Hi Keith, Mike, Hakan. Hakan said that his experience in Israel had been to remind him of North America. (right? "Structural" recognition?) Which yeah, I guess, Tel Aviv is quite cosmopolitan. I meant the desert, and the blowing poppy fields above Gallilee, the grazing camels and storks... this was a long time ago, the late '60's. Everyone I met just seemed so confident. There was a good feeling there, like "home". > >> Hi Keith, Kim, >> Family of origin, place of origin, it's deep, was what I meant. Somewhere >> out of our thinking brain. It's an issue, someway or another, as your >> thoughtful replies imply. > > I don't think they imply that. It hasn't been an "issue" for me, if > "issue" means a problem or difficulty. As I said, it's just the way > things panned out. I probably wouldn't have thought about it that > much, or not in those terms, had other people not started asking me > questions about "home" and "family" and so on, mainly because they > couldn't find the right label to paste on my forehead and it made > them uncomfortable. I guess it was an "issue" for them. I'd say > something like it didn't matter much to me but they couldn't accept > that, didn't believe me, kept pestering me about it. That it wasn't > an issue for me also seems to have been an issue for them.
Keith, as forum supervisor, probably presenting opposing views improves the quality of the discussion. Phliosophically, however, it is at odds with our topic. I have not meant to have you feel put on the spot about your choice of home! I don't think I even went there. > >> Some people search around until they find their >> real home, and whew! That's satisfaction. > > That sounds more like relief than satisfaction. There a great > satisfaction in finding that it's the whole planet you're a citizen > of, rather than just some little corner of it. IF that's the kind of > person you are. As Mike's link illustrates, this is wonderfully evolved thinking. Which doesn't mean Walt is wrong to love his home! Or that anyone is. >>>"I thank God every sparklin' morn >>> That he saw fit to have me born >>> in Dixie." >>> I've always felt that way, and feel sad for anyone who doesn't >>>feel that way about their natal land. > > Funny... It's one of those divides where each side thinks they can > see the other side's position clearly but the other side can't see > their position. Might also be one of those situations where the participants actually agree, but are not yet satisfied with the articulation of the conflict. Some of the longest arguments of all are based on that one! >It seems to me that one side might be right about > that and the other isn't, and I think that's because the idea of > someone not needing or valuing these ties of "home" and "family" is > somehow threatening or upsetting to those who do need and value them. > I may not need them or value them, but I did not say that they have > no value, nor that those who do need them and value them are wrong or > misguided. I've watched so many friends live with and through these > things, very close friends many of them, it's into it's third > generation now, so I have a pretty good idea of what they mean (maybe > better in some ways than they do themselves, not being attached, and > able to make comparisons). The same can seldom be said of the "other > side" though, sad to say. > > It reminds me a little of something said about children, or rather > about having them: that people who have children and people who don't > always feel sorry for each other. Not quite the same, and I don't > quite agree with that, but there's something there, something similar. Lots of choices have regret either way. > >> I've never been closer to Africa than Engineers Without Borders videos, but >> the unique mystery of that old land is, well, legendary. Actually, of all >> the countries I have visited, I felt most at home in Israel. I'm 4th >> generation Canadian, neither Jewish nor Muslim, so go figure, but it just >> felt like home. (Costa Rica is a fantastic place too. What spirit!) But I >> ended up back here anyway, something about family, maybe. >> An interesting sidebar! Demographic dispersion: the search for comfort. > > You mean an emotional comfort rather than a physical one? A bit > post-modern as a mover of men Yes! I definitely mean emotional. And this IS a post-modern concept, we are in fact post-modern. >I think. I don't think you need go that > far. Species disperse over the land according to the available > resources, the limitations being those of the environmental > conditions the species can adapt to. In other words, they'll disperse > as widely as possible. People even do that in a lift (elevator), > there have been studies of it. As usual, there's another, opposing > instinct: to huddle together, the "herd" instinct, for defence and > protection. The two should find a balance, ideally. Individually > (also as usual), there'll be those on either side of the "norm" that > for the community as a whole might be ideal. From the community's > point of view, this helps us survive change and to evolve. If it's > really that difficult for the individuals on the opposite fringes of > this issue (ie an area of concern) to understand each other better > than we seem to be doing, especially in this era of the global > Internet and (hopefully) the Global Village, maybe we need to evolve > just a little more. Thanks to Mike for his cool link, adding the PC perspective. http://www.knowledgeboard.com/download/3262/Citizen-of-this-World.htm Okay, to sum up! 1) everyone feels emotionally attached to his home, either born or found. That's why they stay, isn't it? (Assuming they have choice. Don't jump on me there, Keith.) 2) Thinking on the higher plane would broaden this attachment to the whole planet, and that would involve ALL sorts of improved politics and sustainable land use practices and technologies. 3) Morally, that's what everyone wants. 4) Maybe I've tried to put too much into one post. Sorry if this is confusing. Jesse _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
