Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
OMG! I know. I remember all too well when my oldest asked a couple of years ago how Walmart makes bananas. I knew immediately we were in trouble! They've since asked about other things "Walmart makes". That's just sad to me.
I've lived in rural areas since 1981 raising animals and it seems to me that the combination of low wages, and high prices make one a slave to the internal combustion engine and the oil industry. Nobody wants their area suburbanized and yet they seem to prefer to use their funds on gas and vehicles to get to shops in other areas where the choices are better and/or prices are less. What bothers me about this is the elitism involved. I identify strongly with the rural poor and on the whole, they are the ones who suffer from limited options the same way they do in the inner city. Now, the rural poor are unlikely to be participating on a computer discussion group but when you are singing the praises of the simple life, take a moment to reflect on the difficult lifestyle of many in the country who love it just as much as you do but are getting by with so much less. In my area there was even a backlash movement against the wealthy building big homes outside the cities with the idea that rural people should have to pay for mail delivery because they choose to move where it costs more to bring them their mail. I lived next door to a family who were laid off part of every year from their dangerous factory jobs (I was told graphically how much they would receive for each body part lopped off!) which they anticipated by raising a few pigs and chickens, and for cash they babysat and raised a small plot of tobacco, something that is probably not feasible with the recent changes to that system. They got by. In exchange for part of the rent they did their own repairs including digging up their own septic tank and rigging up something moderately useful in our codeless county. The only food store within walking distance was a bait/video/deli shop with high prices. For anything else we had to drive 20+ miles to a small expensive grocery store, all on slow, winding back roads, or 40 miles, about a third on winding back roads, in the other direction for a Kroger. 40 miles for jobs or to a hospital/doctor. They would never move because their families had lived there for generations and for generations they had lived in poverty, in bad health, and with indifferent education, being ruthlessly exploited by the factories. It was a beautiful area and I hated to leave but unless I wanted to go into social work to help people like that, I couldn't stay and watch what was happening to them, or become like them. If you have resources, can take trips away, can send your kids to college, the countryside is wonderful. I've lived the other side of it and that's really ugly.
(On my dead end road here I'm so grateful for asphalt. It really cuts the dust. When my mother had a heart attack I was grateful to be five miles from the hospital. Although the ambulance drove up without siren, a neighbor who is a nurse noticed and came over to see if she could do anything. It's getting a bit crowded for my tastes now but when my father fell in the pasture a neighbor saw him and made sure he was ok. I've gone next door and untangled a sheep from a tarp on a hot day when I couldn't get anyone on the phone, and raised the alarm when a dog got into one of their chicken pens. The people to my other side have recently moved out of their large house but it's perfectly safe and we all keep an eye on things. When their dryer caught fire several years ago, a neighbor on their far side saw the smoke and called with a warning. When we had an unusual 30 inches of snow, a neighbor plowed our drive to the handicapped ramp so that if the road were ever opened--which took three days for the plow to come through and even a farm tractor couldn't make it up our steep hill, Dad could be taken to the hospital if he had an emergency, which was the best Christmas Eve present I could imagine! There's something to be said for caring neighbors who are close enough to be aware if you need help. Maybe you've never been in serious trouble, but I have and that's when you appreciate a friendly watchful eye. Although I'm cautious by nature and from living alone in many areas, I think this is a safe area. And I have to say, although I like the Mom and Pop stores in town, I like the discount stores just as much to stretch my limited budget. In our area, the immigrants are the most entrepreneurial so little stores and restaurants have sprouted all over like violets in the spring. I can take a small vacation to another country even though I can't leave my animals to go on a trip. It's really a great place to raise kids or to retire. Too bad I can't afford it, with its low wage jobs, any more.)
That's exactly how I grew up. When they finally paved the road (one of them) by our house the cars (the few that went down it) had to wait for the kids to get out of the way with their skates, skateboards and bikes. The other roads were dirt and shell and perfect for horses.
Work so HARD to keep maine that way.
Thank you for all you have done to keep a corner of America for those of us who want that life.
