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[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

I do agree that people--Americans in particular and those 
unfortunate countries now trying to emulate our 
unsustainable lifestyle--have a bad habit of looking at 
the here and now with a total disconnect from the results 
of their actions. Our neighbor doesn't want to install 
solar panels because he's too old to see the financial 
return in his lifetime...another homeowner doesn't put in 
fruit trees because they know they'll be moving in a 
couple years...or people wonder why they are obese when 
they live a sedentary lifestyle and eat fast food, why 
their kids are hyper and play video games for hours...

As Barbara Kingsolver said "I want my child to know a 
potato has a plant part". I think part of homesteading is 
seeing the connections between everything in our lives, 
the results of our actions, as many of you have eloquently 
shown in your stories and advice on this list.

Still, I want a government (and a community) with 
compassion and a better ability to distinguish who truly 
needs assistance. The pulp mill folks had some choices. No 
one forsees or chooses having a disability. I wonder what 
life choices you or I, or any of the homesteaders, would 
make if we suddenly found ourselves or our spouses 
disabled?

The reality is that as long as our government leadership 
only looks at the here and now (how can we continue to 
sustain our basically unsustainable lifestyle?) without 
looking at the results and without making changes--the 
people will follow.

--Sage
Way Out in Texas



On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:11:40 -0800
 "Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net> wrote:
> One makes choices and some of them are tough.  Social 
> Security can NOT 
> continue as it is!  So, do folks make adjustments now 
> inorder to continue 
> receiving benefits and having benefits in the future for 
> themselves and 
> others or do they wait for not that many more years when 
> there is NO money 
> and no one gets anything?  Lynda's presidency will give 
> folks something 
> instead of nothing but platitudes and false promises!
>
> This kinda reminds me of the folks at the 
> Lousiana-Pacific pulp mill.  They 
> were offered three choices:  1)  Take a cut in pay and 
> reduced benefits and 
> the plant would remain in operation and they would 
> remain full-time workers; 
> 2)  Some of the workers would have to be laid off and 
> the company would have 
> to reduce the hours of operation; or 3) they would sell 
> the plant.
>
> Well, the Union went into pissy mode and called for a 
> strike.  Everyone 
> walked off the job and went on strike for 3 months.
>
> Net result:  1)  They lost 3 months wages; 2) Within 12 
> months the company 
> laid off 1/3 of the workers and reduced the hours for 
> everyone else; AND 3) 
> within 2 years they sold the plant to the only buyer 
> they could find.  Well, 
> they did have another buyer but that company planned to 
> take the plant to 
> Mexico.  Not that the employees thanked them for saving 
> the jobs.
>
> End result:  1)  The new buyer, as a conditional of 
> sale, let all the old 
> employees go with the condition that they would be given 
> first option at the 
> new jobs at new wages; 2) refused to negotiate with the 
> union to rehire at 
> the old wages; and 3)  sold the company town which 
> resulted in the reduced 
> rent ($150/mo for 2 bedroom; $200/mo for 3 bedrooms, 
> $250/mo for 4 bedrooms, 
> utilities paid) for employees also going out the window.
>
> Net result for the new company was they are now 
> operating at a profit and 
> they paid off all the debt with the sale of the company 
> town!
>
> So, for example, instead of dropping their wages from 
> $16/hr for pushing 
> sawdust around with a cat to $11.95/hr, 50% of the 
> workers ended up 
> unemployed and the 50% that were rehired make $9.50/hr 
> and have to pay for 
> their benefits!
>
> Moral of the story is that humans have a nasty habit of 
> looking at the here 
> and now and not looking at what results their lack of 
> foresight is going to 
> have.
>
> Lynda
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <eureka AT hctc.net>
>
>
> > In our small town of 49 people, we socialize with two
> > delightful couples our age. We are all middle class,
> > getting the squeeze from the economy. In both cases the
> > husbands are disabled; one, a former draftsman, has
> > glaucoma and epilepsy (and more recently, cancer) so bad
> > he cannot drive and the other, a former social worker,
> > Parkinson's and a stroke where he cannot drive (or
> > sometimes even walk). These men do as much as they are
> > capable of doing around their homsteads and manage to 
> > keep
> > their spirits up. Both wives (a former flight attendant
> > and an early childhood specialist) are capable of 
> > working
> > but have had to seek part-time local employment (minimum
> > wage) in order to have the time to drive their spouses 
> > to
> > numerous out of town doctor's visits. Like many of us,
> > their kids live in other states. These women also have 
> > to
> > take care of ailing parents or in-laws (physically and
> > financially) and most of the homestead chores. They are
> > just "getting by" and the women are exhausted.
> >
> > All of us moved here for a better quality of life, can 
> > no
> > longer afford big city real estate, or the gasoline to
> > commute us to higher paying jobs (many that prefer a
> > younger or more technically savvy workforce). I am
> > fortunate enough to be able to do my work through an
> > Internet connection and that my husband is not disabled.
> > I'm not sure what would become of our friends under
> > Lynda's presidency.
> >
> > --Sage
> > Way Out in Texas
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