Discuss: The Most Radical Thing You Can Do

As a counterpoint, Hannah warns us to not forget the importance of the global community, but I would ask that we be more careful with our language and with the logic that flows from it.

In ecology as in sociology, community has long meant those who share a locale, a place. In time, community has come to mean any group with similar interests or common identity. But those are far different concepts. The first is about relationship, communing. The second is about identity, abstract conception.

Just as Wendell Berry asserted that it’s not possible to love the Earth, only to love a piece of earth (and through love of the part, respect for the whole), I would assert that global “community” is an abstraction that can be respected but not loved in the manner that creates authentic community.

Spending time on the internet (as I am now doing), in fact, takes us out of community and home every bit as much as getting on a plane or into an SUV.

Yes, communication is important and serves as a catalyst for social change (as it also serves the status quo by mass marketing and adverstising). But home is the place and the people that we can wrap our arms around, not simply our minds.

Staying home, for us moderns, is as much about getting out of our heads and back into our hearts as it is about refraining from getting into the car. And this will be the most difficult yet most necessary cultural shift if we are to relearn to live sustainably and happily.

What a marvelous article! Hopefully, this is the real future, not false green consumerism, not hollow paper or plastic arguments. When we all slow down the crazy consumerism and waste that feeds the machine of oil produced prosperity will die. As the saying goes; it’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than think your way into a new way of acting.

To me, still the most radical thing you can do is to not have kids.  I can’t think of anything else that will have a more lasting effect.

I love to stay home and I enjoy traveling. By traveling I mean the chance to leave the familiar and take a journey into a space/people/land I’ve not encountered before. This is different than transportation from home to work to meeting to shopping center to grocery store to gym to ... Traveling in the best sense means greeting the unfamiliar and learning more about others with different viewpoints AND one’s own sweet self. Knowing only home can easily lead to distrust of the not-home. The worst aspects of gated developments and small towns are good examples of this. There is much good that can come from experiencing deeply a daily life rooted in place, it just needs a bracing shake-up now and then - plus the wonder of seeing the beauty not found in one’s own corner of the world.

Incredible! I really appreciate the recognition of privilege and the Oaxacan story blended into the theme of the article. hb, no one should feel guilty for staying home or not travelling. Many folks stay close to home, operating on the fringe of society and the economy - old folks, people with disabilities, those with anxiety disorders, the unemployed, the radical anti-economy crowd, etc. We should stay home if we have the opportunity and not let work dictate our self-identification. I always tell myself that it could be alot worse. Certain strains remind me of John Zerzan’s anti-technology and anti-civilization musings.

Wonderful topic. I offer two points.

#1. I am at home at all times, whether I am in my physical place or whether I move about by whatever conveyance.  Home is where my heart is at rest, at peace. In the macro sense it matters not that I travel, only that it be purposefully.

#2.  Wherever I stand is sacred ground.  A temple ruin is no more sacred than the ground beneath our feet.  These human capacities through which we incarnate are sacred, and for living a sacred life, and for walking in the sacred Way.

There is nothing more to it.  All else is a story, yours or mine.  Fulfill the commandments of these two truths and Gaia will glorify your life with abundance of needful resources and beauty.  Do not worry about Her, she will take care of herself.  We will experience that according to the seeds we sow.

Robert Riversong wrote: “Spending time on the internet (as I am now doing), in fact, takes us out of community and home every bit as much as getting on a plane or into an SUV.”

I say, “only if I let it.” Robert, without internet technology I would have missed your wonderful comment, and maybe even this chance to meet you. With the internet I have a worldwide community of deep-hearted friends. My internet connection let me save a life in the Philippines; meet my future wife in Thailand; be a personal guest to Bhutan; and more.
All because I stay at home, in attunement with all of life, mo matter what.  I welcome direct contact to ..

This was a fine piece.  It has feeling of calmness running throughout it well not just calmness but on of serenity together with satisfaction.  I have a disability which sometimes prevents me from leaving my little flat but it gives me a chance to reflect upon things.  I really love being at home and playing with my wonderful border collie Alfie and we prepare the meal for my girlfriend home coming.  If he likes what I’ve made then so will Julie.  Thank you for writing your piece.