Category — pithy ideas

I don’t know if it’s totally by chance that JH Kunstler made it twice into the category “people saying smart pithy things.”

I found this interview the other day and loved it not only for what he says, but also for how much my circle of acquaintances here on the island unwittingly (?) embrace his verging on tongue-in-cheek exhortations to a simpler life (emphasis mine):

“Worry about [...] the need to find new ways to be useful to your fellow human beings (and incidentally perhaps earn a living). Worry about finding a community to live in that is cohesive enough to stave off anarchy at the local level. Worry about building the best garden you can and making good compost. Worry about how difficult it is to learn how to play a musical instrument at age 47.”

You just wouldn’t believe the number of ukelele players you’ll find around here.

Colin and I rewatched this talk by James Howard Kunstler yesterday. Though he can be overly vitriolic, I appreciate his message and his clear case for the “Tragedy of Suburbia.”

Kunstler’s themes always make me think of this awesome photographer, Andreas Gursky, and this image in particular.

Here are some of my favorite parts from his talk — they do a pretty good job of describing why I care so much about working here on the farm:

“We’re going to have to downscale, rescale, and resize virtually everything we do in this country and we can’t start soon enough to do it. We’re going to have to live closer to where we work, we’re going to have to live closer to each other, we’re going to have to grow more food closer to where we live. The age of the 3000 mile Caesar salad is coming to an end.”

“Life in the mid 21st century is going to be about living locally. Be prepared to be good neighbors. Be prepared to find vocations that make you useful to your neighbors and your fellow citizens.”

And here’s the full video in case you’re interested — he’s a pretty hilarious guy.

1) Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
2) Avoid foods containing ingredients you can’t pronounce.
3) Dont eat anything that won’t eventually rot. [Tootsie rolls! The shame...]
4) Avoid food products that carry health claims.
5) Shop the peripheries of the supermarket; stay out of the middle.
6) Better yet, buy food somewhere else: the farmer’s market or CSA.
7) Pay more, eat less.
Eat food a wide diversity of species.
9) Eat food from animals that eat grass.
10) Cook and, if you can, grow some of your own food.
11) Eat meals and eat them only at tables.
12) Eat deliberately, with other people whenever possible, and always with pleasure.