So, your political animal is coming out of hibernation, eh? Perhaps it
has
been around all along. Everything we do is a political/economic
statement.
Anita Graf (Staff)" wrote:
"The results show clearly that at least in Nebraska, both
rural and urban people favor vibrant rural communies, smaller farms,
smaller businesses, more variety of rural business, etc., yet their
expectations show without fail that they don't see their preferences
coming to pass."
Sure, everyone wants to have vibrant rural communities. But we keep
developing
these into suburban sprawls.
And everyone wants to buy from small farmers, but few are willing to pay
a
real price for the production of food or to "inconvenience" themselves
by
shopping at a market rather than stopping at a supermarket
"conveniently"
located on their way to their suburban homes.
And most want small, locally owned businesses, but we continue to buy
from the
Walmarts, Home Depots, etc., instead of paying a higher price from the
small
local stores.
More variety of rural business? Rural is disappearing and will soon be
only a
myth in children's books- like Farmer Brown and his farm family who live
a
bucolic life...
Here's the point- we vote with our dollars. If we lived in condos in
already
developed urban areas and stopped developing farmland; if we bought all
we
could from local farmers before shopping at locally owned food stores,
if we
went to the local hardware or bookstore- then we would see the picture
presented in the poll.
Sadly enough, (as we've discussed privately) most of us want this kind
of
scenario AND we continue in our short-sightedness about economy and
convenience. We just don't get the connection between our actions and
the
results.
Being responsible means that we look at all the ways we know how of how
our
actions (buying, selling, employment, personal relationships, community
involvement,...) affect the whole.
OK. Let's do an internal poll of the list, shall we? (By internal, I ask
each
of us to question ourselves and see where we stand.) Let's ask ourselves
if we
buy from local farmers and those attempting to attain sustainability,
form
locally owned stores and restaurants rather than chains, are our homes
set up
as sustainable as we can- recycling, reduced water use, composting,
garden
and/or sprouts. Also, are we active in CBOs that are working towards
these
ends.
It is too easy to say that we are supportive of this and quite another
thing
to do it. We can't change the world, but we can change what we ourselves
do.
And a change in habits of 10% of us creates new markets.
Alex
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