Page 2 of 5 FirstFirst 1234 ... LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 46

Thread: I'm bummed..........and overwhelmed, and mad, and sad.........

  1. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    4,192
    I agree with a lot of the things that upset you, but I think it's because we are old.

    When I was a kid there were shops downtown. Then they built a mall in my hometown. When I was a teenager, we all hung out there. Downtown became a bunch of vacant buildings. After I left, they built a bypas. The mall died. It became almost vacant and badly lit. People were killed. The mall was torn down. Now it's a grassy field. Downtown didn't recover - it's lofts. My cousin's high school is a field too. The field on the way to my cousin's high school is apartments. My mom drives 20 minutes to shop at the wallmart built on ground that used to have shotgun houses with no plumbing.

    Maybe be you could move there - housing is really cheap. They are still burning it down. My great grandparent's farm has completed the cycle from open land to farm with house to farm without house to open land. It only took 130 years.

  2. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    3,737
    Traveling abroad can change attitudes. We went to India and I now want to kiss the ground that I was born and live in the United States. We went to China and the same thing happened.

    But, I am glad we chose not to have kids. I do worry about the planet but there is little I can do to change anything other than how I live my life.
    Last edited by sweetana3; 4-14-17 at 12:34pm.

  3. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    4,192
    You can vote, you can donate to causes that support your values, you can call your representatives, you can educate those around you, you can volunteer for projects and organizations that promote the world you want to see, and you can speak up, loudly and often.

    making sure everyone you know understands why you don't buy plastic crap and what the alternatives are has a lot more effect than not buying plastic crap.

    (or as my beloved son in law says - "we don't buy organic broccoli because it's better for us. We buy organic broccoli because it's better for migrant labor in California." - and we explain that to the people who mock us for buying organic broccoli.)

  4. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    6,248
    Quote Originally Posted by CathyA View Post
    I'm having a bad day/week/month. There's becoming a bigger and bigger split between how I feel life should go and how this country (and world?) are going.

    I went to Target to buy a few items and they are totally remodeling/enlarging the store to hold more crap. I have a bad knee, so I use the electric cart. It ran out of steam and I had to find another one. I had to move my stuff to the other one, while 2 employees were gabbing right next to me, seeing me, but not helping. People stand in the middle of isles with their carts, totally oblivious to anyone else needing to get by.

    I go to buy something and the price isn't marked. I drive the cart across the store to a "price check" machine, and it doesn't work. .
    Sounds like a rough week. I don't get the combination of not pricing things, not having working scanners and then doing self-checkout. It seems like we are cutting people or not holding them to high customer service standards. It is one of my pet peeves. My medical insurance will NOT tell me how much a prescription drug is when I order it mail order. I use my health savings debit card at least. It is not like I am buying from a dealer on a corner, just tell me the darn price so I can balance my checking account, geez.

  5. #15
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    8,306
    If people are so concerned about the blight of humanity in the countryside, is it morally consistent for them to continue living there? If people are so concerned about too much gimcrackery in the stores and all those nasty, noisy internal combustion engines, is it morally consistent for them to be driving to those stores and looking around?

    Is the difference between the person with the Prius parked outside the old farmhouse and the person with the Escalade parked outside a McMansion more one of degree than of kind?

  6. #16
    Low Tech grunt iris lily's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    4,942
    We were thrilled when the houses across the street were built. I had an Iris garden in some of the space, but
    I gladly gave it up for nice quality houses and, as it has turned out, fab new neighbors.

    So no, not all of us experience development as a bad thing.

    Getting the RIGHT develop,ent here was a challenge of several years. Our neighborhood spends a fair amount of time, energy, and sometimes financial resources to shape and mold appropriate development.

  7. #17
    Senior Member KayLR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    SW Washington State
    Posts
    2,756
    Yes, the RIGHT development is key---but define that. I guess here it means taking an dairy farm cutting down all the woods on it and cramming 800 houses on the land----in the flyway to the refuge.

    And to your comment, LDAHL, I do not live there anymore, but my memories lie there. It WAS my "place." There's nothing I can do about my memories which lives up to your "moral consistency." And I ---and I suspect many more here on this forum-- do not shop in Dollar Stores, but make do with what I have instead. What makes you think that because we lament these things that we are also complicit in them?

    Not every person lives in a black and white world.
    My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished two bags of M&Ms and a chocolate cake. I feel better already!

  8. #18
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Nevada
    Posts
    12,889
    After being in Thailand and Mexico I am also very happy to live here. Where we live has doubled in size over the last 20 years since I moved here. It is a very beautiful area with a mild 4 seasons so is attractive to others. Certain times of day there is no point in using the freeway as it is at a standstill. When I lived in Wis in the 80's farmers started to sell their land to developers and Chicago people moved in like crazy because the houses were close to the freeway and only a hour drive to Chicago for work. Locals were really mad. It hurt the locals as housing prices rose and so did property taxes. But you can't stop any of that so I choose not to worry about it. I am concerned about the intention to eliminate the EPA, etc. WE have generations that we need to think about that are children and what they will inherit.

