That's a fair comment Andrew, I suppose it comes down to preparing
for a crash or a contraction, and you're right that there are no
guarantees or "hand holding" on the former
Cheers
Rob


--- In intentionalcommunityvictoria@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Stretton
<andrewpstretton@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Rob,
>
> The article doesn't get my goat, if anything, it simply reinforces
my belief that when it comes to the future and to what is unfolding,
there is a distinct lack of 'depth' in the thinking of many people.
This article is a 'populist' sales pitch by the South Gippsland
Shire's contact for the Foster Chamber of Commerce, a checklist that
most people from the cities who are considering a tree change would
agree with and as such, it fails dismally. Many of the truly critical
topics are simply not covered, it is therefore an article written
primarily for people who are looking for 'guarantees'.
>
> What are the critical topics? Will I be covering them? No. The
realities we will have to face in the future cannot be taught. Most
Humans seeking guarantees shy away from adversity and hostility, the
rich experiences that in truth could provide them with considerable
personal growth and critically important survival skills and
resilience.
>
> We have observed an interesting phenomena on our property North of
the Divide. We grow wild rocket, giant red mustard (a lettuce like
green) and kale, simply because they are very hardy and the insects
and pests hate the taste of the leaves and won't go near the plants.
>
> So it is with the Human visitors to the property, all of whom spit
out these highly nutritious raw leaves after only two chews, because
the 'taste is too strong'.
>
> A decision to move to any area requires thinking way beyond that of
the insects.
>
> Regards
>
> Andrew
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Rob Windt <meridian_power@...>
> To: intentionalcommunityvictoria@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, 30 January, 2009 5:23:29 PM
> Subject: [intentionalcommunityvictoria] Why Foster? Why South
Gippsland?
>
>
> Lloyd Morecom lives in the Sth Gippsland town of Foster and writes
a
> fine blog http://southgippsla ndfutures. blogspot. com/ this is one
of
> his latest entries
>
> The fundamental choice I made about how my life was to be ordered
was
> my decision to make attachment to place a priority over following a
> career. By making such a choice a very different set of values then
> follow from the ones dictated by climbing the slippery pole of
career
> ambition. This is not to say that I haven't had any sort of career.
I
> have, but it's been bounded and limited by a higher loyalty. I do
> what I need to do to live in this place, although sometimes that
has
> involved working in other places for a while, such as in Indonesia
> and Thailand in order to set myself up financially, or Melbourne in
> the eighties when I needed more social stimulus.
>
> By making such a fundamental choice, one's life is greatly
> simplified. It's easy to work out what your subsidiary values are.
> Because you will spend a long period of time in a local community,
> the kinds of artificial aids one needs to bolster one's prestige in
a
> larger and more abstract social milieu aren't needed. What's the
> point of a prestige car when for better or worse, everyone knows
what
> kind of person you are anyway? And in any case, the flash car
doesn't
> look flash for long once your wife starts carting her goats around
in
> the back.
>
> Office and career politics can be a thorny issue in any job, but if
> everything doesn't hinge on it and you were only in it for the
money
> and a bit of fun in the first place, if you fall off the slippery
> pole, it's no longer a shattering tragedy.
>
> Of course communities can be toxic too, or just plain unlucky. It
> pays to back winners in this life. It may be admirable to devote
your
> life to helping lepers in Burma, but it's not likely to be a great
> place to bring up the kids and you can forget the notion of
> participation as a full citizen in national life. Even in this wide
> brown land, there are places I personally would give a wide berth
to.
> What's the point of being president of the Wittenoom Progress
> Association? In the same way and with the broadest and crudest
brush-
> strokes, I would not consider any where inland of the Great
Dividing
> Range. Too dry, too vulnerable to climate change and almost always
> too vulnerable to changes in single economic variables (export
> agricultural products for starters are exposed to market
> fluctuations, climate variations and land degradation through
> irrigation and dry land salinity).
>
> I've got nothing against city or suburban living per se. There are
> vibrant and sustainable communities in cities and big towns, and
the
> larger and more diverse a place is, the more reslient it is likely
to
> be in the face of the changes which are now upon us. So small
> communities like Foster are liable to be less viable and more
> vulnerable than bigger ones.
>
> But I'm used to living here, I've lived in a diversity of other
> places and looking at it with a cold objective eye it's got a lot
> going for it. And that's what you need: a cold clear look at the
> frying pan you're leaping from into which fire? What follows is
> Lloydy's rough guide to thinking about this sort of decision.
>
> Sea or Tree Change? Nothing wrong with that, but think carefully
> about where you're moving to. No low lying coastal properties! And
if
> you're thinking about a move to the tropics, consider how you'd go
> without air-conditioning, and the likelihood of extreme weather
> events such as cyclones.
>
> Again, consider location before all else! What are you really
after?
