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The Smyth Family Homesteaders


EowynW

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They don’t use paper for writing but they use paper plates and wet wipes every day. She admitted that they use those things because she already has too many dishes to do and too many rags to wash. I’m sorry but if you can use paper plates for eating, you can use paper for writing.

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On 10/2/2018 at 10:00 AM, OGEmoji said:

Why can't the wife have a cell phone out in the middle of nowhere with 6 kids by herself all day?

Wow, this is a disaster waiting to happen.   Broken bones, a house fire, who knows what?  

Why would the husband put his entire family at risk with no means of help?

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This is a nice side rabbit hole.  The mother is a little to woo for me and I’m squeaked out by all the bare foot children in areas farm animals live.  She claims they go barefoot in the warm weather for their health, but also to save money.  You do you, but where there is poo please put on some boots, mmK?

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I'm still trying to figure out where they're gonna fit all the kids. The baby is going to need a bed eventually, and littlest boy is gonna need a bigger bed as well. Also are they doing anything to prevent pregnancies? Is there going to be another baby to fit into that tiny loft?

I still can't get over how at one point the Duggar girls dorm had 9 people and 4 beds.

Edited by TuringMachine
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On 10/3/2018 at 1:42 PM, church_of_dog said:

Personally I favor replacing the building rules and permit process with some kind of recognized "seal of approval" so that a buyer can be assured work was done to standard but so that someone building only for themselves is not mandated to go through the permit process if they don't want to.

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That sound good until some idiot doesn't understand loadbearing walls and a child gets crushed to death. Or until the yahoo next door skimps on the wiring and causes a blaze that endangers your house, too. 

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3 hours ago, katilac said:

That sound good until some idiot doesn't understand loadbearing walls and a child gets crushed to death. Or until the yahoo next door skimps on the wiring and causes a blaze that endangers your house, too. 

Totally understand.  If I might be indulged a short rant:

There is of course a balance of personal freedom vs safety, and different people will come down at different points along that spectrum, as to where they think the right balance is struck.  In general I think that it ought to suffice to have laws against endangering your children, without having to have specific laws against each way one might do that.

And you're right about risk reaching your neighbors.  Most of the under-the-radar folks I know in this regard are way out in the boonies where the nearest neighbors are miles away.  And again, I presume there are laws against creating a public hazard or something along those lines.  Like if you are careless while mowing during fire season and start a fire that affects other properties, a person can be liable for that.  Same thing would apply in your example.

The part that some folks might not agree with is that in the US and in particularly in the West, there is a cultural sense of individual freedoms, self reliance, and "the right to make your own mistakes", and it's valued far more than it might be in other locales.  I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just that it's a real part of how many people in those areas feel and how they decide what thresholds should be used for local regulations.  Some US counties (the ones I'm aware of are in Texas and I think Nevada) have no building codes or permit requirements whatsoever.  That doesn't mean no liability for true negligence though, I assume.

When I first moved to the remote/rural environment where I live, the under-the-radar stuff really bothered me, because I came of age in a mindset of integrity being a very black-and-white thing, where if a person violates any rule or law they are clearly in breach of their own integrity, because living in a community was, to my mind, an implicit agreement to follow all the laws of that community.

Then as I grew older I became aware of how few people were truly law-abiding in all situations without exception (ie never driving faster than the speed limit, even for a moment?  etc)  I also eventually came up against various situations where people were using civil disobedience to protest laws they felt were unjust.  I couldn't see how that was wrong, and realized my black and white thinking only really worked in a world where all laws were fair and ethical and applied evenly.  From that point on I had to rethink my sharp lines of right and wrong and realize that different places and cultures see things differently, even while the overall goals remained of individual safety and community harmony.

Edited by church_of_dog
qualified a statement: many people, not all people
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On 10/4/2018 at 6:27 AM, MarblesMom said:

Wow, this is a disaster waiting to happen.   Broken bones, a house fire, who knows what?  

Why would the husband put his entire family at risk with no means of help?

Are you sure she doesnt have a phone? in the last vlog he said he was at work and she called to tell him about the solar panel that had broke.

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10 hours ago, llucie said:

Are you sure she doesnt have a phone? in the last vlog he said he was at work and she called to tell him about the solar panel that had broke.

Obviously none of us can know that for sure, but in their debt free video she said she doesn't even have a cell phone and he only has one for work.

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I watched her Character training video and it was very Gothard like. I wonder if she just Googled his character quality books and based her's around his. Joy vs. Self-pity is what Gothard uses and what she was using. 

