[발췌] Why Did the Back-To-The-Earth Movement Fail & Why We Need to Bring It Back Now

출처: http://www.bemagazine.org/sustainability-series-back-earth-movement-fail-need-bring-back-now/

April 10, 2017.

※ 발췌 (excerpt):

Last year’s meteoric political rise of one of America’s most notable Back-To-The-Earth homesteaders, Bernie Sanders, reminds us the principles and idealism of the 1970s movement still offer vital lessons for how we can build a more sustainable and peaceable future.

It was the 1970s and a throng of young, mostly white, mostly college-educated American men and women packed up and headed “Back-To-The-Earth” in the midst of political tensions and impending environmental crisis, looking to leave the rat-race of capitalism behind and live more closely to the earth.

Propped up by essential how-to guides and go-to resources like “Whole Earth Catalog” and “Mother Earth News,” idealistic homesteaders, like the young Bernie Sanders, acquired parcels of land in rural Vermont or Maine and built their own cabins, planted their own gardens, raised crops and domestic animals, mastered domestic skills like making their own clothes and soaps, homeschooled their children, and cooked vegetarian meals.

For many, however, the realities of homesteading eventually began to crumble their idealism. Not everything could be created on the homestead without still relying on the outside “capitalistic” world for some products or services. And not everyone could create enough products or services on their homestead to pay their own way or remain sustainable. So in time, many homesteaders ultimately returned to their former lives and careers. ( ... ... )