"But most people can't afford to save $1M!"....exactly. If you want fully-automated-luxury-autarky to be available to all, it needs to be *more* affordable than frugal early retirement, not less so. $1M is an upper bound; you'd have to do much *better* to get mass adoption.
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What you need is for the cost of the tools/equipment/materials to produce food, water, and power, plus the land in a much more remote location, to be cheaper than groceries/electric bill/gasoline plus the cost of a house within driving distance of stores.
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I don't know the current costs of automated farming and electricity generation well enough to know how close we are to this; I welcome other people with figures. (
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My suspicion, however, is that automated farming driven by renewable energy will be practical for agriculture corporations before it's practical for household autarkists. (Just as computers were worth investing in for companies before they were cost-effective for individuals.)
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If you want to expand autarky now, here's an idea: build apps that help with the intimidating cognitive work required to be frugal enough for early retirement.
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Frugality takes a lot more thinking and planning than spending. Budgeting, yes, but also scheduling (because you're doing a lot of chores/errands yourself instead of paying for convenience), planning (because buying in bulk or on sale), and learning skills (like cooking)
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This type of cognitive load is exactly what apps can help with. "Gosh I should learn to (cook, drive, repair my home, play an instrument) but when will I have the time?" is a question a scheduling app should be able to answer!
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Replying to @s_r_constantin @perrymetzger
A big part of it is tolerance for boring food. You can stick to cheap meals that are easy to learn to cook, but it's harder if you want diversity of taste. Eggs are easy to cook. Crack 2 in a cup of water and microwave it, instant poached egg. Hot pot works great for beans.
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If you need greens, you can get Spirulina powder. $250 for 55 lbs, smaller amounts $20/lb. Mix a few tablespoons full with water and add Stevia (it's nasty by itself). Keep a salt shaker full of Stevia so you can add tiny amounts to anything.
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There are cheap food choices that don't take much effort/scheduling that are cheap. Most people are at least dimly aware of that, but have habits of going out to eat, buying frozens, etc. Mainly because those are more taste optimized (spices, salt, grease, etc.)
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I'm a pretty good home cook, btw; that was just an example. And this kind of response -- "if you were a better person you'd put up with the inconvenience" -- is the opposite of lowering barriers to adoption, of *any* new behavior.
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Replying to @s_r_constantin @perrymetzger
Ah, good point, didn't mean it like that. I'm just used to making this kind of compromise myself, and to me it feels like the harder thing would be using a scheduling app to avoid it. But not everyone is the same. When I do get to eat a home cooked meal, it's a great experience.
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Ugh, I used the word cheap twice in the same sentence. I'm mortified. Bad editing on my part. Anyway it looks like you were making a broader point than one regarding meals, so it looks like my response on that specific issue was overly specific anyway. *Mumbles incoherently*
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