Re: [pf] we took the wrong track, in the '50s and '60s

by Sharon Flesher

08 December 2000 03:15 UTC

Molly wrote:
> I didn't see David A's as a reductio ad absurdam argument -- Don't some
> people, even in the U.S., live without electronics and electric light
> and go to bed when it's dark? I feel pretty certain that they do. I
> think David A was saying that he /could/ live like this -- that's it's
> possible and reasonable, and people do it, and it's not deprivation or
> poverty to live this way -- but that he doesn't choose to. I don't see
> it as absurd to suggest living this way.
>
> Did I miss something?>

Some people do indeed live this way (I've known a couple of them), and I
think most people in this country view them at best as "eccentrics" and at
worst as "nutcases". Unless the folks under scrutiny are Amish, of course,
who are tourist attractions as they have the excuse of religion for their
odd behavior. I don't presume to know how David A intended for us to
perceive his argument, but I think it's safe to say that most people in this
country would consider the suggestion of such a lifestyle to be absurd. But
like you, Molly, I don't consider it absurd at all. I admire people who do
it and when I encounter the one person I still know who lives that way, I
feel ashamed of myself for not having the same commitment.

Also, to David Mac, our bag of trash every two weeks is AFTER we separate
out our recyclables, so we still have a long way to go. I would guess about
half of our trash is food packaging that can't be recycled, such as soy milk
and orange juice containers. The answer is to do without or make our own.
The other half is stuff that seems to come in to the house without my
consent -- the non-recyclable parts of junk mail, children's art projects
out of styrofoam (can't keep it all), and various things that people give my
children. I could make an issue out of all of this, but I haven't (so far).

Sharon Flesher
CarSharing Traverse, Inc.
Traverse City, Mich.
sflesher@traverse.net

"Be the change you wish to see." M.K. Gandhi