The Organic PrepperA term coined in 1985 by an unnamed staffer of the Reagan administration was “Starve the Beast”. This referred to a fiscally conservative political strategy to cut government spending by paying less in taxes. So, in the original sense, “the Beast” was the government, and people were to starve the beast by spending less and using loopholes, therefore paying less in taxes.
These days the Beast has a lot more tentacles than just the government. The system now consists of the government and all aspects of Big Business. Big Agri, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, Big Food, Big Banking and Big Oil, to name a few. It seems that now it’s the Beast doing the starving, as small businesses close because they can’t compete with Wal-Mart, the family farm is on it’s way out because it can’t compete with the huge, subsidized Monsanto mega-farms, people are going bankrupt because they can’t pay the outrageous medical bills…
Perhaps it’s time for another financial revolution – one where people group together and use the power of the boycott to starve all the arms of this Beast that would swallow us whole. If we vote with our dollars, eventually there will, of a necessity, be a paradigm shift that returns us to simpler days, when families that were willing to work hard could make a living without selling their souls to the corporate monoliths.
Every penny you spend with small local businesses is a penny that the big box stores won’t have. Everything that you buy secondhand or barter for is an item on which you won’t pay sales tax. Disassociate yourself completely with “the system” that is making Western civilization broke, overweight and unhealthy. Starve the Beast by taking as many of these steps as possible…
- Grow your own food (this starves Big Agri and Big Pharma both)
- Shop at local businesses with no corporate ties
- Use natural remedies instead of pharmaceuticals whenever possible
- Homeschool your children
- Walk or bike instead of driving when possible
- Get care from naturopaths and healers instead of doctors
- Make paper logs from scraps for free heat if you have a wood-burning fireplace or stove
- Boycott all processed foods
- Shop at local farmer’s markets
- Boycott corporate stores: Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy, Home Depot
- Give vouchers as gifts for an evening of babysitting, a homemade meal, walking the dog, doing a repair, or cleaning
- Join a CSA or farm co-op
- Ditch television (and all the propaganda and commercials)
- Participate in the barter system – if no money changes hands, no tax can be added
- Buy secondhand from yard sales, Craigslist and thrift stores
- Sell your unwanted goods by having a yard sale or putting an ad on Craigslist
- Repair things instead of replacing them
- Avoid fast food restaurants and chain restaurants
- Dine at locally owned establishments if you eat out
- Brew your own beer and wine
- Read a book, purchased second-hand or borrowed
- Grow or gather medicinal herbs
- Give homemade gifts
- Attend free local activities: lectures, concerts, play days at the park, library events
- Dumpster dive
- Play outside: hike, bike, picnic
- Mend clothing
- Invite someone over for dinner instead of meeting at a restaurant
- Throw creative birthday parties at home for your kids instead of renting a venue
- Camp instead of staying at a hotel
- Bring your coffee with you in a travel mug
- Do all of your Christmas shopping with small local businesses and artisans
- Reduce your electricity usage with candles, solar power and non-tech entertainment
- Drop the thermostat and put on a sweater
- Bring your snacks and drinks in a cooler when you go on a road trip
- Stay home – it’s way easier to avoid temptation that way
- Pack lunches for work and school
- Make delicious homemade treats as a hostess gift
- Close your bank account or at the very least, strictly limit your balance
- Visit u-pick berry patches and orchards, then preserve your harvest for the winter
- Use precious metals stored at home as your savings account
- Raise backyard chickens for your own eggs
- If you are a smoker, roll your own cigarettes – if possible go one step further and grow tobacco
- Live in a smaller, more efficient home
- Use solar power for lighting or cooking
- Collect rainwater for use in the garden
- Learn to forage
- Buy heavy, solid, handmade furniture instead of the flimsy imported stuff
- At the holidays, focus on activities and traditions instead of gifts. Go for a walk or drive through the neighborhood to look at lights, get into your PJs and watch a special movie together on Christmas Eve and make certain treats that can always be expected
- Make your own bath and body products using pure ingredients like coconut oil, essential oils, and herbal extracts
How do you Starve the Beast? Please share your suggestions below…
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/50-ways-to-starve-the-beast-04052013
While I agree with utilizing the above steps, I disagree with the premise that less taxes equals ‘starving’ the beast. The Beast has already demonstrated that it does not need our taxes to thrive. The Beast can print up as much money as it needs. Taxes are the illusion it uses to attach itself to our every day lives, because we all want something from the government be it smoothly paved roads, or police protection (lol) or what have you. They claim these and other desires on the part of the public are what drives the ‘need’ for tax revenue. All BS of course and all part of the modern societal illusion but none the less, the sheeple fall for it every time.