I really hate the idea of teaching children they have to be joyful in all situations. I was raised like that and it has made it very hard for me to handle emotions as an adult. I now have a natural tendency to repress negative feelings and say everything is okay even when it isn't. And have a tendency to feel like I am doing something wrong when I do finally let myself not put on this "joyful" facade. I think this sort of character training helped lead me to spending years refusing to acknowledge I suffered from a mental illness. My family was shocked when I ended up in a hospital for depression because I had done such a good job of covering it all up and appearing to be a "joyful". 

IMO it is better to teach kids that yes sometimes you aren't happy, sometimes things go wrong and sometimes you just wake up feeling grouchy, and it is okay. You can't throw things around or take it out on others, but you don't have to pretend you are happy when you aren't. Acknowledge the emotions, try to figure out how to work through them or what is causing, but don't teach children it is a sin to not always be joyful 

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7 hours ago, OGEmoji said:

Obviously none of us can know that for sure, but in their debt free video she said she doesn't even have a cell phone and he only has one for work.

That video is old, they obviously got a phone after that. He clearly said she called him so they have to have 2 phones, is a no brainer really.

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20 hours ago, llucie said:

That video is old, they obviously got a phone after that. He clearly said she called him so they have to have 2 phones, is a no brainer really.

I didn't watch anything after I saw the bankruptcy video, so I don't know the latrst on them. Kip in particular rubs me the wrong way, and I choose not to support them. I will not watch their videos, knowing the vlog is monetized.  They edit and make it look cute and idyllic for the camera, but that kind of lifestyle is not easy or fun, qmand I wouldn't want the kids to have to live like that . Recall that the Naugs once looked like they had their stuff together too, until the cracks started showing.

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18 hours ago, OGEmoji said:

I didn't watch anything after I saw the bankruptcy video, so I don't know the latrst on them. Kip in particular rubs me the wrong way, and I choose not to support them. I will not watch their videos, knowing the vlog is monetized.  They edit and make it look cute and idyllic for the camera, but that kind of lifestyle is not easy or fun, qmand I wouldn't want the kids to have to live like that . Recall that the Naugs once looked like they had their stuff together too, until the cracks started showing.

I doubt these people will turn into the Nogs. They only have 6 kids and when Joe and Nic had six kids, they had their shit together. If these people start having kid after kid after kid, I think things could get bad. But still not close to the Nogs because this guy is the type to cut bait and run. They would just sell most of their livestock and land and move again. 

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On 10/2/2018 at 8:49 PM, llucie said:

Interesting find. Definitely fundie, they have a video talking about how they meet and it was at a religious college while studying the bible (they didnt say which one) and courted for 9 months whithout even hugging. That convined with the headcovering and the frumpers makes them more fundie than the Bates for example.

@llucie one more time- for the millionth time- being fundie is about beliefs. Just because the mom dresses like that does not make her more fundie than the Bates. 

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Serious question...for anyone who saw the video of the tour of their house.....how do the parents "get it on" when their bed is upstairs with all the kids right there? There's not even a wall to seperate them!! Just a dresser???? How???

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4 hours ago, mollysmom said:

Serious question...for anyone who saw the video of the tour of their house.....how do the parents "get it on" when their bed is upstairs with all the kids right there? There's not even a wall to seperate them!! Just a dresser???? How???

It wouldn't be my preference but that is how families lived for centuries and yet somehow there were always new babies.  Families often had (or in many places in the world continue to have) just one or two room homes.  Everyone slept in the same room.  Think back to Little House on the Prairie books - one room cabin..... also there's a scene in Dancing With Wolves in a tipi.

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@fundiefollower is right. In-Home privacy as we know it today didn’t really happen outside the mansions of the upper classes until a little over a hundred years ago. Separate bedrooms were a luxury for the wealthy, and everyone else packed themselves into one/two rooms and maybe a loft if they were lucky. The secondary room was considered private in that it was reserved for the family’s use while the main room was where guests were welcome. 

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@church_of_dog I think that was a very articulate explanation of the independent mindset that many people have (in the U.S. at least). I live and work around many people like this, and I do think you need that balance of individual liberty vs. collective good. 

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8 hours ago, mollysmom said:

Serious question...for anyone who saw the video of the tour of their house.....how do the parents "get it on" when their bed is upstairs with all the kids right there? There's not even a wall to seperate them!! Just a dresser???? How???

They try and do it very quietly after their children are asleep. Or they can go outside on a nice night, lol. 

I’m a prude I suppose because I can’t do that with even a baby sleeping in the same room. I’m just too afraid they will wake up! So I would be going outside! And my husband would be really crabby in the winter ?

