You should read the whole thing.
Also see his page of criticism and response:
Here's a list:
- All problems in Africa are caused by "development"
Oh really? Spread of AIDS because people think having sex with a virgin will cure them, and kids dying of diarrhea too?
- Before the 20th century people lived off the land, and all was good
Actually, people lived like this in the 20th century too. And many live like that now. In fact, my grandparents did. They and all the kids had to work very, very hard to feed themselves. If this guy thinks farm labour is an easy occupation, it's only because his idea of where food comes from is the dumpster behind a grocery store.
Oh yeah, by the way, I don't think Ran has ever written about development in Africa, and he actually loathes hard labor and would be the first to agree that farm labor can really suck! But don't worry, some people may not notice that your comment has nothing to do with the stated purpose of this comment section, namely COMMENTING ON THE ARTICLE AT HAND.
People in general are usually pretty terrible at making choices that would improve their happiness. So even though almost anyone would pick modern life in the USA if given the choice, it's entirely possible that people in the bad old days actually were more satisfied with their lives on average. Well, except for possibly when they were dying in childbirth, starving in famines, succumbing to infectious diseases, or enduring other temporarily unpleasant states of affairs, anyway.
Actually, the idea "being happier working very hard in hopes to make a living, producing something tangible without being subject to arbitrary authority" sounds a lot like the startup mindset as well.
Consider the methods he suggests for retaining shelter: * Squatting. * Couch-surfing. * Living in his car. * Buying some out-of-the-way land and building a house on it (which, you note, he hasn't actually done).
Two of those are blatant parasitism, the third is borderline tragedy of the commons material, and the last one appears to support the institutions he claims makes you an "idiot" for supporting. I'm sure that his friends and family that he's stayed with enjoy being called "idiots" for buying into the whole concept of property and having couches to lend.
There's nothing wrong with dumpster diving or couch surfing, but it's pretty arrogant to claim that doing so and rejecting conventional social order is the measure of an enlightened mind, when neither dumpster contents nor couch would exist without that order.
His response to criticism appears to be mainly sophistry and further reiteration of the "property is theft" meme.
Also, calling the statement "property is theft" a meme does not make it untrue.