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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] old virtues in the new Ireland

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  • From: "John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>
  • To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] old virtues in the new Ireland
  • Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 19:34:19 -0000


I have lived here for nigh 25 years Paul and I have reached other conclusions. One of the things that have baffled me for a long time is the near universal hatred of urban Irish people for anything to do with farming, farmers or the land. And believe me I don't use the word hatred lightly.
Another thing is that I have never seen people generally be farther removed from anything natural. If you see trees standing (apart from Sitka spruce state forestry) it is because the owner is too poor or too lazy to go to the trouble of having them cut down (it is a matter of status to get the biggest possible machine in to uproot trees) or because the owner is a (ff'ing) foreigner.
Public transportation is wide spread in Dublin and there are bus lines between major cities. For us in the country there is no public transport whatsoever. Cars are thus major status symbols even if the driving of most rural dwellers is far below par. Only a very small minority is able to reverse more than a few feet and that is with the door open and leaning outside to see.
When my children were younger they walked to school two and a half miles away. I was demonized for letting them walk. During those walks they would pick lovely wild blackberries beside the deserted road in summer. They were told by several people that this was gross because blackberries had worms in them.
I could go on for a full lenght book but it is really too sad.

And by the way, O'Sterity is not an Irish name but an Irification of "austerity". I can only wonder what the author had been smoking.
I do wish with all my heart that there was any truth in what he/she writes though.
john

I came across this fromJul 29 2010:
O'Sterity: old virtues in the new Ireland
http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-11-05/osterity-old-virtues-new-ireland
an excerpt:

"Living on an island makes Ireland more vulnerable to a depression, fuel shortage, or food crisis, and yet the Irish seem more prepared to endure it. Agrarian self-sufficiency ran too deep, too recently to be fully abandoned. Many people here grow gardens, and until recently it was common for schools and hospitals to have a garden outside to feed the students and patients. Cities and towns are compact to the point of claustrophobia, so arable land is never far away. Public transportation is widespread and carries no stigma of poverty. Perhaps most importantly, everyone seems willing to help even distant relatives - and if they live on the island, they are never far away."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

paul tradingpost@lobo.net



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