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On 10/8/2018 at 1:23 PM, nelliebelle1197 said:

@llucie one more time- for the millionth time- being fundie is about beliefs. Just because the mom dresses like that does not make her more fundie than the Bates. 

I know they are both still fundie, but this family is a lot more radical, they aspire to live like in the middle ages after all.

Edited by llucie
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1 hour ago, llucie said:

I know they are both still fundie, but this family is a lot more radical, they aspire to live like in the middle ages after all.

Eh, living off grid isn't really living in the middle ages. They are obviously pretty big into using the internet since that seems to be a way they make money. 

There are pictures of the girls wearing pants, so in one way they aren't as strict on some things as the Bates. The Bates lived in poverty in a tiny house with way more kids and the only reason they have more room is because their friends the Duggars found reality television fame and the Bates hitched onto that train. 

Both are very fundie, but I'm not sure one of them is more radical than the other. It is easy to forget what the Bates were like before they found television money and did an public image rebrand. 

11 hours ago, mollysmom said:

Serious question...for anyone who saw the video of the tour of their house.....how do the parents "get it on" when their bed is upstairs with all the kids right there? There's not even a wall to seperate them!! Just a dresser???? How???

One off grid family who lived in a one room yurt actually addressed this. They basically had spots outside and had sex after the kids were asleep or occupied watching movies. Not sure what the Smyth parents do but people make it work. 

Edited by formergothardite
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1 hour ago, llucie said:

I know they are both still fundie, but this family is a lot more radical, they aspire to live like in the middle ages after all.

I wouldn't call off grid homesteading middle aged living. There are plenty great, smart & sane people who homestead and live off grid. Most I know are just partially off grid. There's a certain peace that comes with the lifestyle. 

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Yeah....I guess they just somehow make it work (I mean they do have 6 kids haha) but it's really hard for me to imagine. I'm pretty vocal if you know what I mean (sorry :tmi:) so it's just hard to even imagine doing it with other people RIGHT THERE!! I was just curious & obviously I wasn't about to ask on her video since it's none of my business plus I didn't want to get blocked from another fundies page!! (Jilly muffin blocked me on Instagram & even though I tried to act tough when I told you guys about it, it didn't feel very good haha)

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On 10/7/2018 at 6:11 PM, OGEmoji said:

I didn't watch anything after I saw the bankruptcy video, so I don't know the latrst on them. Kip in particular rubs me the wrong way, and I choose not to support them. I will not watch their videos, knowing the vlog is monetized. 

 

I watch all youtube videos with an adblock extension on google chrome. That way you dont give money to any of the channels you visit and also you dont have any ads.

18 minutes ago, EowynW said:

I wouldn't call off grid homesteading middle aged living. There are plenty great, smart & sane people who homestead and live off grid. Most I know are just partially off grid. There's a certain peace that comes with the lifestyle. 

I consider living on farming on a one bedroom house build by themselves, headcovering, following courtship, having lots of kids pretty medieval to be honest, but thats just me. Obviously they have not gone as radical as the amish, and still use some modern instruments, but they really live a very unusual lifestile, that personally i find very interesting.

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It’s almost impossible to live completely medieval in this day and age. Even the Amish use modern conveniences at times. They get rides in cars if needed but they don’t own cars themselves. They have telephones in their barn (in case of emergency) but not in the house. They take their children to hospitals and benefit from modern medicine if it’s an emergency. 

These people use wet wipes, paper plates, disposable diapers, cell phones, a laptop, and some electricity. They have small appliances that make their lives easier. They shop at modern grocery stores and have at least one vehicle. They have access to modern medicine if someone breaks a leg or has appendicitis. They benefit greatly from modern conveniences that were not available back in the 1400s. They might live a simpler life compared to you and I, but they are nowhere close to medieval. 

Edited by JermajestyDuggar
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3 hours ago, mollysmom said:

Yeah....I guess they just somehow make it work (I mean they do have 6 kids haha) but it's really hard for me to imagine. I'm pretty vocal if you know what I mean (sorry :tmi:) so it's just hard to even imagine doing it with other people RIGHT THERE!! I was just curious & obviously I wasn't about to ask on her video since it's none of my business plus I didn't want to get blocked from another fundies page!! (Jilly muffin blocked me on Instagram & even though I tried to act tough when I told you guys about it, it didn't feel very good haha)

As far as I understand it, privacy is a pretty modern concept. Things that would squick us all out today probably didn't bother anybody a couple hundred years ago. *shudder*. Little House on the Prairie? Those winters were long, stuck in the cabin...Ma and Pa would definitely have been getting it on at some point, and they had several children. :my_cry:

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