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homestead - Re: [Homestead] Riot for Austerity! 90% Reduction Emissions Project

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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Riot for Austerity! 90% Reduction Emissions Project
  • Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:22:44 -0700

Let the first true Luddite step forward and announce themself.


Me. So long as we understand what a Luddite is.

I should have used the lowercase luddite. Seems to me that Ned and his boys were aroused by the damage to their pay rather than the various other ramifications of technology. Quite understandable.

A common understanding of luddite is one who is opposed to increased industrialization. Here we have added technology in general. To many, technology is synonymous with progress, the condition of increasing human quality of life. Each of we sovereign beings may apply our criteria to quality of life. We are uniquely conditioned by self- image, learned values and personal experiences. Not surprising that we find disparate answers.

As for our judgmentalism, our compulsion to measure others by our standards, I am reminded of the various religious beliefs. The commonality seems to me to be the need for affirmation and reinforcement. Again, quite understandable. None of us is certain of hardly anything but the cliche of death and taxes.

Let me take a guess, Gene. Just a guess, but probably not unfounded. In
your kitchen do you have a set of really good knives or rather do you have a
counter full of electric kitchen gadgets? Or if you have both, when it comes
time to make one of those legendary pizzas, do you reach for very good
serviceable knife or do you run the pepperoni and tomatoes through the Kitchenaide?

I mostly use an eight-inch cleaver that I bought about forty years ago in San Francisco. I rarely peel veggies or fruits, but I do have a small paring knife for that task. I occasionally use a chef's knife. The cleaver chops, slices, dices, and then carries the chunks from handmade cutting block to the technologically-advanced and industrially-produced pan. (I have cast iron cookware but don't like using it.)

We have made pesto by hand, with mortar and pestle or mincing the basil and garlic with the cleaver, but prefer that made with a blender. Offhand I can't think of any other use of the blender. Oh, there is one "kitchen gadget" we use a lot, a Victorio Strainer, for processing tomatoes for sauce. And of course we use our motor-powered grain grinder for converting wheat berries into flour. The motor is recycled from a long-dead clothes dryer. The grinder has a handle in case of electric outage. My shoulder doesn't like that operation.

The technology I use is selective. I have a hand brace and bits but almost always reach for the electric drill. For a project today I will mix concrete by hand but for large batches I use an electric motor-powered mixer. My selection often is referenced by time rather than effort, but effort is increasingly part of the decision. With increasing age, not only does the body speak for change, but the mind inexorably notes diminishing remaining time. My passion is designing and building, an expensive hobby, which is the answer to why I still want more money. But time is the keen edge of it. So technology will be used whenever I decide that the tradeoffs compute.




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