[onecommentman]

I’ll read the New Yorker for off-the-grid Intermountain West living info the same day I read the Alamosa News for insights into the latest Israeli elections.

Saying that, in NM in the 1980s, off-grid living was perfectly feasible with some of the same caveats you mention. If the local community accepted you (Latinos, First Nations), you could easily make it happen (and I assume you still can). If you get crosswised with the autochthonous spirits, you could find yourself burned out of your half-built cabin pretty quickly.

Communes help, but come with their own problems. Don’t know whether the Intentional Community movement has solved those problems yet.