> Is what you're seeking a realistic vision which you know will work,
> or is it just a remnant of a fantasy you had while trapped in the
> cube farm? You remember that weekend you and your wife had in the
> cabin tucked away in a rain forest a couple of years ago â€" that's
> what you want! Whoa buddy! No it isn't! In the end, there is a
common
> human pattern which governs the good life. We need food, shelter,
> love and companionship, meaningful work and community. You move
into
> your cabin in the woods and what happens? You'd forgotten about the
> mosquitoes, the leeches. You run out of firewood in the middle of a
> week of solid rain. Your wife gets run off the road by a logging
> truck and becomes too traumatised to drive herself anywhere. You
find
> in winter you're driving into town in the dark and home in the
dark,
> dodging wallabies and wombats, not very successfully, and in
eighteen
> months, the gravel roads hammer your gorgeous little European car
to
> death. There are only two crappy TV stations. After your house
> warming party, you don't see anyone for months at time, until
> Christmas, when all your old friends turn up with their surly
> teenagers and have a holiday for free. You discover your close
> neighbours, who you made a big effort to befriend when you first
> arrived, are barking mad. They borrow your tools and never return
> them, and you find yourself having vague and troubling
conversations
> with them at the mailbox involving long running feuds, guns and
dark
> marital secrets. And all this is assuming the price of fuel still
> makes driving hundreds of kilometres a month, in and out of town,
> affordable!
>
> Live in or very close to a town. Assume at some stage that you will
> need to do without a car at all. Chose your town with care. It
should
> have a diverse population, with reasonable medical services and
other
> professionals, and not be overly dependant on one crop or industry.
> Is it dependant on irrigation which may fail? Don't live in a place
> surrounded by tall trees unless you want to spend every summer
> terrified by the smell of smoke. Don't be sucked in by charming old
> buildings. And don't buy low lying properties on the coast.
Remember?
> Global Warming? Sea level rise? Long before the waves wash over
your
> mansion on the beach at Mollymook, its value will have collapsed
> through sheer fear of sea level rise. You won't be able to get
> insurance on it either. Be sensible!
>
> Look at the people. Try and gauge their feelings about the place.
Is
> it ruled on Saturday nights by gangs of drunken louts in noisy
cars,
> looking for someone to fight? Get the local paper and look at the
> police reports. What sorts of crime get reported weekly? If it's
just
> lost wallets and speeding fines, with the odd break in of sheds on
> remote properties, it should be OK. Is the shopping centre full of
a
> lot of empty shops? Look at the demeanour of the people you see in
> the street.. Do you see lots of people in conversation on busy days
> with smiles on their faces? Are the young people friendly or surly?
> Remember everywhere has its oddballs, so don't focus too much on
them.
>
> Talk to school teachers if you have children who'll be going to
local
> schools. You may be lovely cultured people, but the wrong crowd in
a
> small town can destroy your kid's lives, or force you to send them
to
> boarding school. On the other hand, the right crowd will give them
a
> confidence, straightforwardness , lack of cynicism and ability to
mix
> with all types which they would never get in the City. They will be
> big fish in a small pond, and get the kind of attention to their
> education which you'd need to pay serious money for anywhere else.
I
> know some remarkable groups of people who've grown up together in
> country towns and who've gone on to adult life staying in close
touch
> with each other and doing great things, in particular a bunch of
> people from Mallacoota in East Gippsland who I've worked with on
many
> diverse projects over twenty years, and who've become musicians,
> builders, writers and film industry professionals, and with whom
you
> could trust your life.
>
> So you decide to make your move. You find the ideal house, you have
> work lined up. Good. Now you need to get some tradesmen in to do
some
> work and you've struck your first problem. It takes forever to get
> the builder/plumber/ electrician. And beware of someone who's too
> available. The good tradies are always booked well ahead.
>
> Now you will be starting to measure your dreams against the
reality.
> Just don't forget the locals will be doing the same to you.
Everyone
> is very friendly, but it all comes down to one thing. Are you a
good
> payer? If you want to discover whether it's possible for something
to
> travel faster than the speed of light, mess a local tradesman
around
> over money. Every other local tradie will know instantly and
they'll
> never return any of your calls. Oh, they'll nod politely to you in
> the street and make vague noises about coming over sometime, but
> you'd better call someone from out of town if you want the job done
> in this lifetime.
>
> This is the reality of life in a small community. Every act outside
> your front door is public act, and there are no private
> conversations. The small acts of kindness and patience will be
> noticed, and so will every insult and act of deviousness. Don't run
> the person you bought the business from down in conversation with
> your customers. Let them do that, after all, it was their
> brother/uncle/ daughter in law. Treat everyone with equal respect
and
> decency and you'll gain a reputation as a good person and it wont
do
> you any harm.
>
> Everyone knows who the local dope dealer is, and who made a move on
> the teenage baby-sitter. In the town I grew up in people still
spoke
> of a scandalous pregnancy resulting in a broken engagement which
had
> taken place sixty years before.
>
> The upside is that when disaster strikes, like a serious illness,
or
> your house burning down, the community will get behind to help in a
> way that will astonish you..
>
> http://southgippsla ndfutures. blogspot. com/2009/ 01/why-foster-
why-
> south-gippsland. html
>
>
>
>
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