When I was a kid growing up in the war years, we nearly ALL lived in "15 minutes cities" - well, the equivalent to the extent that whether you lived in a city, town or village, you never had to walk far to a corner shop, which sold just about everything one needed. Then, as economies started to take off in the post-war years, we started to reap the benefits of "progress". People could afford to buy motorcycles, then cars. Supermarkets began to open and one by one, like stars going out, the little mom and pop shops were driven out of business by their bigger rivals. Things we couldn't buy from shops just up the road came to our doors - via horse driven greengrocer and bakery carts and vans and an electrically powered milk float. Back then, the local corporation-run bus service was all-electric, too, and delightfully efficient, quiet and eco-friendly. Eventually, for some inexplicable reason (cheap oil, I imagine) it was scrapped and replaced by private diesel and petrol-powered vehicles operated by private companies. People were generally fitter and healthier in those days, largely because we had to walk or cycle everywhere or trudge nearly a mile to the nearest bus stop to shop in the nearest town. . Obesity was a rarity. We kids spent most of our time in the great outdoors, communing with nature - by which I mean stealing birds' eggs from nests in the roadside hedgerows and knocking conkers and chestnuts off trees in the local park where we played football and cricket with improvised home made gear and caught crayfish in Gypsy Brook. Back then, when we lived in communities where everybody knew everybody else and if you needed anything - be it a cupful of sugar or to use a phone (few of us could afford a landline) - you popped round to a neighbour. . . and almost invariably ended up having half an hour's chinwag over a cuppa or two! There was a community spirit which underpinned our humdrum little lives and helped give them support and meaning - something which seems sadly to be absent today in a world where we are increasingly self-absorbed islands in a sea of digital anonymity. Sadly, the 15 minute cities into which our would-be lords and masters would decant us all are a very different proposition to those warm and welcoming communities in which Brits like myself spent our formative years. One thing, at least, that living for so long on this beautiful planet has taught me is that progress is seldom what it is cracked up to be.
I fear a dog that has only barked never learns to bite.
I hope you are correct and the virtue signaling proud victim pose becomes a weapon against authoritarianism. But un-focused anger will create chaos., then the gestapo comes in for our safety with renewed zeal. Hopefully an army of pink haired Barneys finally serve a purpose, for the side of freedom.
When I was a kid growing up in the war years, we nearly ALL lived in "15 minutes cities" - well, the equivalent to the extent that whether you lived in a city, town or village, you never had to walk far to a corner shop, which sold just about everything one needed. Then, as economies started to take off in the post-war years, we started to reap the benefits of "progress". People could afford to buy motorcycles, then cars. Supermarkets began to open and one by one, like stars going out, the little mom and pop shops were driven out of business by their bigger rivals. Things we couldn't buy from shops just up the road came to our doors - via horse driven greengrocer and bakery carts and vans and an electrically powered milk float. Back then, the local corporation-run bus service was all-electric, too, and delightfully efficient, quiet and eco-friendly. Eventually, for some inexplicable reason (cheap oil, I imagine) it was scrapped and replaced by private diesel and petrol-powered vehicles operated by private companies. People were generally fitter and healthier in those days, largely because we had to walk or cycle everywhere or trudge nearly a mile to the nearest bus stop to shop in the nearest town. . Obesity was a rarity. We kids spent most of our time in the great outdoors, communing with nature - by which I mean stealing birds' eggs from nests in the roadside hedgerows and knocking conkers and chestnuts off trees in the local park where we played football and cricket with improvised home made gear and caught crayfish in Gypsy Brook. Back then, when we lived in communities where everybody knew everybody else and if you needed anything - be it a cupful of sugar or to use a phone (few of us could afford a landline) - you popped round to a neighbour. . . and almost invariably ended up having half an hour's chinwag over a cuppa or two! There was a community spirit which underpinned our humdrum little lives and helped give them support and meaning - something which seems sadly to be absent today in a world where we are increasingly self-absorbed islands in a sea of digital anonymity. Sadly, the 15 minute cities into which our would-be lords and masters would decant us all are a very different proposition to those warm and welcoming communities in which Brits like myself spent our formative years. One thing, at least, that living for so long on this beautiful planet has taught me is that progress is seldom what it is cracked up to be.
Damn well said LawyerLisa ! how do we inform them...the fact that it is a conservative
government is scary! And I have long believed that all sides of the political spectrum
are involved! The sooner they are truly aware the better !
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https://15MinuteCities.info/
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TheyLied. Join the campaign to Take Action and Raise Public Awareness at
https://TheyLied.ca/
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Here is a 9 min. video that explains the idea
https://theylied.substack.com/p/theylied-time-for-action-and-raising
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Ways you can help Raise Public Awareness
https://theylied.ca/SpreadTheWord.shtml
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Ways you can Take Action
https://theylied.ca/TakeAction.shtml
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With your help, everyone will know ... TheyLied.ca
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Excellent point.
I fear a dog that has only barked never learns to bite.
I hope you are correct and the virtue signaling proud victim pose becomes a weapon against authoritarianism. But un-focused anger will create chaos., then the gestapo comes in for our safety with renewed zeal. Hopefully an army of pink haired Barneys finally serve a purpose, for the side of freedom.
We need everyone uniting to stand up, push back say No. We aren't there yet but i hope spon we will be.
Excellent !
Thank you. Couldn't have said it better myself - will share :)