I agree. You know, I spent 30 years in a pleasant suburb of Dallas with all
the shopping and work nearby, and 3 million people in the triangle area. I
know the city. I did post-grad study there. I worked for the federal
government there. Now the nearest China-Mart is an hour and a half away, and
only the state highways are paved. I have a son and daughter in Colorado
Springs and a son in Albuquerque. They and everybody they know would rather
be out of the city, for various reasons. I agree there are environmentally
ethical ways of living in the city, but not within a system that depends
almost completely on fossil fuel for all transportation and energy, with
endless tons of high-embodied energy concrete everywhere you look. And I
wouldn't argue that just being in the country is automatically sustainable.
Even in remote NM I wouldn't claim some Permaculture purity, but like you I'm
working to live more sustainably in several ways. And it IS work. But I have
to tell you, I learn more from the locals about self sufficiency and
preserving the land than I get from books or seeing hundreds of websites and
dozens of email lists.
>Well, I do like to see both sides, or all sides, of an issue. I am
>planning to live in a very rural location where the nearest walmart is
>an hour away and 4-wheel drive suv's are necessity. I drive a jeep. And
>there's nothing you or anyone can say that will make me wish to live in
>the city. However, I understand and relate to those who wish to live in
>the city and thoroughly believe that environmentally ethical ways of
>doing that exist. As to whether they adhere to permaculture principles
>or not is out of my league. I am still studying. None of us are
>perfect, but if we are open to hearing other views and opinions, maybe
>we can all learn from it. I am very far from the ideal, but I am
>working toward a goal :)
>
>Roxann
>
>-------------------------
>Thank you Roxann. It's unfortunate that there are those who don't care
>to debate issues on the merits. That sort of thing usually tells us
>there's no facts to rebut with.
>
>
>
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