Otherwise known as the Great American Contradiction.
We act as if we’re personally independent and can make our own decisions our own way; in reality, most people are entirely dependent on others for food, fuel to cook it, water, heat — in short, anything they really must have.
Doris Janzen Longacre, Living More With Less, p. 141
I thumb through this book regularly. It’s one of the books that I slip into my purse to read during those unexpected moments of waiting. I’ve read this passage more times than I can remember and I’ve even underlined it. This week, her point has been more relevant than usual.
First, we spent several days with my very urban sister. (Who happens to live in a podunk town. Not her choice.) She does NOT want to know where her food comes from. She won’t think about things like free-range eggs being healthier, buying meat from a neighbor for savings and health benefits, or the homogenization of milk. She rinses every single dish before it goes into her brand-spankin’ new dishwasher because that’s what she’s always done, without any conscious though about the water she’s wasting or the fact that it isn’t good for the dishes. She doesn’t care. Water, heat, garbage service, sewer… she lives as though they will always be there. She is a typical “independent” feminist. She looks down her nose at “hayseeds” and will be absolutely lost if she ever finds herself in a major crisis.
I’ve also been pondering our dependence on electricity at this house. Nearly fourteen years ago, this area had a monster ice storm that knocked the power out for days. Haven’t had one since. Are we due? We haven’t bought a new, smaller propane tank for the fireplace. My stove is electric and the burner on the grill doesn’t work. What will we do if it happens this year? All the supplies I have stashed won’t do me diddly good if we all freeze to death in our beds! We could manage better in a long term situation (like Katrina) than we could for a few days without electricity.
I’ll comfort myself for a moment laughing at myself and my fellow Americans about our “independence”.
Sunday, 25 November 2007 at 9:38 pm
At our first house, we went 3 days w/out electricity. It was NOT fun. It was summer so we did not have to worry about heat even though we had a wood burning stove in the living room for heat. Dh ALWAYS wanted to get a corn burner, but we never did. We put a woodstove in our second house. It was in the garage and worked through the duct system.
Here no need for heat. The temps stay in a very nice range so no AC and no heat.
I am WAY too dependent on electricity, but we can live here without it long than in the US due to the fact so many here do not have it in the first place!
Monday, 26 November 2007 at 9:01 pm
I -love- More With Less. It’s the cookbook I go back to again and again.
Sunday, 2 December 2007 at 2:12 pm
I read Living More With Less once.
I’d like to be like that when I grow up. But so far, there’s little sign of that happening.