Radical Homemakers: A Review

Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture by Shannon Hayes was a great read recommended by my friend Heidi. The book examines today's society and discusses how so many of us work our butts off to make money to buy the things that society (and corporations) tell us that we need. The book then asks us to look at what we are spending our money on and questioning how necessary all of that 'stuff' actually is.
One great example is to look at 2-income families. Sending the second parent off to work often results in a need to pay for a second car to get to work, childcare during the work day, work clothes to go to work in, and then a lot more convenience purchases (like lunches and dinners out) because both parents are so tired from working all of the time. When you subtract all of those expenses, how much extra money is actually going into the bank? For some families, it is probably a good chunk, but for most of us, we may not even be breaking even.
However, there is so much pressure from society to live up to certain ideals... driving nice cars, having lots of clothes, buying things for our home.... that it is hard for many Americans to imagine NOT having the cash flow to make those purchases. Radical Homemakers takes a look at many families and individuals who ARE making it work without succumbing to the standards of society. These people have decided to take a step back; to give up some (or most) of their monetary income to instead be able to provide for themselves. So instead of going to work to make money to buy food, they skip the middle-man and instead just grow the food themselves.
I think a lot of what this book talked about is what I aspire to do (and I think many of you likely have similar aspirations): to be able to be more self sufficient. Not completely self-sufficient, but the more skills that I have under my belt, the more I can take care of myself and my family and the less I have to fork out to our economic system to have done for me. Things like growing some of my own food, making some of my own clothes, being able to cook a healthy meal for my family... living a simpler life that is less focused on accumulating stuff and more focused on spending time nourishing myself and those that I care about.
I think for most of us, having a zero-income household and providing everything for ourselves is not a realistic possibility. Our society has just taken us too far away from that point and our culture drives us to be consumers. But, I think it is possible to take baby-steps towards this lifestyle. Going from a 2-income family to a 1-income family may leave us with less money to spend on clothes and entertainment, but it is likely we would have more time to spend with our families and our families would be happier and healthier as a result.
I aspire to accumulate the skills to be more self sufficient and I hope that some day (in the not too far off future) my husband and I can afford to buy a big plot of land not too far from the city that would allow us to produce much more of our own food. I do my best to fix and make what we need or to buy used before buying new, I make things from scratch when I can, and I try to reduce my consumerism whenever possible. However, I am part of a 2-income family and I LIKE my job. I will admit that as an instructor at a community college I do only work part time, with a lot of that work being done at home, which leaves me most of my week to spend with my kid as a stay at home mama. And it's true... once I pay my bus fare for commuting, for day care while I am gone... I don't bring home a whole lot (aside from health insurance for myself). But, I enjoy it. I feel like I am making a difference in the world. And, it helps me keep my sanity (by getting a couple of brief breaks from my son each week).  And my husband like his job as well. I know there are times when it drives him crazy, but I know that overall it is a positive force in his life.
So maybe the true solution isn't about dropping your entire life and not working, but finding a balance between the two. Is there a way for families in our society to still work, but not work as much? To spend that extra time doing things for themselves that they used to pay someone to do for them? To relinquish the extra cash and extra consumerism and to try and work with what they already have? I know that if more people lived like this, our Earth would certainly be a happier place. Americans would likely be healthier.  And probably happier as well.
So, this book is definitely worth a read. It got me thinking a lot about the little changes that could make a difference. I don't think Todd and I are quitting our jobs and moving to a tent in the National Forest (not yet anyways), but I think we are on the path to being more self sufficient. What can you learn to do for yourself?