Two thoughts I've had, of late...
(1)
I have to say...locally grown food IS economically cheap where we live...as so much grows here so easily. It is, however, time costly...so long as we choose to mentally divide our lives into "work and play." The sustainable way of life is to LIVE YOUR WORK as an integral and natural part of everyday existence. It was the horrific institutions of wealth and poverty of Europe that we still turn to for advice on how to live...for perspective and expectation. Foolishness! Life IS action...whether you are harvesting apples or planting peas or hunting for mushrooms, cooking or eating or cleaning...this is life. Nothing is bad. Nothing is good.
But, because we have "work and play" categories, we are messing with our own heads...thinking to ourselves, "Oh, I have to forage for apples because I don't have money to buy apples from another country...so, I must be poor. I am suffering. I am unhappy. I am...
Another aspect of our messed up society is the whole "independent" thing which leaves many people lonely or overwhelmed. Clearing a bed with four people takes 1/4 the time as it takes alone...but on the emotional level, it is a BOOST rather than a drain. Hence...locally produced food is cheaper and happier.
When we reach critical mass of people leaving the money economy and returning to the "do it ourselves" economy...then we'll find ourselves working together, celebrating our successes, chatting while we weed or harvest, laughing while we clean and shell and eat together, and THEN that "work category" will begin to resemble the "play category" more closely. And so...we'll see that a "living wage" will fade into old-time conversations. An irrelevant concept.
Or, we will think inside the box, believe that a bigger paycheck controls our lives, and be very unhappy as those who worship ONLY money attempt to enslave every last one of us in the future to come...
But, because we have "work and play" categories, we are messing with our own heads...thinking to ourselves, "Oh, I have to forage for apples because I don't have money to buy apples from another country...so, I must be poor. I am suffering. I am unhappy. I am...
Another aspect of our messed up society is the whole "independent" thing which leaves many people lonely or overwhelmed. Clearing a bed with four people takes 1/4 the time as it takes alone...but on the emotional level, it is a BOOST rather than a drain. Hence...locally produced food is cheaper and happier.
When we reach critical mass of people leaving the money economy and returning to the "do it ourselves" economy...then we'll find ourselves working together, celebrating our successes, chatting while we weed or harvest, laughing while we clean and shell and eat together, and THEN that "work category" will begin to resemble the "play category" more closely. And so...we'll see that a "living wage" will fade into old-time conversations. An irrelevant concept.
Or, we will think inside the box, believe that a bigger paycheck controls our lives, and be very unhappy as those who worship ONLY money attempt to enslave every last one of us in the future to come...
(2)
In response to the idea that many millions of people
live on the verge of starvation and may not have the option
of "work and play" categories, I would like to say...
Yes and no. For example, in many African countries, where women spend countless hours lugging water home from rivers and working, working, working...their men literally sit around waiting to be served the BEER made by that water by their women. In these cultures, a "hard working woman" is a valuable woman, and a man who can "sit around" is proof that the wife is a good wife.
However, I wasn't talking about people who are literally on the edge of starvation. My comment was more in response to Nancy's comment that we can't eat locally until our wages go up. On Vashon, if we have a work/play mentality, then we may resent the time spent foraging after a long day of work as just more work...rather than saying, "Hey...let's go for a walk and bring home some yummy stuff!" My husband and I used to do most of our chatting and connecting in the garden, while growing food. Or we talk while washing dishes...etc.
The repeatedly repeated truth is that there is NEVER too little food on planet earth...there is ALWAYS inefficient or unfair distribution of food. One excellent example is when people in a land known for its crab has to import crab from the other side of the planet for their own consumption, because they've become so export-focused that they no longer eat their own, locally available resource. We live in Washington State...why do we eat apples from Australia? We live on Vashon Island...why eat strawberries from California?
By the way, patience matters, too. I NEVER buy strawberries from the store, because they grow like weeds in my garden. BUT, my berries come up about 5 weeks after CA berries show up...so, I say to my kids, "We can be patient and wait for our own to be ripe...we will NOT buy imported strawberries just because we don't want to wait a few weeks."
Etc. Tea grows on Vashon wildly and easily (Chamomile, mint, raspberry leaves, nettles, lemon balm, dozens of others)...so, I have been out of the "money economy" on tea for almost a decade...and my family is used to sitting around a table and pulling leaves off plants while chatting or listening to music or staring into the distance.
However, I wasn't talking about people who are literally on the edge of starvation. My comment was more in response to Nancy's comment that we can't eat locally until our wages go up. On Vashon, if we have a work/play mentality, then we may resent the time spent foraging after a long day of work as just more work...rather than saying, "Hey...let's go for a walk and bring home some yummy stuff!" My husband and I used to do most of our chatting and connecting in the garden, while growing food. Or we talk while washing dishes...etc.
The repeatedly repeated truth is that there is NEVER too little food on planet earth...there is ALWAYS inefficient or unfair distribution of food. One excellent example is when people in a land known for its crab has to import crab from the other side of the planet for their own consumption, because they've become so export-focused that they no longer eat their own, locally available resource. We live in Washington State...why do we eat apples from Australia? We live on Vashon Island...why eat strawberries from California?
By the way, patience matters, too. I NEVER buy strawberries from the store, because they grow like weeds in my garden. BUT, my berries come up about 5 weeks after CA berries show up...so, I say to my kids, "We can be patient and wait for our own to be ripe...we will NOT buy imported strawberries just because we don't want to wait a few weeks."
Etc. Tea grows on Vashon wildly and easily (Chamomile, mint, raspberry leaves, nettles, lemon balm, dozens of others)...so, I have been out of the "money economy" on tea for almost a decade...and my family is used to sitting around a table and pulling leaves off plants while chatting or listening to music or staring into the distance.
Here's to everyone developing increasing freedom
and self-sufficiency through a shift in action AND thought!
Warmly,
March
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