A Tiny Temple in the Trees

- it’s mostly aspirational/a coping mechanism and the vast majority of people who post it are not actually going to start a homestead. in a time when everyone is stuck in small apartments during a pandemic, it makes a lot of sense that people are dreaming of independence, space, and relationship to land. it’s a fantasy. i don’t think it’s fair to say that people are doing harm because of this.

- if people do start homesteads, they’ll be buying the land from other white people, not colonizing land that indigenous people currently hold. so at worst it’s perpetuating/not undoing the existing system, but like, it’s not like if they don’t buy it it’ll go back into native hands. there’s nothing inherently worse about white queer women owning land than white straight men owning land (and it honestly feels a little suspect to think there is!) 

If you tell me Im not allowed to enjoy Nature then thats telling me im not allowed to be alive, and frankly, thats not very egalitarian of you, and you obviously think all people are not at the end of the day actually equals.

Im not gonna respond to your tags because you decided not to post them as actual text.

Also, as an addition id like to add that Native Americans modernly are being ignored and put on the back burner. I dont think their number one priority is getting back the country, and even if it is, I dont respect that - but I will support them in getting food and in fighting to educate consumerists and ecoignorants and people who rape the Earth for money backwardsly and twistedly - in large part to honor them and what their culture has always been about and still remains valuing elementally to this very darned day.

If you dont like that then I dont know what to say other than, go be bitter in a corner while the rest of us do Kumbaya (kinda hard with the Coronapocalypse and the nearing end of the world due to corporate interests like Bill Gates and his viruses and vaccines, but you know what i mean maybe)

I forage for edible weeds and study ecology as my pastime. 

Say what you will but I have an unbreakable bond with Nature, even death will not part me and Nature, because.. like, its real and shit (and imma decompose and become plants and then plant-eating deer).

- it’s mostly aspirational/a coping mechanism and the vast majority of people who post it are not actually going to start a homestead. in a time when everyone is stuck in small apartments during a pandemic, it makes a lot of sense that people are dreaming of independence, space, and relationship to land. it’s a fantasy. i don’t think it’s fair to say that people are doing harm because of this.

- if people do start homesteads, they’ll be buying the land from other white people, not colonizing land that indigenous people currently hold. so at worst it’s perpetuating/not undoing the existing system, but like, it’s not like if they don’t buy it it’ll go back into native hands. there’s nothing inherently worse about white queer women owning land than white straight men owning land (and it honestly feels a little suspect to think there is!) 

- it’s mostly aspirational/a coping mechanism and the vast majority of people who post it are not actually going to start a homestead. in a time when everyone is stuck in small apartments during a pandemic, it makes a lot of sense that people are dreaming of independence, space, and relationship to land. it’s a fantasy. i don’t think it’s fair to say that people are doing harm because of this.

- if people do start homesteads, they’ll be buying the land from other white people, not colonizing land that indigenous people currently hold. so at worst it’s perpetuating/not undoing the existing system, but like, it’s not like if they don’t buy it it’ll go back into native hands. there’s nothing inherently worse about white queer women owning land than white straight men owning land (and it honestly feels a little suspect to think there is!) 

Okay, I had said I was going to clarify my stance, so let me make this the post where I do that. I don’t see anything wrong with what you want to do anon. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go live in the woods and have your own house and land.

To decolonize I highly recommend being invested in conversations from cultures who are/were colonized, and seeing how you can work towards helping those populations, be it community service, activism, awareness, etc., it will differ for everyone. 

The issues I have with cottagecore (and these are MY issues, i”m not going to be speaking for or over Indigenous users because I don’t want to get anything wrong but feel free to add on) is people calling themselves homesteaders, this act of white liberals wanting to run away from the institutions that their ancestors created (You uphold that institution as well) instead of actually combatting our society to make it a better place. 

This is double especially for those who call themselves feminists and liberals. 

It’s like, “Wow the world is so fucked up, let me and my gf move to a cottage and forget everything.” And i’m like: 1) running away isn’t going to solve anything 2) your people and ancestors are responsible for the state of current politics 3) it’s really, really easy for white people to just fall off the grid and live some hippie dream while people of color, who are barred from this lifestyle because of institutionalized racism, are still here fighting. 

My biggest issue with cottagecore is the THOUGHT PROCESS and hypocrisy because to me it’s just…iffy. Lowkey kinda racist (also, Like did slaves plow that land? Were they forced to work that land that you’re calling your cottage now? Learn about the history and give back to the people). It’s about having so much privilege that you can say “to hell” with something you and your people are very responsible for creating, and that’s just the story of our history. 

Do I believe you can do cottagecore as someone who’s white while being unproblematic? Yeah, sorta? Do what I said above, immerse yourself in conversation, become an activist to the best of your abilities, think of what you say and the implications it means.