People in the main want to live in stable and safe communities. Okay, it's different strokes for different folks. Some will like the rural or small town life. Some will be quite happy in suburbia. Others will be happier with a faster paced city life.
If people are happy with city life, why are they always so pissed off and ready to kill each other?
Just to clarify things, when I said that some people are happy with city life, it was an observation, not an endorsement. I personaaly do not like the thought of living in a city.
To be happy in a city costs money. That's money to live in an area that 'feels' safe. Nearby Bristol has areas that 'feel' safe but are way beyond the reach of mere mortals such as myself. It also has some very rough areas, not just in the inner city, but also out on the neglected peripheral housing estates.
In Bristol and over the Severn estuary in Cardiff and further along in Swansea, when riots have broken out, they tend to be on the neglected housing estates on the fringes. When things kick off, it's mainly white working class youth against the cops.
These estates are far out on the fringes, it's difficult to travel into the city centres. That restricts employment opportunities. It's almost like people are being warehoused and kept at a 'safe' distance from the more affluent inner city areas.
City life or living in a compacted area is akin to centralization where the few control the many. That's a progressive dream derived from liberal control freaks. Everyone is to be herded and controlled.
I'll choose decentralized living where I am my own sovereign entity engaging with other sovereign entities. Screw the moving forward and the politics of change which are nothing better than chaining you to a tree.
Just to clarify things, when I said that some people are happy with city life, it was an observation, not an endorsement. I personaaly do not like the thought of living in a city.
Cities could in theory be decentralised and power brought down to the level of the neighbourhood with genuine, participatory democracy. There have been brief moments in history where that has happened - Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s being one of them. Well, we can all dream, can't we?:)
As major cities become more dysfunctional through a combination of malicious design on the one hand and incompetence on the other, the hope is that people will start to question what are cities actually for. At that point, it's hoped that there will be movement out of the cities back to the smaller towns where people can live a more balanced life.
All I hope is that this can happen without a major societal breakdown...
Crixcyon, no problem here with you choosing what's best for you in the midst of what is a pretty effed-up world. I live in the UK, which is a very densely populated country. But right now I am in Wales, in a small town. Perhaps it's like you would like for yourself. I'm here for a few weeks on holiday (USA - vacation) as they say here in the UK. There's a supermarket and most of what I need to live a good enough life, including walks in beautiful countryside.
When I leave here, I will go on to stay in a mid-sized town in England. It works for me. It sounds like you would be uncomfortable living in that town yourself. That's fine. But living in that town works for me. I'm the one who has to find a way to make a contribution to healing this mess that we are all in right now, and I will do that in a small city in the UK. My life, my choice.
I'm nearly 70. I live alone, and yeah, I need the informal support that I get living in a bigger town. It works for me. I don't expect it to work for you.
I do my best to make gentle observations, so here goes. I don't think you want to be in a situation where the few control the many. I think you would agree that we all have to make the best choices we can, hopefully, from a position of love. It's a bit cheeky for me to use the 'F-word' here, but please, friend, do your best to help me feel that you can accept my choices as I am trying to accept yours, despite the rough language you use. I will be no less unhappy to have your choices imposed on me than anyone else's.
Harsh words are not a problem - well, they are, but they aren't the real problem. Violence is. We need to stay on the words side of any discussion, and as far fucking away from real violence as we possibly can. Doing my best here, as I am sure you are. -- AZ Parhelia
People in the main want to live in stable and safe communities. Okay, it's different strokes for different folks. Some will like the rural or small town life. Some will be quite happy in suburbia. Others will be happier with a faster paced city life.
If people are happy with city life, why are they always so pissed off and ready to kill each other?
Just to clarify things, when I said that some people are happy with city life, it was an observation, not an endorsement. I personaaly do not like the thought of living in a city.
To be happy in a city costs money. That's money to live in an area that 'feels' safe. Nearby Bristol has areas that 'feel' safe but are way beyond the reach of mere mortals such as myself. It also has some very rough areas, not just in the inner city, but also out on the neglected peripheral housing estates.
In Bristol and over the Severn estuary in Cardiff and further along in Swansea, when riots have broken out, they tend to be on the neglected housing estates on the fringes. When things kick off, it's mainly white working class youth against the cops.
These estates are far out on the fringes, it's difficult to travel into the city centres. That restricts employment opportunities. It's almost like people are being warehoused and kept at a 'safe' distance from the more affluent inner city areas.
City life or living in a compacted area is akin to centralization where the few control the many. That's a progressive dream derived from liberal control freaks. Everyone is to be herded and controlled.
I'll choose decentralized living where I am my own sovereign entity engaging with other sovereign entities. Screw the moving forward and the politics of change which are nothing better than chaining you to a tree.
Just to clarify things, when I said that some people are happy with city life, it was an observation, not an endorsement. I personaaly do not like the thought of living in a city.
Cities could in theory be decentralised and power brought down to the level of the neighbourhood with genuine, participatory democracy. There have been brief moments in history where that has happened - Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s being one of them. Well, we can all dream, can't we?:)
As major cities become more dysfunctional through a combination of malicious design on the one hand and incompetence on the other, the hope is that people will start to question what are cities actually for. At that point, it's hoped that there will be movement out of the cities back to the smaller towns where people can live a more balanced life.
All I hope is that this can happen without a major societal breakdown...
Crixcyon, no problem here with you choosing what's best for you in the midst of what is a pretty effed-up world. I live in the UK, which is a very densely populated country. But right now I am in Wales, in a small town. Perhaps it's like you would like for yourself. I'm here for a few weeks on holiday (USA - vacation) as they say here in the UK. There's a supermarket and most of what I need to live a good enough life, including walks in beautiful countryside.
When I leave here, I will go on to stay in a mid-sized town in England. It works for me. It sounds like you would be uncomfortable living in that town yourself. That's fine. But living in that town works for me. I'm the one who has to find a way to make a contribution to healing this mess that we are all in right now, and I will do that in a small city in the UK. My life, my choice.
I'm nearly 70. I live alone, and yeah, I need the informal support that I get living in a bigger town. It works for me. I don't expect it to work for you.
I do my best to make gentle observations, so here goes. I don't think you want to be in a situation where the few control the many. I think you would agree that we all have to make the best choices we can, hopefully, from a position of love. It's a bit cheeky for me to use the 'F-word' here, but please, friend, do your best to help me feel that you can accept my choices as I am trying to accept yours, despite the rough language you use. I will be no less unhappy to have your choices imposed on me than anyone else's.
Harsh words are not a problem - well, they are, but they aren't the real problem. Violence is. We need to stay on the words side of any discussion, and as far fucking away from real violence as we possibly can. Doing my best here, as I am sure you are. -- AZ Parhelia
Thanks TS. Great post. 100% Correct regarding the forced then enforced "change".