Unabomber's 120 Square-Foot Cabin, Off-the-Grid: Count Me In

Even in a simpler time - 1998, before the 21st-century upheavals - a common fantasy was: to be able to have the lifestyle of Unabomber Ted Kacyznski. In the 1970s, along with his brother, he built a 120 square-foot cabin off the grid outside of Lincoln, Montana. He went on to not needing to go to work. He could be lost in thought. Read all he wanted. He hung out at the public library. 

Unlike other Harvard graduates Kaczynski wasn't chasing professional success. At that time too many of us were. That was because opportunity was still abundant. Inputs such as investing in a graduate or professional degree generated predictable outcomes such as increased upward mobility.  

Obviously, that's not the situation today.

Actually, it's cartoonish that Harvard undergraduates now are balking about a proposed cap on the number of A grades. Smirk, even a few years ago the A grades would have put them on a wonderful linear career path. For example, you could get into a top law school. Big Law would hire you from those. 

Currently that may be like being able to afford the best state rooms on the Titanic. US Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts, partner at Paul, Weiss Brad Karp and founder of Quinn Emanuel John Quinn all warn that AI will significantly reduce demand for junior lawyers. That could happen to the JD Class of 2029, if not before. On Reddit Big Law junior lawyers already are in angst related to how short their shelf life might be. 

In my intuitive coaching and tarot reading practices I bear witness to that suffering. 

Okay, some are convinced that they can still hold on to the good life or gain access to it. After all, they are special. That conviction goes back to the praise they received for outstanding academic performance. Call that the blind faith of the post-GI Bill in higher education as entitlement to extreme success.

But there also are those who tell me of their plans to put together a way of living that is low-cost and in their control. That involves some version of the Kaczynski template. Standard is the combo package of starting a business, buying a piece of land just outside an urban area and bunking in some kind of a tiny house.

Count me in, too.

Six months ago I was being tossed around in the perfect storm of aging, increased competition for clients, inflation and fear that the bull market was ending. In Texas, about 30 miles from civilization, there were one-bedroom cottages being leased for $550 a month. Unlike the Unabomber cabin they did have hygiene facilities, electricity and running water.  But no heat or air-conditioning. For weeks I obsessed about how wonderful that could be. No money worries anymore. Off the grid. Not that I tossed the option. I just put it on hold for now as new business keeps coming in and my nest egg hasn't lost much. 

Yearning for life, stress-free and on our own terms, of course, is nothing new. In 1854, Henry Thoreau published "Walden" and in 1930 Sigmund Freud "Civilization and Its Discontents." The new wrinkle is the financial urgency. With 57% one job away from financial collapse fantasy has mutated into strategic planning. Average rent is about $1,500. 

If the job goes poof and none others are available, how to keep going? 

In the blockbuster film "Nomadland" when the plant shuts down Fern hits the road in an unconverted van. She picks up survival skills from Bob Wells. Clients tell me that their underemployed children, such as based in pricey Seattle, are embracing that van model, according to the Gospel of Wells. Just throw a mattress in the back. Shower at the gym. In parts of California vans can be leased and parked. Jurisdictions set up hygiene and safety services. 

Even at a Buddhist temple, whose signature is serenity, one priest described current times as a "world on fire." Another admitted how hard it is for young people to loop into the labor market. 

Policy help hasn't been on the way. As I guide clients: You have to figure this out yourself. Meanwhile, what are you doing to prevent being homeless and to have a shot at being in control of your life?

Finding your way is depicted in the tarot by the World card.

Path to success, your tribe and peace is inside job.

Let’s start the journey together with a Tarot reading.

One free question.

Jane Genova, 3^rd Generation Psychic 203-468-8579, jangenova374@gmail.com