The state of our cities

[cliff....@gmail.com]

Hey Afterculturists,

I thought I'd share an experience I had just about a half an hour
ago.

Yesterday I enthusiastically returned to Tucson, AZ after 2 months of
traveling the country. On my journey I met many beautiful souls like
you who preached nothing but harmony, peace, and a return to simple
love for all. I was beginning to think the world and our collective
awareness was changing for the better. Being away from cities and
corruption gave me time to heal my passion for life.
Shortly after returning to Tucson, I felt as if something was wrong. I
became anxious, things didn't seem true, and I was questioning my
trust. My closest friend seems to be hiding a dark truth from me. With
this heavy on my heart I decided to go for a walk down 4th avenue, a
hip street in downtown. I thought it was a safe place. After walking
just 2 blocks I was approached by a man who asked me for change. I
gave him some change, and the next thing I knew I had a gun pointed in
my chest while he told me to give him my whole wallet. I'm not quite
ready to die, so I handed it over and told him to please take my money
($160 oh noes! way more money than anyone should have on them) and
leave the wallet, but he was greedy and decided to take the whole
thing. I called 911 and the police are now searching for the man. He
is probably a hopeless drug addict, heroin or meth, doesn't really
matter. Please people, don't ever do these drugs. Magic Mushrooms and
Mary Jane are one thing, but this is a whole other beast.

Anyway, Is this a message for me to get my ass off the grid?
Seriously, something about the cities are freaking me out these
days...
What do I do now? I was getting ready to resettle here, but now I
suddenly feel like I don't have any business in these parts.

[st.even]

Sorry to hear it. Dame Fortune will turn her back on you in the city or in
wilderness, I figure... don't let bad luck discourage you too much.

[Joe Harper]

I went to college in a liberal Colorado town.  I dealt with a lot of people degrading and scoffing at cities and my NYC urban upbringing.  To be honest, I found it somewhat naive and uncompromising toward reality, especially in the context of environmentalism.  Most of Colorado, and most of the Southwest in general, is actually not naturally supportive of populous human life.   Places with enormous bays and rivers (like NYC cough cough) are.  Millions of people live on Manhattan's 13mile long island, while thousands sprawl themselves across desert lands, drinking from diverted water sources, talking shit about us dirty New Yorkers. I find an extreme irony in that.   People try to escape cities for being polluted, but they usually end up polluting whatever pristine lands on which they go develop their new lifestyles.    Furthermore, your reaction to the experience seems more like this "escapism" than anything else.  Is that a just reason to live "off the grid?"  Maybe you can find another city that is safer, and more environmentally sustainable instead.

 

Has anyone read "Ecotopia" by Ernest Callanbach?  It is about the Pacific Northwest leaving the U.S. to start a, well...ecotopia.  One of the arguments they make is that cities actually make much less of an impact on the Earth than living out in the country.  In the book, they get rid of suburbs and turn the skyrises of San Fran, Seattle, and Portland into communal housing.  The people are then given designated times to work the farms and enjoy the countryside with low impact, while primarily staying in these populated sustainable cities.

 

Living off the grid is always wonderful.  I think, however, it loses touch with the dire situation that is currently happening on a mass scale.  I think people like us need to stay in these cities and present alternatives to the people who are not normally exposed to such ideas.  If you decide to go off the grid, I ask that you do it with the intention of eventually bringing your learnt knowledge to people who cannot pursue such an opportunity.

 

I know I sound very cold right now and I apologize.  I am really sorry to hear you had to go through that mugging experience. 

I've been through many similar situations growing up in New York City.  I guess I would say try not to waste your energy getting angry, sad, frustrated, or discouraged.  If you're gonna use any energy on such a frightening experience, use it on compassion.  Although it sounds somewhat cold, my advice would be to just let it go, because it was nothing personal....everyone suffers. (Perhaps you can stay and work on drug education programs...) 

 

I think you will find the mental stability to get through this as time continues to separate you from the experience.  I just think giving up on humanity and running into the woods might not be the best answer just yet.

 

Good luck and much love

-joe noboby

[Cliff Winton]

Joe,
Thanks much for your insights. I realized much of this shortly after after calmed down from the experience. I don't take it personally, and I won't let myself take the experience as a general statement of humanity.  You are right, my reaction was escapist. I wasn't thinking things through, and I wasn't factoring all of the great things that cities offer, such as diverse culture and exchange, in addition to an established infrastructure that supports itself. It may not be able to support itself if any of its resources are depleted/not supplied, but in the context of system where the resources are taken for granted, the system works. It also makes sense, the argument that cities have less of an overall impact than if the same amount of people were more spread out. The suburbs are the real culprit in the drainage of our resources.
I have much to learn before I will be ready to fully join in any alternative establishment off the grid. In the meantime, I can deal with the negative aspects of dense city-life, and I will do my best to turn those negative points around. We can't start something new until we've fixed what we already have, right?
Love and Light,
Cliff

