The Off-Grid Delusion?

I decided to explore the depths of Ecuador - a country known for its flourishing eco-village, eco-conservations and aboriginal communities, to seek for the answers for a sustainable future, in harmony with the planet, nature, humanity and all species.

I visited communities created by locals in collaboration with municipalities, villages, farmers, businesses, who promote and initiate eco-sustainable and respectful practices.

I visited aboriginal communities, that preserve ancient traditions for living in harmony with nature and natural principles.

I visited intentional communities founded on permaculture, veganism, environmentalism, and more.

Ultimately what become clear to me is that although there are multiple ways to intervene to ameliorate the human condition and situation on our planet, isolation is not the best of them.

As tempting as it may be to escape the enormous societal problems of the world, into an idealistic utopia detached and separate from it, what I personally witnessed in my experience, is that isolating in hermetical off-grid communities almost detached from the rest of society, actually leads to even more toxic and dysfunctional environments and behaviours, than the very ones they are trying to escape from.

Human dysfunction is human dysfunction, no matter if it is applied in a city, village or in a hermetic community.

In fact over-isolation and the lack of accountability and check systems, can lead people to not see their own dysfunctional patterns to an extreme level. Whereas continuous exposure to problems and challenges of society, forces us to grow and evolve, escaping in a bubble can halt this growth process to dangerous levels. That is what I witnessed.

I felt more intoxicated by the patterns of behaviours in the most hermetic isolated communities, than in the very toxic cities they condemned.

After all, isn’t separation the very root of the problem that causes all the dysfunctional dynamics in the world? Our illusion that we are separate from other animals, from the earth, from plants, from other people, is the very reason societies cause so much harm. So how can more separation solve the problem it created? It’s like trying to extinguish fire with fire in my opinion.

Ultimately, balance is key, I found. We live in a far from perfect world, to say the least. Working with what is real and in front of us, and having the courage to face the insurmountable difficulties of society - not escape from them - is in my opinion the path to effective solutions. Although there is certainly value in exploring alternative ways of living and sustaining life, there has to be a balance in my opinion, with checking such solutions with the rest of society and what actually works.

I don’t believe we will find the solutions to all our problems tomorrow, but it is indeed by joining forces, working together, and facing them together, that we start to make a real improvement, not by escaping from them in isolated bubbles.

The people who inspired me the most were the ones at the forefront of society, advocating for changes with businesses, villages, communities, governments, education, social structures, not the ones escaping from it.

The people who create the most wellness, options, opportunities and ideas for society in my opinion are the ones that deal with society on a daily basis.

So I realised that, although there is no perfect answer to the problem, isolation is probably not one of them, at least in my opinion.