Assumptions
Mar. 18th, 2008 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helwenRegarding posting the Pew Study link yesterday, I had a couple of folks question the results. They and anyone else is certainly free to do so. I don't necessarily accept them 100% myself, and everyone is wise to do research and not take things at face value. This particular study had to do with governance, administration, planning, maintenance of infrastructure, personnel training, general handling of finances. It does not by any means cover everything about government or other aspects of living in a given state. My mother would never live in NH, and I would never go back to CA (where she lives), although for different reasons.
Please don't assume that because I post something, that I believe everything in the post. Some things I tend to support, other things I think are ridiculous (usually I say so), some things are for humor... Most are just to put the information out there, so take it as you will. All my friends are intelligent folks, who can read and make their own informed decisions.
***
In New England, we have a joke/story about farmers/New Englanders that goes like this:
A person points at a farmhouse and asks the farmer, "What color is that house?"
Farmer looks at the house and says "It's white, on this side..."
The farmer isn't making an assumption that the house is painted white on sides. Now that may sound silly, but at least around here, if some folks are painting a house or barn themselves, it may take a while to get the job done. And because it might take a few years, they'll sometimes start on the back/less-seen-side of the building, so that when they get to the front, they can have it looking nice and finished 'sooner'. Or they might be trying something out, like William is on one end of the barn, trying to re-create how the barn used to look when he was much younger.
It never pays to assume that someone has a particular belief about something, or that he or she feels a particular way about something, regardless of how circumspectly or how openly he or she is discussing it.
It's the same in historical research or anything else. My mother's research into the Chinese Christian experience has certainly shown that -- European missionaries who gave their Chinese compatriots credit in various projects, which other Europeans conveniently left out of reports, or the Chinese bishop who everyone thought was so great for decades, until my mother dug up the real dirt on the money-grubber, or that fact that just because someone is a Christian, a Pagan, a merchant, a priest, none of those 'facts' tells you whether or not the person is kind to others, generous with time and skills, a hard-worker, etc., or a murderer, liar, thief, etc.
***
We live in tough times, which will probably get tougher for some folks this year, with the prices of _everything_ going up -- the harp we got last year has gone up by ~$50-60, for instance, along with gas, food, shipping, and more. It's something that some people have seen coming for longer than others, and yet knowing it doesn't make it any happier a thing. Although there are some folks on the web who seem quite gleeful almost about how things are going these days, the truth is that for most of the folks that have been watching things (at least the folks _I_ know), there is no satisfaction in being right. I've read the comments on Sharon Astyk's (Casaubon's Book) journal where she's been accused of being happy about it, and those people obviously haven't read her posts in-depth. She tends to be upbeat because she wants people to keep reading and keep trying to become more capable and do community building. That doesn't mean she's cheering on the end of the world! She has posts where she rants, where she's despondent, etc. also. Never make assumptions.
For those of us who can help others, our local, national, and global economies bear looking at because if we don't then we don't know in what ways we can help. For those of us who can't help others, it bears looking at because we have to figure out the best ways to help ourselves. And for the former folks, the latter is a concern too, because we can't help anyone if we end up out on the street ourselves.
No matter which "side" of the economic equation/house you're on, it's a hard time to be living in.
And that's _one_ assumption I think I can safely make, unfortunately.
Please don't assume that because I post something, that I believe everything in the post. Some things I tend to support, other things I think are ridiculous (usually I say so), some things are for humor... Most are just to put the information out there, so take it as you will. All my friends are intelligent folks, who can read and make their own informed decisions.
***
In New England, we have a joke/story about farmers/New Englanders that goes like this:
A person points at a farmhouse and asks the farmer, "What color is that house?"
Farmer looks at the house and says "It's white, on this side..."
The farmer isn't making an assumption that the house is painted white on sides. Now that may sound silly, but at least around here, if some folks are painting a house or barn themselves, it may take a while to get the job done. And because it might take a few years, they'll sometimes start on the back/less-seen-side of the building, so that when they get to the front, they can have it looking nice and finished 'sooner'. Or they might be trying something out, like William is on one end of the barn, trying to re-create how the barn used to look when he was much younger.
It never pays to assume that someone has a particular belief about something, or that he or she feels a particular way about something, regardless of how circumspectly or how openly he or she is discussing it.
It's the same in historical research or anything else. My mother's research into the Chinese Christian experience has certainly shown that -- European missionaries who gave their Chinese compatriots credit in various projects, which other Europeans conveniently left out of reports, or the Chinese bishop who everyone thought was so great for decades, until my mother dug up the real dirt on the money-grubber, or that fact that just because someone is a Christian, a Pagan, a merchant, a priest, none of those 'facts' tells you whether or not the person is kind to others, generous with time and skills, a hard-worker, etc., or a murderer, liar, thief, etc.
