Daniel Suelo: The Man Who Survives Without Money

Details:

DANIEL SUELO LIVES IN A CAVE. UNLIKE THE average American--wallowing in credit-card debt, clinging to a mortgage, terrified of the next downsizing at the office--he isn't worried about the economic crisis. That's because he figured out that the best way to stay solvent is to never be solvent in the first place. Nine years ago, in the autumn of 2000, Suelo decided to stop using money. He just quit it, like a bad drug habit.

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Comments

[GrahamInCanada]

08:54 PM on 07/23/2009

When I read about Mr. Suelo, what strikes me most is not the poverty he endures by living without money. Throughout most of history, humans lived without money. Money is a very recent invention, in the span of human history.

What strikes me most bout the way he is living is that he is living the life of the natural outcast, the tribe-less singleton. He seems to be exploring the natural poverty of living as a human singleton, without a tribe to cooperate with and with whom to pool resources, rather than more common modern poverty of lack of money.

For example, a singleton human is overwhelmed by survival chores in a way a moneyless tribe is not; just gathering and preparing enough food and water becomes an arduous, daily deed, that puts the single human, otherwise a member of the deadliest species on earth, at daily risk of starvation.

I think Mr. Suelo might be experimenting with social poverty more than he is experimenting with lack of money; lack of money in his experiment is just the method he uses to achieve social poverty.

[gflippin]

04:57 PM on 07/23/2009

I applaud the guy for living how HE wants to live and not how society thinks he should live. And, I'm proud to live in a country where he can live how he chooses.

As for me, I would like to live with a little less footprint. But, I can't. I have others in my life for whom I have an obligation to live a certain way. So, I stay in the race, running with the other rats, looking for the day when I'm old enough to retire, but too old to do the things I wish I could have done.

Good for you, Suelo.

[laidoffguy]

04:03 PM on 07/23/2009

This guy has more issues than trying to stay solvent. He seems to be more like the social side of the uni-bomber. Wants to be a hermit, but only comes out on his own terms. No person in their right mind would live like this if they had a choice. This guy's a moocher.

http://iwaslaidoff.info

[SocRohTees]

05:59 PM on 07/23/2009

I'm a Moab resident and I've known Daniel Suelo for 9 years. The first assumption everyone, including myself makes -- he must be psychologically damaged -- is wrong. Read his blog before passing judgment -- he has chosen this way out of very earnest intellectual and spiritual principles, and I can attest that he is as happy as anyone else I know on this planet.

I'm really astounded by the some of the self-righteous prigs and twits here. "He's a moocher, a freeloader!" Every day hundreds of tons of perfectly edible food is tossed into the garbage in this country, along with mounds of other still useful items. And you're offended by someone recycling and actually using this profligate waste? There are armies of homeless, destitute people in this country now, and Daniel is to be condemned for adapting? For having almost no carbon footprint at all? He's fries grasshoppers and eats road kill, and that's "mooching?"

Our national mantra is about "freedom," but by God, let someone actually live free, out of the mainstream consumer culture, and he's tarred and feathered. As Mencken observed, for all their yapping about Freedom, Americans are the most timorous mob of goosesteppers in Christendom since the Middle Ages. Thanks to some of the commentators here for proving that.

[JackRusselTerrier]

11:59 PM on 07/23/2009

Thanks for your comment. I haven't met Daniel as you have but I have gone to his blog.
He has a lot of interesting points to make in his writings. I was impressed at the amount of research he has done and the number of links he sites. Before judging this man, I think more people should take the time to go to his website. He is nothing like the unabomber.

This man is simply trying to live his life following the principals he believes in. Many people say they have principals, but they toss them aside when it is inconvenient to uphold those values they profess during the good times. I'm not saying this man is right or wrong - all I'm saying is he is doing no one wrong. Respect him for who he is, not who he is not.

See for yourself at:

http://sites.google.com/site/livingwithoutmoney/

[vote you]

04:02 PM on 07/23/2009

We need to stop the corruption by Goldman, bank of Amerika, and Jp Morgan. Stop the Geithner and bernanke. . Obama's policies may not be working as well as many had hoped:

1st 100 days - There are 2.9 million more people unemployed in May than there were unemployed in January. The unemployment rate went from 7.6% to 9.4%.
Since May 2008, we have lost 5.5 million jobs.
The biggest losers were: Manufacturing 1.5 million lost Finance
& Prof Serv 1.5 million lost
Construction 1.1 million lost
Retail & Leisure 1.3 million lost

good articles: http://www.iamned.com

[smiththomas]

11:42 AM on 07/23/2009

with this recent economic approach we need to learn how to survive without money

[gbrooks]

10:21 AM on 07/23/2009

You can live without money far better than that. Learn how to barter and trade, whether that be your skills, food, clothing, whatever.