I'm grateful !!
I understand what you are talking about because I love cities. I don't know if I am personally cut out for country life and I am one of those who might like Portland(have to see it first). I grew up in Brooklyn,NY where everyone is on top of eachother and I am still fine with that. Small spaces don't bother me. There will always be a place in me that needs to see lights and sounds and culture. I also don't want to drive endlessly for stores and hospitals. The world needs to have wild places in it . Lots of them though...Not just limited to wildlife preserves and parks. I think it's the notion of what's enough? I think that someone who lives small in a big city because they like to be near people is akin to someone who lives simply in the country. It's this sprawl ...the houses are getting unbelievably large. I think we can all say in one shape or form that we have been party to it(well maybe not ALL of us).The stuff ...How much stuff do we need? I am all for convenience , a nice life, education. Who wants to be cold , wet and ignorant? But all the nice things can be had without taking advantage....it's about balance-with everything. Okay. That's it for me ...I promise I won't bore anyone anymore with all this high minded mamby pamby. (Getting down off the soap box). Try the shrimp
Seeker, if your spelling and punctuation weren't so good, I'd almost think you were someone else.
...it seems to me that the combination of low wages, and high prices make one a slave to the internal combustion engine and the oil industry.
Low wages and high prices don't make one a "slave" to the automobile. You can buy cheap vehicles. They may not be pretty but they'll get you where you need to go. On the other hand, I was in Lancaster, PA not so long ago and the Amish folks I met seemed to be doing OK without cars.
If you wanted to argue that government mandated insurance and emissions regulations place a high burden on lower income automobile owners, I'd have to agree.
Nobody wants their area suburbanized and yet they seem to prefer to use their funds on gas and vehicles to get to shops in other areas where the choices are better and/or prices are less.
I can't see what you're saying here. If you don't *want* your area "suburbanized" then it makes sense that you'd have to go elsewhere to get variety.
Big stores that offer lower prices do so because they can purchase goods to sell at a lower price, due to the economy of scale. But the store must be located in an area that has a large enough population to support it.
A smaller, localized store will have higher prices because they can't buy in the quantities needed to get the discount from wholesale. On the other hand, you don't need to spend as much on fuel to get there. It's a trade-off.
What bothers me about this is the elitism involved. I identify strongly with the rural poor and on the whole, they are the ones who suffer from limited options the same way they do in the inner city.
Elitism? What "elitism"? Why do you "identify" with the "poor"?
If you are poor, it logically follows that you are going to have "limited options". Do you think that the "elite" are conspiring to keep the "poor" as they are? Why are they "poor"? Does someone "make" them poor?
Now, the rural poor are unlikely to be participating on a computer discussion group...
Depends on where you're at. I looked at a house in, New Sweden I think it was, a two family occupied by people receiving government subsidies for rent and food. There was trash strewn about and the property didn't look all that great. You'd be inclined to call them "poor", right?
Should I feel sorry for them? Nope, not going to. They had a number of snowmobiles and ATVs, as well as fairly late-model cars. Inside was was even more disparity- the latest in plasma television with satelite receivers, and modern computers with LCD monitors and internet access.
Their cars were better than mine and they have more toys than I do. I'm starting to wonder who the "sucker" is.
Everyone has choices. You can choose where to live, you can choose to work, you can CHOOSE to be "poor".
...but when you are singing the praises of the simple life, take a moment to reflect on the difficult lifestyle of many in the country who love it just as much as you do but are getting by with so much less.
If we CHOOSE to live the "simple life", what of it? I really don't see where you're going here.
In my area there was even a backlash movement against the wealthy building big homes outside the cities with the idea that rural people should have to pay for mail delivery because they choose to move where it costs more to bring them their mail.
This makes absolutely no sense at all. The amount that "rural" people "pay" for mail delivery is the same as anyone else. The US Postal Service doesn't charge them to deliver mail, the postage is paid by those who SEND the mail.
In fact, the USPS is one of the few government agencies that actually turns a profit (in spite of a mandate that they be revenue-neutral).
The only food store within walking distance was a bait/video/deli shop with high prices. For anything else we had to drive 20+ miles to a small expensive grocery store, all on slow, winding back roads, or 40 miles, about a third on winding back roads, in the other direction for a Kroger. 40 miles for jobs or to a hospital/doctor.
So? What do you want, giant warehouse discount stores and medical complexes every two miles? That's not going to happen (at least I *hope* not). If you live in the country you have to travel to where the *things* are, or have them delivered. This isn't any different than it has been for hundreds of years, the only difference is the transportation you use to get to the goods or to get the goods to you.
Whether you jump in a pick-up truck or a buckboard once a month to go into town for supplies it's the same difference. Automobiles need fuel, maintainence and insurance, horses need feed, shoes and vets. It's going to cost you either way.
They would never move because their families had lived there for generations...
So, whose fault is that?
...and for generations they had lived in poverty, in bad health...
Again, whose fault is that? I've lived in places where the pay was low, and worked two or three jobs to get by. When I got tired of it, I got up off my ***** and went where the prospects were brighter.
...with indifferent education...
How much education do you need? Once you've got the three "R"s down (readin', ritin' and cipherin' as Jethro Bodine would say) you can go and learn just about anything you want...if you have a mind to.
We have libraries full of books that (*gasp*) anybody can go into, and sit down and LEARN.
...being ruthlessly exploited by the factories.
Hunh? What? Next, I suppose we'll be talking about "living wage"? The business owner contracts with the employees to pay a wage to get a job done. If you don't like it you are perfectly free to go somewhere else.
In our area, the immigrants are the most entrepreneurial so little stores and restaurants have sprouted all over like violets in the spring. I can take a small vacation to another country even though I can't leave my animals to go on a trip. It's really a great place to raise kids or to retire. Too bad I can't afford it, with its low wage jobs, any more.)
You could learn a LOT from those "immigrants". In fact the answer to all your problems is in the lesson that those immigrants are showing you, if you'd only open your eyes and see it/learn it.
They come here with little or no money, not knowing the language, they start out living in squalid conditions that most of us would consider horrendous...and they WORK.
They work hard, they work well. They pool and SAVE their money instead of wasting it paying $100 a month or more for cable/satelite TV and other luxuries. When they have enough money, they start a business or buy a franchise and they continue to work...eventually they become wealthy.
They understand the opportunities that are available here for anyone who wants to take advantage of them. And, I don't doubt, more than a few of them likely laugh at those who sit around starving in the land of plenty.
Well depending on how tall the waves are at the front of the tsunami that you are expecting. If the wall of water were 100 foot tall and coming directly perpendicular to the shore line, then you could well expect the surge to travel as far as a mile inland along the tidal waterways. If the wall of water were 200 foot tall, then perhaps some of it might travel inland a bit further.
I am not aware of any such wall ever striking this shore line however.
Most storms here come from the South-West, so they hit us from ashore. Not from the sea. So no water is surged inland at all.
If you're concerned about coastal flooding, the reality is that there's always a risk if you build a house right on the beach. If it's a wide, flat beach, there's some risk that a house even several hundred yards back from the shoreline may be destroyed in a very heavy storm. If you build above the beach, on a nice high bluff, this should not be a problem, especially if the house is back away from the very edge. If the concern is interior flooding, you need info from local land management officials about the flooding histories of specific locations. The general number of incidents in a town or county doesn't give much of a picture of how flood-prone a specific stretch of a given river has been historically.
Stay away from Texas, Louisiana and Florida! Seriously, I asked about hurricanes and such recently and was assured they are rare to non-existent in ME. And I doubt a snow storm will blow your house down.
Try googling hurricanes Maine or nor'easters and see what comes up.
“As the Patriot’s Day storm in April demonstrated, flooding can be devastating and recovery is often very costly...
Moderator cut: do not repost copyrighted articles Howstuffworks "What is a Nor'easter?"
Last edited by Yac; 12-11-2007 at 02:19 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
