tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post8373459660103012890..comments2024-03-12T18:37:16.548-04:00Comments on The Easiest Person to Fool: Deliberate Descent – Part 2Irv Millshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08030800457536589003noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post-63323130756381861362013-08-24T18:18:45.942-04:002013-08-24T18:18:45.942-04:00My parents, too, lived through the depression. Mom...My parents, too, lived through the depression. Mom as a teenager and Dad as a young man in his 20's. It certainly left a mark on them, and no doubt on me in a secondhand way. But the years following the depression also left a mark -- a solid belief in progress. Dad was never much enamoured of the "old days", and whole heartedly embraced all the changes that happened in farming during his life. There was never any thought that fossil fuels were the driving force behind economic growth and the "progress" that went with it. And certainly no idea that progress could slam headlong into a wall consisting of resource limits. This is true of several generations of people who are alive now and whose habits (of thought and behaviour) arose during the later half of the twentieth century. Indeed, a storm is coming, and most of us are woefully unprepared.<br />Irv Millshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08030800457536589003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post-25032537141504030012013-08-24T16:25:15.304-04:002013-08-24T16:25:15.304-04:00What a fantastic article, Irv! You and I share a d...What a fantastic article, Irv! You and I share a different world view in part because of our parents experience. My folks experienced the depression full throttle and newer recovered from it-they saved, lived well within their means, consumed very little, reused everything etc. In a way they were environmentalists without being cognizant of the term. <br /><br />Like you my dad always had a garden-it gave him a sense of control over his own destiny and the produce augmented our diet. My mother did preserves every single year-chili cause, peaches, dill pickles, mustard pickle, beats etc. We never had the materialistic trappings of today's society but we never felt deprived. <br /><br />There's something magical about ten per cent. Financial planners often recommend that everyone save 10% of their earnings and kept in a secure spot, not to be spent. Environmentalists tell us if we only take 10% of a forest that we'll have that forest forever.<br /><br />I fully agree with you re our political system. Politicians in the States have corporate sponsors, and our national newspapers might as well identify themselves as propaganda wings of a political party-I don't trust them.<br /><br />Deliberate decent as you've phrased it, is an idea worth promoting. It's green, it weans us from corporate dependency as well as other forms of dependency, strengthens our character, and enhances our ability to weather a storm. And a storm is clearly gathering.David Lockharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03553853545697081652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2848841213670110129.post-82834091745969351902013-08-24T16:17:17.515-04:002013-08-24T16:17:17.515-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.David Lockharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03553853545697081652noreply@blogger.com