wasted time attempting the process through the mail that his mother suffered through.

I knew I was in trouble when the alert security guard sent me back to my car as he spotted my pocket knife. When I returned, I had the privilege of standing in line to answer several questions on a touch screen computer so that I could be issued a number that would allow me to speak to a human.

There was not enough seating so we had to stand. The only thing to do was to watch the Social Security TV network that was playing on several big screens around the room. The weather was the focal point, along with admittedly well-conceived marketing messages that would make you inclined to be supportive of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the job it does.

The other tidbits were kind of shocking as they were highly reflective of a political agenda, which ironically was mostly focused on global warming. While …

This is the place that celebrity chef Nick Knowles goes when he needs to get away – please send us details of YOUR favourite off-grid spot – to news@off-grid.net

The place I go to clear my head is Trebarwith Strand, just up the road from Polzeath and near Tintagel, on the north coast of Cornwall.Over the past 54 years, whenever I’ve had a black dog day or a time in my life where I’m particularly down and unhappy with the world, I’ll drive down there.

It’s literally one road running down to the coast where there’s a cove with a beach. The sea comes all the way up to the street and then, when it’s out, there’s a massive beach and caves. The sun sets behind an island out at sea. It’s a magical place.

From the age of about four, my dad would take me and all the family down there for holidays, and when I turned 17 I started to go down there on my own.

On the rocks to the lefthand side there’s a beautiful pub where you can sit and watch the surfers. Or you can climb up to the right on to a ledge that leaves you cut off when the tide comes in. You’re then stuck there for three hours until it goes out again. I’ve cut myself off on purpose many times. For the first hour it’s fine – I’ll have a Thermos and something to eat – but then I get annoyed with myself. But it forces me to slow down and think.

A few years ago a friend of mine died. It made me realise what I was doing was meaningless. I ended up going missing for two days, heading to Trebarwith. There’s very little reception down there, but when I finally answered a call, it was my brother. He knew I would be sat up there on the rock, watching the world go by and trying to make sense of things.

You see all kind of things while you’re down there; gulls, foxes, even dolphins if you sit there long enough. I’ve sat there in the snow watching surfers, or the lights on the fishing boats at night when they go squid-catching.

I lead a very transient life; I’m away a lot for work and I often don’t know where home is really. But Trebarwith reminds me of my childhood, teenage years and the times I’ve sat there to get through challenges. It’s somewhere I know intimately.

We holiday there every year – I take the kids and we fish in the pools. But in terms of going to escape on my own, I might go twice in a year or nothing for three years.

Its main purpose for me is in extremis. It’s a very angry coast and fits with darker moods. Being there is a bit like asking …