And those “sweatshop” stories are interesting as someone may feel very lucky to earn $10 a day when half of the world earns less than $2 a day. The alternative to work could be death or prostitution, etc., so it may be difficult to grasp the reality of this world.

Regarding struggling families, I’m reminded of the crass and loud-mouthed Sam Kinnison who argued that all of the starving people in Africa could be saved if they just picked everyone up in the desert and moved them to where the food was. Seriously, I’m not smart enought to make a good living in a rural area, so I have to work where the money is while I can with hopes of returning to my ideal America later in life. Maybe some need to move into the area or industry where the money is? Sure as hell beats receiving handouts from a liberal government that robs its citizens in exchange for votes that eventually kill the golden goose.

I stay informed, but came here to escape.

While you are more than entitled to do what you want and say what you want on your site — I don’t have to be a part of it.

Thanks for the memories…

Jeff: Thank you for the Wendell Berry recommendation. I am familiar with his writing and, in fact, my family and I seek to live the sustainable lifestyle he advocates. We recycle—not only in the usual separate-your-trash way—but in almost everything we use. Most of our clothes, our furniture, and other household goods are second-hand. My husband is a carpenter and has managed to build almost all of our home projects with discarded wood and discarded electrical parts, plumbing parts, etc. We have our own garden and numerous fruit trees, as well as grapes, so we do eat “local” food (we eat very little meat). In fact, I just finished making a nice batch of grape juice from the grapes on our own arbor. I expect we have saved many, many tons from being dumped at the landfill. The truth is– I’m sure I believe in many of the same ideals as Fred (and you). I simply wanted to make the point that not all of us can afford to eat organic, free-range chicken meat or wear $30.00 “sweatshop-free” organic tee-shirts. But we do the best we can. Perhaps I should lay it out in black and white: we gross $480 a week. When health insurance, taxes, etc. are taken out, we take home about $250 a week to support the four of us. That’s about a thousand a month. Yes, I do shop at Walmart and yes, I do think about how my choices will impact my children’s future. But I have to feed and clothe and shelter those children NOW.

Beth, I would highly recommend the works of Wendell Berry. I don’t know if the Jesse Peterman library has them, but if not, they should be obtainable through inter-library loan.

All of us need to start seriously thinking about the implications of our actions, at all levels, if we want our children and grandchildren to have a viable place to live. It is no longer acceptable to “follow the crowd”, whether that crowd is on talk radio, Fox TV, the New York Times, Huffington Post, or Daily Kos. We can no longer afford to fall in love with Obama or McCain and hope that either is the answer to our prayers. We need to take responsibility for our actions and stop pointing the finger at others, however we label them, as the source of our difficulties. As my father used to love to say, “When you point your finger, never forget that there are three fingers pointing back at you.”