I am just reading the first article in my new Warm Earth magazine which arrived yesterday.
I am very excited as it has a "Homesteading" theme to it this time.
So the first article tells of the origins of homesteading, being a pioneering thing when Australia was in its early days of white settlement. As the urbanisation reached these people they weren't so isolated and the term Homesteading fell out of use until the 1960s and 70s when it popped up again in the form of communes and the like.
It says about them "Most found this romanticised idyll impossible to achieve in practise, because they lacked the self-reliance skills required."
Interesting! And then it goes on to say that in the 1990s a new movement emerged without the radical anarchist philosophy of the earlier group.
But this bit promted me to write this to you."Today's modern homesteaders are unassuming ordinary people who choose to disconnect themselves, in varying degrees, from what they see as an increasingly untenable reality and lead lives that are more sustainable and ethical."
Well thats you and me, Martin!
It goes on to confirm all the things I don't like about our society. How in 1 generation we have lost the ability to feed ourselves and have become reliant on others to do this for us. Now I call that dangerous living!
The brainwashing of us by television has been almost complete. It is hard to snap out of it and really see the world. I have been disatisfied with our society for a very long time, the sense of community has all but gone and struggles to survive in pockets.
When I was in my 20s I wanted to save the world from what people were doing to it, especially the Whales. And I did what I could with what I had and knew. Then when I had my son at 27 I wanted to run away to the hills and live in a commune where we would be safe. But I didn't go because motherhood gave me strength and I stayed to try and change this society from the inside.
Well I have been doing that now for a long time and feel a bit burnt out in some areas. I feel proud of any achievements I have done and brought about but I'm tired now and its my turn. So I am running away to the hills with my Man. And its gunna be great!
Dayla
Hi Dayla,
ReplyDeleteDangerous living is a good way of describing the general direction of our consumer-driven society, I think. I too want to run to the hills fairly often. But I think, like you said regarding my banana quandry, the more of us that choose to live a different way, the more options become available...things are changing, just very slowly. There are eco-friendly cleaning products in my supermarket now. Five years ago that was almost unheard of. But it does seem sooooo slow, and I've only been at it a few years so I can totally understand how you can feel burnt out fighting all the time for what you believe.
Head for the hills, and be refreshed! Amy