[plooger]

10:18 AM on 07/23/2009

> ... he figured out that the best way to stay solvent is to never be solvent in the first place.
> ... DANIEL SUELO LIVES IN A CAVE.

Ummm. He lives in a cave. I have a hard time buying "living in a cave" as the "best way to stay solvent."

[Cheapthrills]

09:28 AM on 07/23/2009

People....once again...know the meaning of words before using them just because it may sound esoteric. vis a vis; sadhu. This man is no sadhu.

[redkittyred]

02:59 AM on 07/23/2009

In other nations, Buddhist monks survive off the generosity of others and the moral meter of a society reflected in how well off the monks were. This story reminds me of this.

The guy obviously had life experiences that took him down this path. He has obviously given this a lot of thought, there are some great observations. And isn't it great that in our nation that he can practice his beliefs without hurting anyone? He doesn't steal. He receives kindness from others. And he seems at peace with himself and happy. That should be all that matters.

[nomoredead]

12:17 AM on 07/23/2009

" A man is wealthy when he says he has enough. "

[condor101]

12:04 AM on 07/23/2009

Wow, he's not doing anything with his life. Being alone and having no one to love and take care of you or watch over you? How sad.

[getoffthecross]

04:00 PM on 07/23/2009

I sort of had the same thought. Mine was more like, "I bet he never gets laid either. Thanks, but no thanks."

[johnnyhempseed]

11:14 PM on 07/22/2009

Nice work if you can get it! Be well Dan ,

[frelnc]

08:51 PM on 07/22/2009

He isn't living money free. He just found a way to get others to pay the bill. There's one VERY telling mention in the article that you may have missed. This guy hasn't absented himself from the mainstream. He authors a blog. Free. On the taxpayer dime. At the public library in Moab. And Moab? Not just a small town backwater. It's a thriving tourist mecca. Those are almost as good as college towns for scavengers. He's not a guru, not a hero, not even an aesthete - although he claims that was his goal. He's just a smart man who figured out how to live on the leavings of society. A post-consumer scavenger. Nothing more.

[ErnestineBass]

09:31 PM on 07/22/2009

"A post-consumer scavenger."

Indeed.

While the nouveau-riche of our sorry, SORRY, consumer-driven society is busy k.i.lling itself off thanks to its unsustainable "business model", "co.ckroaches" like Daniel who've learned how to survive on the offal of that society will thrive!

I SALUTE Daniel Suelo! HE WILL OUTLIVE every one of the FATTED CALVES among us!

You can ride on my bus anytime, Daniel! -EB

[OmegaHunter]

10:03 PM on 07/22/2009

Because someone that lives without modern medicine in a cave probably has a long life-expectancy.

[desertman]

11:33 AM on 07/23/2009

As you sit in relative comfort tapping away on your evil consumer-driven laptop. ;-)

[wcgmilf]

10:08 PM on 07/22/2009

"A post-consumer scavenger. Nothing more."...

Nothing more? Wow. You go try it. This story gave me hope that there IS something more to life other than Macy's! YAY!
OH! And let me recommend "Annie's" thrift store in Aspen.

[plooger]

10:21 AM on 07/23/2009

A thrift store in Aspen. Let me ponder.

[pakaal]

08:21 PM on 07/22/2009

"the place looks like a hollowed teardrop, about the size of an Amtrak bathroom, with enough space for a few pots that hang from the ceiling, a stove under a stone eave, big buckets full of beans and rice, a bed of blankets in the dirt, and not much else."

They forgot to mention his generous health care system: the emergency room.

I mean, yeah, OK, that's one way to live without money. And in fact he's lucky he lives near running water, not always easy to come by. Don't know how he got the beans and rice, there was no mention of him planting rice paddies or bean vines. At least the homeless guy living in the hills near my apartment ha a decent tree house set-up off one of the local trails, a little garden, a working shower (of sorts)....

[smchp]

08:07 PM on 07/22/2009

Anyone who is observant and travels to a 3rd world country will quickly realize that we are not as happy as they are. It's that simple! Yes, you can find many reasons why we have it better than them and live longer but you cannot deny that by comparison we lead dull uninteresting lives.