--
Cliff Winton
www.vstk.org

[Rae Bevis]

I don't think our present system is fixable; it's not based on any
sustainability. I think we do need to create something new: new
approaches, new economics (which is about how people reciprocate with
each other).
Mainstream culture, business & politics are mostly based on greed,
not on the values that are important to most people. I think we
change the world by developing new models and setting examples, esp.
of how people interact with each other & with nature, wherever we are.
Rae in Denver

[TechnoHippieChic]

i had a less serious experience in Denver after
returning here- no robbery or guns, only heavy
traffic, pollution, and craziness-
i feel the same- it is harder and harder for me to be
in a city without seeking the refuge of the trees.
speaking of trees- i felt it important to pass a
message on- it was transmitted to me by the triad of
trees in the main circle there at Gain Mind-
(in my words) the message is this:
the trees miss their family
and they want to know if we are going to help them
(not can we but will we)

also, the other day i had a realization that the earth
below our feet (in the city) is suffocated - it is
covered with concrete and tar- the land is still under
there and can regenerate
we as a human race still will have cities- living in
nature is not for everyone, nor can the earth
withstand everyone moving out onto the land. the
cities need less cars and more public transport that
eliminates waste to our environment (ie hovercrafts)
we need to get rid of much of the asphalt landscape
and allow the natural earth to flourish
we are the caretakers and gaurdians of this planet
let's start with sending loveing energy to the ground
right around us wherever we are
~we can bless the rivers too~

another cool thing- at Dreamtime in Paonia Colorado, i
witnessed algae cleaning generator exhaust and
producing oxygen as it grows and feeds off the CO2
this can be done on gas powered vehicles!

--- cliff....@gmail.com wrote:

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[Joe Harper]

"the other day i had a realization that the earth
below our feet (in the city) is suffocated - it is
covered with concrete and tar- the land is still under
there and can regenerate"

 

-i completely agree with this notion.  There is a lot of unnecessary concrete in cities.  And I think sooner or later, non of it will be necessary.  I have actually thought about using jackhammers to uproot unnecessary concrete.  I would then try to ask why they would need to replace the concrete in hopes that they might finally (and literally) see our point of view.  I am currently living in Seoul, Korea for the year, but perhaps when I get back I will organize a group to help me do this.  We would dress up in construction clothing and sport fake permits that the police never seriously check. We would document it all with video-cameras and spread the movement via youtube ;)   

 

wikipedia "reclaim the streets" and you can read about how they planted trees on highways during a rave in London.

 

 

On another note, i don't think it is fair to point fingers at the city when it comes to suffocating the ground.  People build roads to access pristine lands for pleasure (just look at southern Utah) and to "get away" (Colorado Rockies).  When you want to leave the hustle and bustle of Denver, do you walk miles and miles to the forest or use some of those asphalt roads to get there?  I can list off every i-70 exit by memory from Denver to Grand Junction myself.  Also, a LOT of people feel cities are not for them...that is why we are absolutely destroying the lands of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming, etc, etc, etc.....who gets to be the select few who can live there? (i know you have seen those obnoxious "colorado native" bumper stickers...).  I still think the best thing to do is stay in a city and make it yours by pushing to improve those aspects you do not like.

 

As you all know...i focus my energy on the masses.  I think everything Shoshannah and Rae had to say is completely valid and I agree with a lot of it.  However, at this point, I think it is very necessary to stear clear of what some have called "idealistic complaining."  An environmentalist friend who I greatly admire asked if I was an "idealistic complainer" when I said I was coming from Colorado.  I had not heard the term and he went on to explain that his experience with the Colorado environmentalist movement has involved many "holier than thou" people pointing fingers and cursing at "the man", but not doing much beyond going on a hike to feel better about themselves.  Not to mention that Colorado is not sustainable for that many humans.  He was the one that introduced me to the woes of things like "escapism" and "preaching to the choir" and influenced me to focus all of my energy on "mainstream" action, action, and only action when it came to thinking about the environment.  I don't mean to sound harsh or harp on anyone personally (although I am often told I am a blunt motherfucker with my outspoken opinions).  I am just putting this out there since it has so greatly affected my perspective.

 

The Earth is dying at a rapid rate and we need to be pragmatic and effective as soon as possible.  Nobody is going to convince someone like my Bush-loving uncle to radically erase our "greedy" civilization and start from scratch anytime soon, but you might convince him to drive a hybrid as a start.  We don't have time anymore for idealism....we need pragmatism...we need to act and act fast.

 

again...i apologize if i sound agressive

unfortunately, this is my passion, it burns, and I really like to push when it comes to dialogue.

on that note....i was happy to be tipped off on the algea-energy!  :)

 

 "FRACTALS OF LOVE"