In this video “Rob Greenfield on Money, Health Insurance, Age and Death,” Rob Greenfield brings up the “big usual questions” regarding finance, old-age security, health insurance, etc. The questions that a lot of us hear, when we embark on alternative lifestyle paths. I’m a longtime fan of Rob’s work and have often mentioned him in my talks and writings.
Rob’s answers to these questions — how he has deliberately addressed these topics in the design of his life — are the closest I’ve heard anyone express to my own philosophy and the resulting solutions I’ve chosen.
No two lives are alike, and Rob has always, throughout his writings and talks, emphasized that he’s not trying to tell us we all should adopt his same lifestyle choices.
Myself, for example, at this stage of my life I have chosen to own a house and live in a fixed location and have a bank account. BUT in the bigger-picture sense, I have adopted an approach that is very similar to his in terms of deliberately chosen income level, occupation, property-sharing, health, and old-age security. (I’ll be writing another blog post soon about what these choices look like in my life, and will share the link here when I do.) Update: Here is the link to Part 2 of this post. http://www.jennynazak.com/2022/04/04/alt-lifestyle-answers-to-the-big-questions-on-health-insurance-old-age-security-and-more-part-2/ (If you get an “invalid link” message, I apologize! Just try pasting the link into your browser window. Or, you can simply reach the Part 2,post by scrolling; it’s just the second entry after this one.)
Rob’s point is that we should live deliberately and not feel hamstrung by the default settings of mainstream “rich industrialized middle-class” society. A lot of the default settings are very destructive to people and ecosystems all over the world. We can and must feel free to create our own lives! Not only for the greater good of all beings, but for our own benefit as well.
Important note: When someone chooses a lifestyle that departs from the mainstream in certain ways (particularly in terms of conventional middle-class notions of “security”), some people’s reaction is to get defensive and try to shame the person, poke holes in that person’s choices. My advice if you feel tempted to do that is to look at the big picture and really see how sane and honorable Rob’s stance is. And see how you might benefit from translating some of his ideas into your own life, goals, needs, & circumstances.
Based on the comments to this YouTube video, a LOT of people are ready to question society’s default settings and participate more deliberately in the design of their own lives. Thank you to Rob for being such an inspiring example!
PS. Rob has tons of videos & podcasts so if you like this one, there’s lots more where that came from.
PPS. If regenerative finance, community, and true security beyond money interests you, I would be remiss in not also mentioning my friend and fellow Florida permie Laura Oldanie, Rich & Resilient Living. She’s an outstanding thinker and writer, and offers a treasure trove of links to many other thinkers & writers on this subject. Here’s her blog! https://www.richandresilientliving.com — and I recommend her TikTok channel too. Today she put out this TikTok video that gives some helpful pointers about the power of our bank accounts.