In this day and age, it’s hard for us to image anyone turning a blind eye to society and its financial system.  When we can conjure up this individual, the image is usually of some mentally-ill transient or survivalist/militia type.  No one “normal” could possible live this way, right?

Odd or not, Daniel Suelo is doing  just that.  That’s right, this white, middle-aged college graduate decided that one autumn day in 2000 he had had enough.  Fed up with money’s control of his life, Suelo headed for the outskirts out Moab, Utah 9 years ago and hasn’t turned back.  Instead of living in a house full of manufactured goods, he now calls a cave his home and dines on whatever he can scavenge.

Below I have included some excerpts from Suelo’s story.  Please take the time to read the full article about his life, because this guy’s existence is pretty amazing.  He kinda reminds me of a modern-day Chris McCandless.  Enjoy!

On why he left:

“When I lived with money, I was always lacking.”  “Money represents lack. Money represents things in the past (debt) and things in the future (credit), but money never represents what is present.”

About food:

He sautés the watercress, mustard leaves, and wild onions, mixing in fresh almonds he picked from a friend’s orchard and ghee made from Dumpster-dived butter, and we eat out of his soot-caked pans.

His former life:

HE WASN’T ALWAYS THIS WAY. SUELO graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in anthropology, he thought about becoming a doctor, he held jobs, he had cash and a bank account. In 1987, after several years as an assistant lab technician in Colorado hospitals, he joined the Peace Corps and was posted to an Ecuadoran village high in the Andes.

What his future holds:

Suelo is 48, and he doesn’t exactly have a 401(k). “I’ll do what creatures have been doing for millions of years for retirement,” he says. “Why is it sad that I die in the canyon and not in the geriatric ward well-insured? I have great faith in the power of natural selection. And one day, I will be selected out.” Until then, think of him like the raven, cleaning up the carcasses the rest of us leave behind.