Live Free or Die cast salary

Live Free or Die star says all the things he couldn’t say on TV in a YouTube manifesto on civilization and its discontents.

The National Geographic reality TV show Live Free or Die portrayed two of its main characters, Tony and Amelia, as heroic rugged individualists, who’ve learned to live off the land like our pioneer ancestors.

While the producers of Live Free or Die and other “reality” shows, like Mountain Men, capitalize on 9-to-5ers’ fascination with back-to-the-landers bucking the system, they conveniently neglect to mention, for seasons on end, the very reason why people like Tony and Amelia were living the way they lived — because civilization, as we know it, sucks.

“Tony and Amelia, as portrayed on Live Free or Die are watery, bastardized versions of who we really are,” Tony Troia says in the video below.

“Most folks who are free-thinking and interesting enough to find themselves on a TV screen must compromise who they are” in order to be “marketable.”

“I wound up on the lens side of a camera because I refused to play by society’s rules,” he said.

“Ironically, this is the case for many reality TV stars. Shows like Moonshiners, Appalachian Outlaws, Mountain Men and Live Free or Die portray rugged individuals living life on their terms, sometimes lawlessly.”

“No one wants to watch a show following a dude in rush hour traffic on his way to the office.”

“The ironic thing is, these shows, that follow hardened outcasts, are made, consumed, and supported by folks who wear suits, sit in rush hour traffic and spent countless hours in offices.”

“The system that cultivates shows like Live Free or Die is the precise system I actively distance myself from.”

“The underlying socio-spiritual reasons that often drive people off grid are not to be discussed in mainstream media.”

“WhyI live the way I do cannot be so much as whispered on television.”

“My outlook on civilization’s history is dismal at best. We have suffered unspeakable horrors under the burden of agriculture, imperialism and industry.”

“The cons grossly outweigh the pros when it comes to the so-called civilized world.”

“Every man, woman and child alive today was born slave to a system they took no part in creating.”

“This system, this machine, we were born into is a joke to me, but unfortunately it is not a joke. Global warming is not a joke. Genocidal eradication of indigenous people is not a joke. Wage slavery is not a joke. Our war on biodiversity is not a joke.”

“You can’t say that on TV.”

“We live in a troubled world and to pretend otherwise is inexcusable. It is an undeniable fact that industries pampered and propped up by media and advertising feed on injustice. It is not commercially viable to produce a TV show whose characters vocalize such injustices.”

For more of Tony’s thoughts on agriculture and civilization read his article: Agriculture Ruined Our Relationship with the Earth, Forest Gardening Can Fix It

Live Free Or Die Cast Members

The Live Free or Die is an Outdoor Reality Show seen on National Geographic Channel now in its third Season. The Season 3 premiere Episode begins July 25, 2016, at 10/9 central with all the cast members returning to the Show. Live Free Or Die follows six people homesteading and living off their land in backwoods America. Some members gave up high-paying jobs in the modern world to live a simple and free life. As with all Reality Shows, the cast members on Live Free Or Die are compensated for being on the Show, and in real life have seen their net worth grow considerably due to their frugal lifestyle.

Colbert on Live Free Or Die

After raising two daughters with a good paying job as a financial consultant, Colbert gave it all up and moved to the swamplands in Georgia. Colbert’s main source of income (aside from being a cast member on Live Free Or Die) comes from animals trapped for their fur. The majority of all the food he eats also comes directly from the swamps.

Thorn on Live Free Or Die

Thorn also had a good paying job as a schoolteacher until he quit and moved deep into the Blue Ridge Mountains. For the last three years, Thorn’s been living in the woods and surviving only off what Mother Nature’s provides. He hunts all his meat and uses medicinal plants like a drug store to cure a variety of ailments. Thorn lives alone, but occasionally his six-year-old daughter visits to spend time with her dad.

Amelia and Tony on Live Free Or Die

Tony and Amelia Stevens also live in the Blue Ridge Mountains with Thorn being one of their nearest neighbors. Tony purchased the land eight years ago and built the house before meeting his new bride. Amelia was raised on a homestead nearby and soon fell for her new neighbor. Together they’re taking a not-so-good piece of land and turning it into a Homestead Paradise.

Derik on Live Free Or Die

Derik Stevens a real Mountain Man living off-the-grid outside Ward, twenty miles from Boulder, Colorado. Unlike lots of outdoor reality stars with not much history, Derik’s perhaps the most famous Mountain Man in the territory. He makes a living as an old-time blacksmith. He inherited his piece of heaven along with an old cabin back in the early 1990’s and been living a primitive lifestyle ever since. Derik also has a young daughter named Rua, who spends time with her dad filming for the Live Free Or Die TV series.

Tobias on Live Free Or Die

Tobias Corwin is a desert primitive survival skills expert living outside of Prescott, Arizona. He’s lived in the desert the past seven years in a yurt he built on his land to live free. Tobias is also a survival skills instructor at Prescott College, the same school Cody Lundin from the Dual Survival teaches his primitive skills. As mush as He enjoys living a free primitive lifestyle, Corwin loves teaching and educating other outdoor enthusiasts even more.

Matt Graham on Live Free or Die

Matt Graham’s one of the most recognized Outdoor Celebrity Stars hosting “Dude You’re Screwed” “Dual Survival” “Living Wild” and now “Live Free Or Die“. While the first survival shows has Matt teaming up with other expert survivalists, in Live Free or Die he’s now surviving all alone in the high deserts of Utah. After 20 years teaching primitive skills in real life and on TV, Graham’s one of the highest paid survival skills instructors in the business. In fact, Matt Graham’s net worth is estimated over $2 million including his new contract with National Geographic Channel.

Have you seen Live Free Or Die on the National Geographic Channel yet? As far as Outdoor Reality Shows go ,what ratings do you give the Show? Who’s your favorite cast members?

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