Not paying taxes is not about starving the beast but rather not starving yourself.
How they force everybody to use their paper as money? Only way is that they will not accept taxes in anything else so you are forced to get their money to pay taxes. So taxes are very important for them. Without taxes people may start even rejecting payment from them in their printed money.
You forgot one thing (though your list is really good)–stop behaving like the elites do, though on a smaller scale.
Most Americans want change/revolution/armed struggle/banksters in jail, etc. But IMHO, unless We the People examine ourselves and rid ourselves of the kinds of behaviors the criminal psychopathic elites practice (such as selfishness, wanting something-for-nothing, expecting handouts/bailouts, us-vs-them mentality (regarding Muslims, Jews and others), lack of empathy for the unwitting poor, disabled, elderly, homeless because we are “superior” to them…you know of what I speak–unless we the people can stop acting like criminal-psychopathic-wannabes, all we would be doing is exchanging one oppressor (our so-called “leaders” who are just smaller-scale criminal psychos) for another. When more Americans love than hate, let me know.
How do you Starve the Beast? You ignore the Beast. The beast isn`t worth the time it takes to recognize him even though we know the beast is here we do not let the beast bother us and if he does we do not let the beast know that he bothers us, we learn as much as we can about the beast. We starve the beast by being self sufficent, much like the article said. Act like the beast is our enemy and never trust the beast or any of his first hand or seconary partners – the beast is the enemy of the people and never be conned into thinking any different – no matter what any one says.
Stop going to the movies. only the wrong folks profit from this
Buy entertainment that is second hand. same as above
Put down the cell phone for good. healthier too
Shop at local thrift stores. Cheaper and dont forget to haggle a bit.
Buy old or antique tools and cooking utensils. better quality and for your health.
Stop buying anything ” made in china” or other countries that hate the US.
Reload ammo. its much cheaper
Build what you need instead of buying. The most satisfying of all
How to starve the beast? That’s easy. Don’t give it any food. And by food I mean anything it can consume from the people.
Learn to entertain yourself and others. I have played in bands, owned a recording studio and played with thousands of musicians. The joy of being part of a group, making music is a thrill for all. Those who play, those who gather to hear and most important of all, it is not propaganda from the tube or radio.
Pick up a guitar of harmonica, learn a few chords and simple songs, gather friends, have a cook out, drink beer and make it a regular occasion.
The problem with modern man is he is isolated and totally controlled by technology. Put down the i-phone, cell phone, communication gadget, in fact, try having a box at the door where everyone put there phone. I bet too many people are slaves to their communicator to do so, it is one of the biggest problems with people these days.
I remember a time when I was young, go to a party and unless you gave your people the phone number of where you were, you concentrated on enjoying the people at the party, not someone texting, sexting or otherwise taking you away form basic human socialization.
The beast lives in New York and Washington DC and tends to retire in Florida. Don’t buy or sell or ship anything to or from them. The beast consumes off others. Doing what the article states only hurts your neighbor by getting you to do what they want and that is to go without. Make them go without instead.
The other 49 states could declare civil war on New York and Washington and drive the beast to Israel.
To give you a help to grow your own food, which is one of gthe biggest steps direction starving the beast in my opinion i do agniculture. It s a mix of agnihotra, permaculture, electroculture and some more stuff. it helps guys like me to spend as little time possible with gardening while having harvests between 50 and 500% more as the “normal”.
You can do that on the terrasse, roof, garden or professional farm, no size limitations whatsoever.
And when you re at it, make sure you got the best drinking water available by using an eggy whirler, schauberger tube or an agnihotra water egg. or simply boil your shitty tap water with some agnihotra ash in it, and it ll change from liquid crap to sth veeeeeery beneficial to you and the plants.
Give it a try, it works, we do that since years and it gets better and the harvests bigger year by year. Not to talk about the incredible increase of my family s health.
Most important, have fun while doing it 🙂
Cheers
Mike