Hypothetical: A New Homestead Act
 

Assume that the U.S. government starts a new Homestead Act in a foreign territory that is experiencing a void of power. The government formally makes the place a territory a la Puerto Rico or Guam, so there'll likely be a long-term American presence there.

With a goal of cementing American power in the region, the government offers homesteads to Americans such as yourself. The following conditions exist:

1. You will get an area large enough to support yourself via farming, with some income crops to let you acquire basic things you can't make yourself. Let's call it 640 acres.

2. You will get basic farming equipment to accomplish the above. It's not fully automated, but you're not out there with an oxen team. It's hard work, but not hardscrabble. You will receive some initial farming training if you need it, and a homestead extension officer will visit once a month to advise you as needed.

3. The government will provide a shipping container home for your use, along with four outbuildings along the same lines for equipment, storage, chickens, etc. You'll have to assemble everything.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...HDNocPW6liBYKI

4. You will get enough livestock to be self-sufficient per the above, and a seed stock and other stuff that you need to get started.

5. There are some native folks who are not happy at all about you being given their land. You don't really like their culture, and they don't like yours. They've been herded onto a territory a day's drive from your farm, but are mobile. They aren't violent, but they don't mind a fight at all and aren't above the occasional raid on one or two farms per year. However, the army will be running patrols that will include a welfare check on your property once per week.

6. There are enough Americans doing this that your farm will be surrounded by other farms of similar size. There will be 1,000 or so farms in your area.

7. There will be a town with a general store approximately one day's drive from your farm. It will have one cafe and a small hotel, and a small health clinic. The nearest big city with a hospital, college, movie theater, Long John Silver's, etc., is a four-day drive.

8. This area is isolated and a long way from the U.S. It'll cost you at least $10,000 to make a trip to the U.S., so you're not going to go back regularly at all.

9. You're on your own for schooling and child-raising and anything social.

10. You'll have solar power, access to a good well, and free satellite wifi.

11. You will own the land as long as you reside on the land. You can't get the land and then move back to the U.S. and lease it to the angry locals or some such thing. No loopholes.

Do you homestead, or do you keep your life the way it is now?

Am I reliant on Monsanto?

can we grow weed, man? /bump

To clarify, you are not reliant on Monsanto, and you can grow marijuana for personal use, but not for sale.

Does the satellite wifi support online gaming?

I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill!

Homestead me

The satellite wife supports online gaming, but freezes up if you play more than two hours straight and requires a reboot.

I would homestead if I were younger. I think you need at least 10 kids to help on the farm. If we're limited to this scenario there's no way a couple of people could make it work. 640 acres is a huge expanse.

Would I be allowed to setup sharecropping parcels with the natives? I could also train an indigenous child to reboot my satellite connection every two hours.

TOTALLY depends on where the 640 acres are.

And my answer is no.

EDIT: 640 isn't a great expanse. It's a mile by a mile.

It's your land, so there would be no regulation about this. But it would be up to you to negotiate it and enforce it.

No interest in downsizing as you get older?

I'm in. Like now. I've had dreams that I was part of homesteading in our country over a century ago. I'd be all over it. 640 is alot. I'd probably let some of the natives hang out with me and share crop some of mine, like most of it. A few questions:
1. Are the native women good looking
2. Is there ample native fauna to hunt
3. Can I bring a still?

You realize how FAR a 4 day drive is? You can drive from Lisbon to Moscow in 4 days easily. I'm not sure there is an actual spot on earth that is remote enough to qualify for this condition.
(at least none that are arable)