06-24-2008, 01:04 AM
quote:I agree with the validity of your underlying point about communities being different from the 1950's or the 1800's, Fitz, but I can't imagine viewing my life in such a pessimistic way. I'm not a Pollyanna, either.
Originally posted by JWFITZ
...hypothetical(if you can afford it)quality of health care...The ecology of the world has all been shot, and the Mother Goose of Nature that laid golden eggs has mostly been slaughtered...Individual Sovereignty...the individual is more or less powerless...the most dangerous thing we have lost is a sense of community...This may well become a major difficulty here in Hawaii...a fair amount of bad blood and alienation floating around...alienation and lack of community support...we as a world, and as an island face some very very difficult times...We are simply not prepared for resource scarcity...those solutions unfortunately are lacking...I don’t believe those solutions exist...a good deal of individual difficulty and outright suffering here...complacency that may well entrap the rest of the world.
And I do not agree with your premise, a utopian view of communities that once were, a paradise lost. The Amish tradition of barnraising is an example of communal support, but there is a lot of baggage living the Amish life. Gays, for example, are shunned. Denying technology to ride a horse-drawn buggy may be appealing to some, but there are trade-offs there, too. A strict, religious, disciplinarian way of life is not for many, else there'd be a lot more Amish.
It's easy to view the past with rose colored glasses, Ward and June Cleaver seemed to have had the perfect life. But that was a Hollywood construct, not real for anybody that I know of that generation. Alcoholism, dysfunctional families, adultery, divorce, child abuse, these are not things that just popped out of the woodwork yesterday.
I'm not minimizing the problems that we face. There are real and significant issues in many ways. Locally to globally, we've taken the quest for a dollar to extremes that have come to haunt us. The GOOD NEWS is that it is now at least obvious. People are focused on finding solutions. Discussions like this one are an indicator that there is hope. From Punaweb to Al Gore's movie, people are rejecting some of the old ways which got us into trouble.
People are people, and human nature is what it is. I think there are a lot of community-minded people, people willing to help in a variety of ways. There are also a fair amount of selfish jerks, but I don't think that's a new phenomenon, either. My guess is the Hatfields and the McCoys of the 1800's didn't get to feuding because they were fundamentally nice people.
I have faith in us, Fitz. We'll be okay. It'll take some work, and not everybody will be equally successful or happy, but I don't think the end is near.
Aloha! ;-)
Aloha! ;-)