08-06-2008, 08:50 AM
Thanks Kathy, for that very interesting post. That book was recommended to me a while ago so I suppose I should get to it soon.
I came here from a very similar "subdivision" deep in the (relatively) desolate mountain West. Same deal, there were these scam developers who sliced up hundreds of acres of inaccsessible, barren land, miles from anything and sold it in large chunks to be used as prizes for fairs, boat shows etc. Of course, they never expected any of these lucky "owners" to ever see the land - much less move there. This worked so well that they sold the same lots 2 and 3 times over. Some of them went to jail and the land went up for County tax auction.
Eventually, when people started to buy it to have just a little scrap of hard, hard land, they often found out that there were 2 or 3 other "owners" with titles to the same lot. Then the county was forced to stop selling it off. I lived there for over ten years and besides the hard, rough beauty, the main attraction was really isolation. There were no nice houses or building permits - no wells or power lines - and the roads would eat all but the burliest 4WD trucks for breakfast.
Most of my "neighbors" were folks who for all kinds of reasons, didn't fit in anywhere else and just wanted to be left alone. The main thing anybody who lived there for any length of time seemed to have in common is the experience of managing to survive in that place.
It happened a few times that people from elsewhere bought lots because they were cheap, and wanted to build houses with all the ammenities of the burbs. It always worked out being humourous. The old timers would make bets on whether they'd last one winter out there. Most did not.
I guess my point is that nobody there expected the cops or fire trucks or ambulances to come save them. It was always faster and better to go get help yourself from a neighbor. The bad roads and rattlesnakes were our blessings.
One time the census actually sent people out. They stopped after a short time though because nobody would talk to them, or else they would say their houses were abandoned so they would list the area as unpopulated. Everyone had guns and dogs - and mostly good, but spread out, neighbors who helped each other and watched out for trouble.
So maybe this was closer to the Puna of pakalolo days. I know things have changed and people are coming here for other reasons and wanting other things besides just to be left alone. Some of this change is probably a good thing. I'm very glad to be here myself.
I guess it's easy to romanticize the "Wild West" and forget the bad. The good part I hope remains in Puna is the sense of self-sufficiency. I know a lot of Puna folks have been living this way for a long time.
I guess its part of the reason lots of people move here and try it out. I think it's a big change for most people. Some of them maybe just can't or don't want to live without the usual comforts and conveniences. I guess we have to find a middle ground somehow.
I have no answers, just an opinion. I like to know there are still some places left in the world where a person can live life on their own terms.
Maybe the people of Puna should opt out of paying land tax.
Just a(n incendiary)thought...
I came here from a very similar "subdivision" deep in the (relatively) desolate mountain West. Same deal, there were these scam developers who sliced up hundreds of acres of inaccsessible, barren land, miles from anything and sold it in large chunks to be used as prizes for fairs, boat shows etc. Of course, they never expected any of these lucky "owners" to ever see the land - much less move there. This worked so well that they sold the same lots 2 and 3 times over. Some of them went to jail and the land went up for County tax auction.
Eventually, when people started to buy it to have just a little scrap of hard, hard land, they often found out that there were 2 or 3 other "owners" with titles to the same lot. Then the county was forced to stop selling it off. I lived there for over ten years and besides the hard, rough beauty, the main attraction was really isolation. There were no nice houses or building permits - no wells or power lines - and the roads would eat all but the burliest 4WD trucks for breakfast.
Most of my "neighbors" were folks who for all kinds of reasons, didn't fit in anywhere else and just wanted to be left alone. The main thing anybody who lived there for any length of time seemed to have in common is the experience of managing to survive in that place.
It happened a few times that people from elsewhere bought lots because they were cheap, and wanted to build houses with all the ammenities of the burbs. It always worked out being humourous. The old timers would make bets on whether they'd last one winter out there. Most did not.
I guess my point is that nobody there expected the cops or fire trucks or ambulances to come save them. It was always faster and better to go get help yourself from a neighbor. The bad roads and rattlesnakes were our blessings.
One time the census actually sent people out. They stopped after a short time though because nobody would talk to them, or else they would say their houses were abandoned so they would list the area as unpopulated. Everyone had guns and dogs - and mostly good, but spread out, neighbors who helped each other and watched out for trouble.
So maybe this was closer to the Puna of pakalolo days. I know things have changed and people are coming here for other reasons and wanting other things besides just to be left alone. Some of this change is probably a good thing. I'm very glad to be here myself.
I guess it's easy to romanticize the "Wild West" and forget the bad. The good part I hope remains in Puna is the sense of self-sufficiency. I know a lot of Puna folks have been living this way for a long time.
I guess its part of the reason lots of people move here and try it out. I think it's a big change for most people. Some of them maybe just can't or don't want to live without the usual comforts and conveniences. I guess we have to find a middle ground somehow.
I have no answers, just an opinion. I like to know there are still some places left in the world where a person can live life on their own terms.
Maybe the people of Puna should opt out of paying land tax.
Just a(n incendiary)thought...