Re: GBlist: Whose Globalization?

[Speireag Alden <Joshua.M.Alden.91@alum.dartmouth.org>]

Sgrìobh chalice:

>I think our fear of nature has been the biggest problem all 
>along--it forced us into a corner, into a completely man-made world, 
>where our values are so skewed, so informed by neuroses. Then we 
>started "conquering" nature to extend that artificial realm. And now 
>you say we have no choice but to stay here? There's so little 
>pristine left that we can't reclaim it? Well, the forests I re-con 
>are not pristine--they have been entered by loggers time and again, 
>but they are not desert yet--there's still an ecosystem there of 
>which I am a part.

     One of the many reasons I chose to live in the country rather 
than in a city was so that I could do things myself.  This has a lot 
to do with being connected, and understanding the consequences of 
one's actions at least to some extent.

     Suppose I live in a high-rise building in a large city.  I have a 
plumbing problem.  Almost certainly there are laws in place which 
mandate that a licensed professional do the work.  Even if there 
aren't, my work can potentially have an adverse impact on lots of 
other people in the building, so I better get it right the first time.

     As I live there, and my children grow up there, this starts to 
have an insidious effect on me.  Plumbing problem?  Call a plumber. 
Roof problem?  Call a roofer.  Trash problem?  Call the trash 
disposal.  You see what is happening - I am learning that other 
people clean up my problems.  All I have to do is call them, and pay 
them, and the problem goes away.

     I didn't want my children to grow up thinking that way.  My 
grandfather taught me by example to fiddle with things.  When my 
aquarium pump wasn't working after it took a temporary bath, I didn't 
throw it out and get a new one.  I opened it up and found that the 
core of the electromagnet was a bunch of little plates and that they 
had surface corrosion.  So I took them apart and cleaned them and put 
it all back together.  Worked like a charm.  That's what I wanted my 
children to learn.

     Also, I wanted to do my own darn plumbing and do it right and not 
have anyone but me suffer if I screwed up.

     So here I am out here in the boonies, looking at the consequences 
of my actions and trying to tread lightly.

-Speireag.
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--------------)<<<<0
Speireag Alden, aka Joshua Macdonald Alden:  Joshua.M.Alden.91 (at) 
alum.dartmouth.org
Usually found somewhere in the wilds of New Hampshire.
Nach sgrìobh thu 'sa Gàidhlig thugam?
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