Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

I recently had dinner with friends who are accomplished homesteaders.  
They produce a large percentage of what they eat, stay warm with  
firewood that they cut, are highly self reliant, and lead a life that  
might be a model of sustainability.

Certainly one might blame the beer, but alas, during after-dinner  
talk we old friends actually sunk to the level of shouting at each  
other as we exchanged and argued over what we think we know about  
peak oil, overpopulation, sustainability, inflation, dollar erosion,  
and of course politics. Somehow we missed sex and religion.

Driving home I thought about what had occurred. I was appalled and  
depressed that otherwise sane and intelligent humans, long-time  
friends, could sink so low. So I have been thinking about why it  
happened. And I think I know the answer. We are ingesting too much  
information. Information is available as never before, more than we  
can handle, I think. Among the results are that we believe we are  
experts on subjects beyond our former ken. We instinctively know that  
knowledge is power and the mass media is happy to profit from that  
urge. Alas, "if it bleeds it leads, " and most of the information we  
consume today is bloody, awful and highly negative. So-called  
journalists compete for consumers of "news" with the most incendiary  
subject they can find. No wonder my friends think the sky is falling.

It is said that our physical selves are what we eat. My thought for  
the day is that our minds are what we read, watch and listen to.

Choose knowingly.