Free-Range Living

' Indignez-vous ------, and 'alienated life --- '

Living here in  the UK midlands in a small rural community helps with any 'alienation' feelings that might exist courtesy of modern life. Some find for instance active life in the local church to be a good community activity ; others 'worship' at the altar of real ale in the local social club, a real asset in terms of both providing a common meeting place, conducive conditions and affable company. It's noticable, and often commented on, that  later incomers in the village, often don't though in general avail themselves of this facility, seemingly drawing up their drawbridges on settling hereabouts. It's by social interaction, at, say,  the social club, that a real in-depth community, along with associated 'community feel', can occur ----

Some modern commentators have made the point that as so many large ('big is best' ) concerns exist in the world, and the tiny organism that is the individual is so 'power poor', the individual has in effect become disempowered, disenfranchised even - no doubt a noticable 'alienation' effect - ? The point has also been made that there's such a lot of 'noise' and information flying about, (especially compared with bygone times - ?),  that such individual traits as 'own common sense' could be under threat, life having become somewhat 'confusing'- ? 

A few years ago now an elderly French author urged people to 'fight back' via his well-received pamphlet entitled 'Indignez-vous, Indignez-vous!'

 Some have created their own mini communities, and good on them. One crew, in the rural borderlands of the UK, bought a small farm between them, on which there were several older buildings not particularly suited to or needed for their proposed farming programme, but pretty useful in terms of converting them to living accomodation for several families - they lived in caravans whilst carrying out the conversion work themselves. They lived independently and ran the farm on 'eco' lines as a communal resource. The pituresque farm itself , with its own 2 acre lake was a great place for the children, complete with ready-made playmates. The farm produced fuel in the form of wood and food - milk,butter, potatoes, veg, eggs and so forth - a situation that provided security as well as community, plus non-grid energy in the form of electricity from a bank of ex-submarine batteries, serviced by wind turbines, solar panels and water-powered energy from a small river on the property.

'Green retreats ----- '

'Indignez-vous' sounds like a useful 'freeranger' war-cry ----- but with so much 'indoctrination' in todays world (eg. the sheer level of advertising via the TV), it could be fighting a bit of an uphill struggle -- ? Bette Midler could well have been onto something with her comment on the need for green, peaceful and quiet refuges. Although the Retreat cabin in the paddock here at the eco organic micro-holding (small holding) in the  UK midlands is basic to say the least, being essentilly made out of re-cyclable waste,  it still does a useful job as a 'green and peaceful refuge'  ---  another good mark too for that community farm ---- One aquaintance neatly byepasses being 'TV conditioned' by the simple measure of not having one - wonder if more people than is thought follow such a policy ---- ? 

'The lone (free)ranger ---- '

Some have said that the modern US- lead type of 'free market' culture, emphasising the individual as a 'lone operator' in the market place,  is too limited dimensionally to provide an adequate model for fuller human life - ? (there seems to be more emphasis for instance on wider aspects such as family and social aspects in the Scandavian block and the warm European countries).  Maybe such an outlook links in with the longer-term notion that 'man is adrift', going 'own way' but that ultimately will need to 'find their way home'- ? Spiritual writers such as Gary Zukav ('Seat of the Soul') suggest that the 'alone' living model  contributes to problems, creating for example, an aggresive, cold, heartless environment without 'natural reverance', something that those supposedy savages, Native Americans for instance, all those years ago, were apparently aware of and practised. Maybe though the way the spiritual side has been dealt with over the years, i.e often in the 'heavy conditioning' style, hasn't then facilitated individual spiritual fruition, and as Buddha stated, authentic spirituality being an individual-based actuality, each soul needing to be able to make their own journey----

 'The man who sat on the ground meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship with all creatures and acknowledging unity with the universe, was infusing into his being the true essence of civilisation. And when native man left off this sort of development, his humanisation was retarded  in growth.' 

  (Native American chieften)

Another so-called uncivilised small indiginous tribe ensured 'naturally' that no infant in the tribe was deprived of continuous fellow human contact in the first few months of life ----

'Future responsibilities -----?'

Maybe then it's not too much of a surprise that there seems to a fair number of problems and issues in the world, and with mankind being the dominant lifeforce, it then presumably falls to it to take the responsibility and to steer a better long-term healthy course for the future -----It could well be that a fair number of people exist who would and do feel 'life reverance' - the limitation appears to be that of getting past the often over self-interested ways of those with a controlling role and interest within societies ---- At the end of the day, communities and societies are bigger entities than individuals, presumably then needing 'bigger-self' rather than 'smaller-self' people to effectively empower them, over the longer term.

(see 'The Tao of Leadership', John Heider)

Another small Pacific island community operated on natural lines, with the stronger younger elements putting regularly out to sea, then to fetch home the fish catch to feed the whole community -----

 Nice feeling, to be taking on such community responsibility ----- ? Such is the noise and compexity of modern life, that it's good now and again to look at relatively simpler and more straightforward situations as above ----

'Alienating modern everyday life ---'

Some - maybe quite a few? - might say that one of the lesser prominent life areas these days is that of 'community', a factor presumably not then helping 'individual alienation'. Imagine living, for instance a couple of hundred years or so ago here in the UK. The location would probably be a small rural community, in which folk would have their own place and be accepted for it, as well as knowing and connecting with the other members of the community. No papers, no radio, no TV, no mobile phones no social media - quiet, and just 'local communication' --- The degree of urbanisation (say here in the UK)  could itself potentially be an alienating factor as well as modern living practises such as home fuelling of vehicles, self-service at garages and supermarkets, and of course general buying practices, with 95% of food for instance sold often pretty 'remotely' these days via the larger supermarket outlets. Changes in buying patterns such as internet purchasing could also presumably contribute to an isolating effect, along with the 'working at home' trends - ?

 ' M, an aquaintance, recounted a recent stay in a hospital during which as he said, 'I was conscious of being an 'adjunct' of the system rather than say, a key player' 

. The technical, clinical processes of the hospital he rated as 'very good,' of a high standard, but then maybe in some danger of creating the 'expert' syndrome  - the expert being the 'big' one, the one with the 'know-how', then automatically relegating  the patients to 'small' status, with corresponding lower levels of individual importance, apparently often seemingly materialising in a low-ish level of communication to them. Size can often seem to produce the 'biggest is best' syndrome - another potential 'alienation effect' factor considering the poliferation of large concerns in the 20th and 21st centuries -?

'Small life non-alienation ---'

Being part of a team ('small community') with a common aim to achieve 'good results', then achieving them, can give the '2 plus 2 equals 5' experience, a bigger sense of achievment and satisfaction, as well of course a strong social 'community' feel, all adding up to a productive and satisfying sense of 'bigger living'  (i.e. than purely at individual level)--- 

Fortunately the micro-holding sits in a small rural community  with mostly sociable neighbours. And even though quite a few hours are spent 'alone' on the micro-holding, the community effect still exists, enhanced too often by sharing home-produced produce, along with gaining a feeling of strong connection to nature via working with natural processes and in the plant-laden setting; fortunately no isolation or alienation feelings are evident - quite the opposite in fact ------- 

Righto, must just get these spare beans along to J's ----