QatzelOk wrote:but this doesn't help anyone else, or anyone else's children.
Correct. But if one does not start with themselves its hard to get started at all.
In this polarizing age, its hard to convince others of anything, but at the very least I can do right by those closest to me. I do try to convince others of the virtues of such, but like I said, I can only control my own circumstances, I have no power over others outside of my own home.
QatzelOk wrote:Cities used to be an excellent place for childhood socialization. Farmers used to live in massive, extended families, and this is virtually the only way to give kids a healthy socialization process on a farm.
I agree with all of this, ALL of it, so I understand your concern with my choice, but I have little recourse especially if I want to even begin to approximate a more fulfilling lifestyle closer to nature and in communion with people at a real (and not superficial) level.
My parents are next door and my own family is growing and will likely be massive itself. My kids may not grow up with a massive extended family (because it was the generations preceding mine that decided to opt out of that older model); however, their children will have such because the decisions I am making TODAY. Once again, I think we should start with ourselves and those closest to us, especially in a time when no one wants to listen to each other. When a man plants a tree, its not necessarily so he can reap it fruits in his lifetime, but so that the next generation can. My life was not connected to the land and to people, my children will be better off, but still not ideal, but the model we are pursuing has the seeds of hope for a better future.
One piece of solace I do have now is from the Permaculture and Homestead movements of which I am a part. I am a major advocate of sustainable local permanent agriculture and these movements are some of the few I have seen where you will find back-to-the-earth leftist hippy types and conservative homeschooling Christians with large families and all working together and getting along. Its kinda surreal given our current climate and I quite enjoy it, it would make a great research topic for a sociologist.
QatzelOk wrote:Today, most rural kids are criminally under-socialized, and they grow up consuming even more drugs, anti-depressants and useless gadgets than urbanites do.
I don't know if its "worse," I think it depends on where in the city we look and what criteria we decide to use. I lived in a ghetto when I was in Pittsburgh. (In fact the recent shooting of Antwon Rose was about 6 houses away from I lived when I was getting my Masters degree). The situation for people there was neither good nor natural, some aspects were better than my rural Rustbelt community, but most were worse. This is the same for any socio-economic sector, all have pros and cons, but in America the universal factor seems to be an artificial, superficial, and consumerist existence that is made worse and not better by state policies.
I think we would agree on much Qatz if we ever decided to focus on our common concerns; unfortunately, places like PoFo make it hard to see each other's humanity.
The fact we are even critiquing artificial human relations through a medium like an anonymous internet forum is a tragic Irony in itself.