Life Hypothetical: A New Homestead Act - Page 2

**Rain Man** · 02:23 PM

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.

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?

**Buehler445** · 08-21-2013, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

No interest in downsizing as you get older?

That's a big negative, boss.

kepp · 08-21-2013, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tooge

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?

All good questions.

**Rain Man** · 08-21-2013, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tooge

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?

1. Not really. They're small and roundish and have odd ornamentation.
2. No. It's mostly open farmland. There is a rabbit-sized local mammal that is somewhat gamey but good in stew, and some long-necked birds migrate overhead twice a year.
3. 'T'aint nobody's bizness but your'n.

**Rain Man** · 08-21-2013, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustinChief

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.

There aren't really roads. It's more like four-wheel drive tracks.

Stewie · 08-21-2013, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buehler445

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.

I guess I don't understand what we're doing. Homesteading to me is starting from scratch.

Do we have tractors, fuel, fertilizer, seed, etc.? One mile by one mile is huge if your doing things by hand. On a tractor with sufficient fuel, no problem.

DJ's left nut · 08-21-2013, 02:38 PM

I was with you until "on your won for school, etc..."

Not gonna send my kid to some rathole school in Guam. If part of the homestead act also put in a few American schools in the area, I'd be on board. But if my presence isn't exactly welcomed, I'm not going to send my kid to a school where he's probably going to be hated and barely speak the language.

Essentially, it's the same reason I won't be moving to East LA anytime soon...

**Dave Lane** · 08-21-2013, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustinChief

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)

That was my thought I could easily drive LA to DC in four days.

Maybe this is remote china.

Also what the skies at night like there, heavy light pollution or fantastic?

Is Chiefsplanet blocked? Might. Be interesting either way.

**Buehler445** · 08-21-2013, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stewie

I guess I don't understand what we're doing. Homesteading to me is starting from scratch.

Do we have tractors, fuel, fertilizer, seed, etc.? One mile by one mile is huge if your doing things by hand. On a tractor with sufficient fuel, no problem.

It's all about how much productivity you can get out of the ground. If it is arid and most of it has to sit fallow/have the livestock rotated off, 2 people can do it easy. If it is more productive, then you can keep some people busy.

RM said there would be mechanization. Better than oxen I believe he said. Even with oxen, 640 with 2 people is manageable in the right environment.

**Rain Man** · 08-21-2013, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I was with you until "on your won for school, etc..."

Not gonna send my kid to some rathole school in Guam. If part of the homestead act also put in a few American schools in the area, I'd be on board. But if my presence isn't exactly welcomed, I'm not going to send my kid to a school where he's probably going to be hated and barely speak the language.

Essentially, it's the same reason I won't be moving to East LA anytime soon...

There would be a small one-room schoolhouse in the town that's one day away, but most people home school. Maybe you could rotate classes with your neighbors and their kids, too.

**Rain Man** · 08-21-2013, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

That was my thought I could easily drive LA to DC in four days.

Maybe this is remote china.

Also what the skies at night like there, heavy light pollution or fantastic?

Is Chiefsplanet blocked? Might. Be interesting either way.

Not on these roads. They get heavily rutted during the spring mud season.

There is almost no light pollution. You can see the Milky Way with your bare eyes.

Chiefsplanet is not blocked unless your spouse does it.

kepp · 08-21-2013, 02:56 PM

How much influence would the US government have/exert? What would the justice system look like and how would that system be reconciled with the natives' existing laws?

BlackHelicopters · 08-21-2013, 02:58 PM

Still able to access CP has to be a plus.

DJ's left nut · 08-21-2013, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

There would be a small one-room schoolhouse in the town that's one day away, but most people home school. Maybe you could rotate classes with your neighbors and their kids, too.

Still no.

I'm stupid. My neighbors are probably stupid. Me and my stupid neighbors teaching 8 kids about algebra and life lessons will work out incredibly poorly.

I'm going to end up with the Caribbean version of an idiot redneck child. Nah, not appealing in the least.

MTG#10 · 08-21-2013, 03:03 PM

How do these indigenous folks feel about the raping of their women? Do they frown upon it or is it acceptable in their culture?

**Rain Man** · 08-21-2013, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kepp

How much influence would the US government have/exert? What would the justice system look like and how would that system be reconciled with the natives' existing laws?

The army comes by occasionally for a welfare check as noted in the original post, and an extension office worker comes once a month for farming advice.

There is an American justice system. The court is in the big city that's four days away, but the judge does a circuit riding thing to the small towns, so once a month you have a court day in the small town that's one day away. Law enforcement is formally done by the army or a lone sheriff who patrols in a Land Rover across the 1,000 farms in the region, so if there's trouble it'll take a day or two or three for him to respond.

This is an American territory so the natives' existing laws will be politely but explicitly ignored, which is another thing they don't like.

View Poll Results: Do you homestead or stay?
Homestead. That sounds like a pretty good life.	15	30.61%
Stay. I don't need the 640 acres and the peace and quiet that bad.	31	63.27%
I can't answer until I learn more about our local football franchise.	3	6.12%
Voters: 49. You may not vote on this poll

08-21-2013, 02:14 PM
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-672449 VARSITY	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. 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? Last edited by Rain Man; 08-21-2013 at 02:23 PM..
Posts: 145,500

08-21-2013, 02:38 PM	#21
DJ's left nut Sauntering Vaguely Downwards Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Columbia, Mo Casino cash: $-840901	I was with you until "on your won for school, etc..." Not gonna send my kid to some rathole school in Guam. If part of the homestead act also put in a few American schools in the area, I'd be on board. But if my presence isn't exactly welcomed, I'm not going to send my kid to a school where he's probably going to be hated and barely speak the language. Essentially, it's the same reason I won't be moving to East LA anytime soon... __________________ "If there's a god, he's laughing at us.....and our football team..." "When you look at something through rose colored glasses, all the red flags just look like flags."
Posts: 66,857

08-21-2013, 02:56 PM	#26
kepp MVP Join Date: Aug 2005 Casino cash: $3459212	How much influence would the US government have/exert? What would the justice system look like and how would that system be reconciled with the natives' existing laws?
Posts: 14,746

08-21-2013, 02:58 PM	#27
BlackHelicopters Spiraling down the Drain Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Dante's Ninth Circle Casino cash: $-899412	Still able to access CP has to be a plus. __________________ "We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator, but never think it applies to my family." "Fredo. You are my brother, and I love you. But never take sides against the Family again. Ever." 2019 Adopt a Chief - Travis Kelce #87
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08-21-2013, 03:03 PM	#29
MTG#10 Mammoth penis Join Date: May 2006 Location: Springfield Casino cash: $7014386	How do these indigenous folks feel about the raping of their women? Do they frown upon it or is it acceptable in their culture?
Posts: 11,437