Everywhere I have been I have seen people creating their environment,
their culture and themselves. I have learned to see this as the art of
living. People everywhere want to make their lives beautiful. Too often I
have seen this effort undermined by intolerance, greed, cruelty,
oppression and corruption. Sometimes effects of these are obvious and
immediate but sometimes it happens so gradually and cumulatively it is
almost invisible, 'just the way things are'. I have learned to see the
effects of corruption to be war, extremes of wealth and poverty and the
erosion of participation in community and economy. This human conflict
appears to be growing around the world, whether in Maine, China,
Bosnia or the valleys of Alsace. People are becoming less, not more
involved in creating the things they use or even the way they live.
Everything from our food to the hopes and dreams we learn are
consumed passively by us. People's environments and communities are
formed more and more by people far away, not so much for beauty as
for profit. I have learned to look for signs of this human story - people
struggling in so many ordinary little ways to live their lives beautifully,
even when so much is against them.
their culture and themselves. I have learned to see this as the art of
living. People everywhere want to make their lives beautiful. Too often I
have seen this effort undermined by intolerance, greed, cruelty,
oppression and corruption. Sometimes effects of these are obvious and
immediate but sometimes it happens so gradually and cumulatively it is
almost invisible, 'just the way things are'. I have learned to see the
effects of corruption to be war, extremes of wealth and poverty and the
erosion of participation in community and economy. This human conflict
appears to be growing around the world, whether in Maine, China,
Bosnia or the valleys of Alsace. People are becoming less, not more
involved in creating the things they use or even the way they live.
Everything from our food to the hopes and dreams we learn are
consumed passively by us. People's environments and communities are
formed more and more by people far away, not so much for beauty as
for profit. I have learned to look for signs of this human story - people
struggling in so many ordinary little ways to live their lives beautifully,
even when so much is against them.
savo wise