***
We live in tough times, which will probably get tougher for some folks this year, with the prices of _everything_ going up -- the harp we got last year has gone up by ~$50-60, for instance, along with gas, food, shipping, and more. It's something that some people have seen coming for longer than others, and yet knowing it doesn't make it any happier a thing. Although there are some folks on the web who seem quite gleeful almost about how things are going these days, the truth is that for most of the folks that have been watching things (at least the folks _I_ know), there is no satisfaction in being right. I've read the comments on Sharon Astyk's (Casaubon's Book) journal where she's been accused of being happy about it, and those people obviously haven't read her posts in-depth. She tends to be upbeat because she wants people to keep reading and keep trying to become more capable and do community building. That doesn't mean she's cheering on the end of the world! She has posts where she rants, where she's despondent, etc. also. Never make assumptions.
For those of us who can help others, our local, national, and global economies bear looking at because if we don't then we don't know in what ways we can help. For those of us who can't help others, it bears looking at because we have to figure out the best ways to help ourselves. And for the former folks, the latter is a concern too, because we can't help anyone if we end up out on the street ourselves.
No matter which "side" of the economic equation/house you're on, it's a hard time to be living in.
And that's _one_ assumption I think I can safely make, unfortunately.
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-18 04:35 pm (UTC)Not that I know *anything* about assumptions, from either the speaking or listening angle...
no subject
Date: 2008-03-18 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-19 12:05 am (UTC)I've also seen a lot of posts in various places that are so pessimistic I'm not ready to take action, I'm ready to give up since we're all doomed anyway. Somehow I don't think that's what they have in mind, alas....
no subject
Date: 2008-03-19 05:13 am (UTC)What usually annoys me about the various arguments, regardless of 'sides', and whether it's economics, politics, or whatever, is over-generalizing. All middle-class people do X, all poor people believe X, etc.
On the pessimistic folks, well, some of them will give up, if things get bad enough. If we can't work things out (and I sure hope we do), long-term recession sets in, and unemployment goes up even more, we may see a repeat of the Depression, where people were committing suicide, men were abandoning their families, all sorts of things. Some people really do give up when overwhelmed, because it seems impossible to break up the big problem into smaller, more manageable problems.
It's one of the reasons I like Sharon's blog, even though she gets a little longwinded at times, because for people interested in finding a way to cope with rising costs and the changes in way of life that seem to be coming, she gives a possible direction and focus.
In general, I think people don't like to be in suspense. They don't want to feel powerless. It is the thing that is the worst about testing positive for something like a tumor or PAP smear or other possible problem, where they test you and then you have to wait 2,3, even 6 months for a follow-up test. It's awful, having to wait all that time, wondering if the next test will show that things are okay, or at least limited in scope.
(part 1)
no subject
Date: 2008-03-19 05:14 am (UTC)I do believe that we all need to conserve more and be more mindful, those of us who can do that. Of course, I know the likelihood of that happening! And there's a lot to be said for slowing down a little, not getting everything we think we want, etc. -- spending more time enjoying life, instead.
I don't believe in going back to the 18th or 19th century, nor do I believe that is even possible! I do think it's possible to combine 'old' and 'new' ideas and ways of doing things, into a new and different way of living.
Who really knows exactly what will happen in the future? I don't. But I'm concerned enough about what has been happening, and what's likely to happen, to choose to work on creating a different way of living. What we choose to do won't be for everyone, and in fact _can't_ be. Not everyone lives in the country, or in New England (different energy solutions for different regions), or has the skills and background L and I have.
I do see this next year as having some serious challenges, and not just from reading the news... the stories around here in the hills of the folks who have been having heating troubles (we're one of the firewood suppliers here), can't be ignored. Last year, in Holyoke, our oil supplier actually sent us a letter apologizing for not being able to get us a better price than they ended up getting. I really respected them for sending that letter, and of course we stayed with them -- what would have been the point of moving to another supplier? But they've always been courteous and helpful too, so if we were going to buy from someone, it was going to be them. Here, one of the local oil delivery companies won't accept delivering less than 150 gallons! That's one of the reasons William's been cutting more wood this winter than before, because people can't afford the lump sum for fuel, so folks are bundling up and using wood (we have a wood-fired furnace here, but not everyone has that -- some people are heating with wood stoves, which only heat the immediate vicinity, not the entire house).
Hopefully, next winter won't be as wintry as this year, and people can get a financial break that way. I know all the town plowing budgets in MA will appreciate that!
Even if things were to get as grim as some folks are foretelling, that doesn't mean everyone is "doomed". People survived the plagues of the Middle Ages, rev/civil/world wars, the Great Depression (and other serious, non-U.S.-centric events). Ways of living changed, but life went on. Not for everyone, but as a whole, life went on. Those who are open to adapting and learning, to community-building, are going to do all right.
Why do you think Bergental is such a nice group? We aren't all rich or all geniuses (although we have some well-off and also some really smart and talented people), or all some other superlative thing. But we are a community that supports one another. That's why people from out-barony like coming to visit. As far as I'm concerned, that's the type of magic that will help people to carry on, even if times get tough.