  9. #19
    Senior Member CathyA's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    9,116
    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
    If people are so concerned about the blight of humanity in the countryside, is it morally consistent for them to continue living there? If people are so concerned about too much gimcrackery in the stores and all those nasty, noisy internal combustion engines, is it morally consistent for them to be driving to those stores and looking around?

    Is the difference between the person with the Prius parked outside the old farmhouse and the person with the Escalade parked outside a McMansion more one of degree than of kind?
    It's called Moderation. It's called controlled development.......of which there is neither around here. And to say that I'm being inconsistent by living in the country, or driving to the store is well, just silly. I wouldn't mind if everyone lived on 35 acres and grew their own gardens and didn't run out and buy a lot of crap. We moved into a house that was already here 35 years ago. I would say, for the most part, we live pretty gently out here. One of my pet peeve phrases is "You got you're little piece of heaven, now you don't want anyone else to." To that I say B.S.! As I've said before, 10 miles from me a few years ago they bought 1700 acres of farmland and turned it into a city........big box stores, apartments, hospital, etc., etc., etc. You can't tell me that moving into an area like that is like how DH and I moved out here. Greed and short-sightedness rules all the time. There's no way that my calling officials, complaining, protesting, etc., etc. would make a damn bit of difference here. Plus......I'm not a social person. Why do people in the country always have to be the ones who have to adjust to the greedy, consumeristic ones? Everything falls on a continuum, and in today's world (at least here in the U.S.), there's no moderation or discipline or insight.

    I thought my travels to the big city yesterday were over, but today I had to drive to DH's work and sign some tax papers (because someone stole his SSN and filed under his name).......so back I went. The big thing around there are "roundabouts"........dozens of them, one right after the other. You almost need a dramamine to go there. Plus, they are re-doing many of the roads, making raised highways above the old ones. I feel bad for older people or visitors when they are driving through these double-laned roundabouts that have all sorts of hieroglyphics as to where you need to be to get where you're going. I went through several more wooded areas that are now huge businesses and McMansions.
    Yes, each generation is saddened by "progress"........but we're reaching a point of no return. IMHO it's just not sustainable. But hey......who cares what our children and grandchildren have to deal with.....as long as, in this moment, we get our fill of everything we could want.
    I'll tell you this...........it makes leaving this world seem a little less awful to me.

  10. #20
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    8,306
    Quote Originally Posted by CathyA View Post
    It's called Moderation. It's called controlled development.......of which there is neither around here. And to say that I'm being inconsistent by living in the country, or driving to the store is well, just silly. I wouldn't mind if everyone lived on 35 acres and grew their own gardens and didn't run out and buy a lot of crap. We moved into a house that was already here 35 years ago. I would say, for the most part, we live pretty gently out here. One of my pet peeve phrases is "You got you're little piece of heaven, now you don't want anyone else to." To that I say B.S.! As I've said before, 10 miles from me a few years ago they bought 1700 acres of farmland and turned it into a city........big box stores, apartments, hospital, etc., etc., etc. You can't tell me that moving into an area like that is like how DH and I moved out here. Greed and short-sightedness rules all the time. There's no way that my calling officials, complaining, protesting, etc., etc. would make a damn bit of difference here. Plus......I'm not a social person. Why do people in the country always have to be the ones who have to adjust to the greedy, consumeristic ones? Everything falls on a continuum, and in today's world (at least here in the U.S.), there's no moderation or discipline or insight.

    I thought my travels to the big city yesterday were over, but today I had to drive to DH's work and sign some tax papers (because someone stole his SSN and filed under his name).......so back I went. The big thing around there are "roundabouts"........dozens of them, one right after the other. You almost need a dramamine to go there. Plus, they are re-doing many of the roads, making raised highways above the old ones. I feel bad for older people or visitors when they are driving through these double-laned roundabouts that have all sorts of hieroglyphics as to where you need to be to get where you're going. I went through several more wooded areas that are now huge businesses and McMansions.
    Yes, each generation is saddened by "progress"........but we're reaching a point of no return. IMHO it's just not sustainable. But hey......who cares what our children and grandchildren have to deal with.....as long as, in this moment, we get our fill of everything we could want.
    I'll tell you this...........it makes leaving this world seem a little less awful to me.
    I think that if the average Bolivian peasant were to review the Prius and Escalade lifestyles, he wouldn't see enough difference between them that he could understand why one might be outraged or disgusted by the other.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •