I found an article this morning about Sacramento's "Tent City" in the New York Times, comparing it to the Hoovervilles of the mid-depression. The article puts into perspective the reality of the foreclosure crisis we've had in our country (and also digs up old thoughts I have about people who "own" their homes) by exposing a plot of land somewhere in the Sacramento area where homeless people and displaced men and women are going to set up tents and live because they simply have nowhere else to go.
Now, I'll admit that I have come to admire parts of our society - the economy is fascinating to me, consumerism can actually be used for good, Executive is not always a bad word, an honorable government is possible, and money is even less important than it's ever been before. So when I see these people temporarily displaced from their homes and forced to live in tents throughout the US, all I really think is, 'ooh, luckies. The only thing that would make it cooler is if this happened during the summertime!'
Ok, so I'm being unrealistic. I like electricity. I like pooping in a flushable toilet, having unlimited tap water, driving a motorized vehicle, having hot water when I turn a nob, eating fresh food that I get to choose from, learning from sources like the Internet and television, being able to utilize specialization like going to a doctor if I'm in pain, going to a mechanic if I need a repair, going to a restaurant if I want food made for me...I like society. I even like working within a society. I like how it breathes, how it moves organically back and forth like pressure systems in the sky. I like how businesses break down like mountains or grow like bacteria. The science of society should be totally recognized, because when looked at in super-tandem and total objectivity, it's not unlike the natural world our family and friends praise so much. It's a mechanical world, created by man to mimic the realities of nature but with a touch of imagination that Nature does not go so far as to provide. I admire that. But beneath it all, we're still living out that permanent state of nature held at bay; life in the natural world is only staved off by our machinations of Today.
Which brings me back to Tent Cities. What are they? Human beings choosing a life (involuntarily) that relies more on the government of Nature rather than the government of Man. These people, no longer at the mercy of most social contracts, now rely on contracts with Nature to survive. All not too far from the ground.
Is this bad? Is it good? Well I like to believe there is no bad or good or right or wrong when it comes to nature. Instead, there is only truth and untruth. There is always one single truth, no matter what we convince ourselves of otherwise. And the folks living in a tent city in Sacramento are a whole lot closer to that truth than the folks living on the top floor of a shmancy high-rise in New York City with a Lexus and trading millions for stocks. We are all included in this.
So why do I personally want to live in Tent City? I like truth. I like things the way they were meant to be. A lie is bad planning - it sets us up for danger. I use truth to survive because it doesn't leave corners cut and so we know our outcomes before they happen. That way, if we're not prepared for the worst, at least we're braced for it.
Two more things here: I don't want to live in a Tent City for the same reason that I don't want to eat Chinese food every night. It sounds good for dinner, but not forever.
Also, I think it's important to understand history, science, theory, toilets, music, etc, so that as we trot along down the poly-dimensional pathways of our own imaginations we can remember truth of the base from whence we came...
Basically, I just want an excuse to go camping.
-Mikie
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/tent-city-report/?hp
A Moment in the Sun - a literary journey
2 years ago
1 comment:
Interesting mikie. i see your point. it almost seems to me, though, that if people had the kind of attitude you express here (forthright, optimistic, ingenious) they somehow wouldn't have ended up here. there is so much going on beneath the surface of appearances, as you of course mention here. i can't help thinking if it was us, hell, we'd all band together and live in one crowded house or camp out on stanny's family's property or something like that. and we'd make it an adventure as you suggest, knowing that the economy itself is just another illusion. and the reality is survival, nature and love.
very interesting articles. i read them all. i wonder how the new mayor will handle this. i would be scared of rampant drug abuse and violence down there because those tend to go hand in hand with desperate situations. or maybe instead people will invent a sort of brotherhood vibe and make it peaceful. we'll see. so much is happening.
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