Somebody said to me that we are so much better off now, in the technological age than we were before it, and wondered if I really believed that we should all go back to a pre-industrial lifestyle.
The question is kind of a pointless one, in that it would be difficult, if not impossible to go backward, to forget what we have come to know.
I do believe, that if I choose to "go backwards" in time, or at least in my way of living, I am making my life better and possibly, the world a better place.
For example, by choosing to use a push mower that uses only my energy, and mechanical advantage to cut my lawn, I get exercise, I get the pleasure of movement, I get time spent out on my land with out the noise of a gasoline engine. Because of this I hear things I wouldn't had I used an alternate energy source. I slow down and notice the other living things in the grass that I might not want to cut down. I save money in many ways in that the mower was free, rescued from somebodies trash many years ago, and it needs no additional fuel. The world benefits in a bit less noise pollution, a bit less air pollution, less of a need for the fossil fuel and the infrastructure that brings it to us. It also makes young kids, and some grown ups as well, point and smile or laugh as they drive by in their cars. That is a big help to the world when we can make anybody smile.
This is only one, and a small example of how living a life that follows a path that more closely resembles the paths of those who came many years before us can make the world better for all of us. A life lived with many little efforts and considerations can have a significant impact on the world, especially if many lives choose similar paths making small but deliberate and meaningful choices.
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