NEWS FROM THE FUTURE: No land for sale

Dateline: February 19 2036. 

Bruce Wittenberg gazed at the scenic country landscape surrounding him, in frustration. All this lovely land, and none of it for sale. He’d come to McMinnville, Tennessee, because he’d heard on X that there were some choice acres available, but some other crypto millionaire had beaten him to it. Just his rotten luck. 

Bill Gates made the headlines when he started buying up farmland decades ago, but he wasn’t even the biggest billionaire landowner. Jeff Bezos owned half-a-million acres in Texas, and there were a couple of dudes who owned more than 2-million acres each. Privately. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 

Over 70% of US farmland is now owned by investors, not farmers, and foreign ownership of US soil has tripled in the last decade. They’re mostly “non-operator” landlords, either holding the asset purely as a hedge or renting it out to agricultural conglomerates. The idea of a farming family growing crops or ranching cattle on their own land is ancient history. 

It’s not like there’s any threat to food security. Better agritech has raised yields and indoor farming has changed supply chains, improving quality, freshness and availability. Food is plentiful, and cheaper than ever. 

It’s a similar picture in Europe. Rural areas in France, Germany and Spain are either protected areas, state forests or already in private hands. And not for sale. The appeal of moving to a smallholding in Tuscany is so last decade. There’s nothing available at any price. 

Of course, there’s plenty of land in Saskatchewan. Or Siberia. Or the Sahara. But who wants to live there? 

Bruce sighed. He’d made his money in the tech sector, and was ready to move out of the city and enjoy the country life on a nice little ranch of his own. But where has all the farmland gone? 

First published on Mindbullets, February 20 2025.

Desperately seeking sovereignty 

Off-gridding is the new luxury lifestyle 

Dateline: October 26 2026.

There’s a new movement that’s gaining traction around the world at an astonishing pace. From obscure corners of Belgium to West Virginia woodlands, from the Australian outback to the South African Karoo to the Mojave Desert, homemakers are choosing an alternative lifestyle, off the grid. 

Some of these nascent communities resemble hippie communes, while other homesteaders are tech-savvy graduates who want to ensure their personal freedoms into the future. They all have one thing in common — a desire to escape the creeping social authoritarianism that seems to be engulfing the world like a grey mist, pouring out of the old, affluent economies and eagerly adopted by the newly emerged power blocs. Big Brother is everywhere these days. 

The hallmark of off-gridding is to be as self-sufficient as possible, and not beholden to the state for one’s everyday needs. Most off-gridders have the latest solar power and energy storage systems, small scale or co-op farming opportunities, and access to permanent water sources like lakes or aquifers. What they value most is personal sovereignty, individual freedom. 

Don’t be misled into thinking off-gridders are a doomsday cult or pastoral luddites. They may be sensitive to climate and sustainability issues, and live in “earthship” homes, or geodesic domes, or practice circular economics; but most are still connected to the digital world. Off grid doesn’t mean offline. 

Perhaps paradoxically, many off-gridders sustain their lifestyles by engaging with the outside world, offering their services as researchers, translators, keynote speakers, data scientists and the like. They avoid Facebook and Google, communicating with their clients on more private channels like Telegram and Twitter. 

Off-gridders are not hermits; they’re quick to get to the airport for a gig and happy to keep a passport current. But they’re never truly relaxed until they are back home, off the grid. And they like to get paid in bitcoin — it keeps things simple. They don’t trust megacorps or the government — do you? 

• First published on Mindbullets, October 24 2019.

• Despite appearances to the contrary, FutureWorld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.