Sqeers, Pelican, Poirot, Yabby, and Hasbeen,

We may be getting quite off topic here, but such is life. I suspect Squeers may be a little younger than we other five, but I think we may all recall the "communes" experimentation by some of our era, and some still exist - I'm pretty sure some are persisting in the likes of Byron Bay, Nimbin and Seal Rocks, and there's even one near Gloucester Tops, but of course they'd have a lot more mod-cons these days, with the introduction of solar, etc. Those early commune days were around the start of the free-love era, of the musical "Hair", of Woodstock, and of the "tune in, turn on, and drop out" mantra. Quite a range of motivations, and not all naturalistic, methinks. Nonetheless, good luck to them, but I think the availability of welfare contributed more than a little to the attraction, and I doubt there were too many thriving veggie gardens, and almost certainly nothing like full self-sustainability.

Still, I always felt a bit left out in those days, having entered Nasho's in '65, and missed the rise of Normie Rowe, and a lot more besides. Truth beknown I doubt I have ever caught up, more's the pity.

Getting back to the article. Given the mess private enterprise has made of just about everything, financial, environmental, and copy-catted by public finance extravagance in so many quarters, we are in something of a quandry - greater regulation or greater public sector scope and control? Business as usual certainly does not appear to be a viable option.

I think it will be essential for the public sector to be expanded to have a finger in every pie, but with much greater accountability and transparency than has applied thus far, for there to be any great assurance of the future sustainability of humanity and the environment.

*Try stepping out of the mainstream while residing amidst it - you'll find you not only have to deal with the quizzical inquiry of your fellows, but also the interrogation of your own psychological patterning.*

Hang on Poirot, I've done that all my life lol. People will always
judge and squabble. Ask anyone who works for a large govt dept
or corporation, about that one.

The thing is, I think our society has actually become more tolerant
of alternate views and lifestyles. You can go and live the hippie
lifestyle in the South West forests or you can go and work in central
Perth for a bank or mining company, its really up to you.

Whatever you do, you will never have blanket approval from others.
Best you just do what you think is right and if others don't approve,
well tough titties.

Yabby,

You're right, of course, that if you wish to buck the surrounding cultural trend it is always possible to make your own choices regarding lifestyle. However, for the most part, humans tend to not only mimic, but also compete. Capitalism has proved the perfect system for the display of conspicuous consumption - where man consumes often just to show that he can - not for need or even desire for the product.

Saltpetre,

I enjoyed your reminiscences of the flower-power era. You ask Yabby. I'm sure he thinks I live in the base of tree, wearing cheesecloth and taking great pleasure in tie-dying the family's underwear and chewing sprouts when I'm not posting on OLO : )

*Capitalism has proved the perfect system for the display of conspicuous consumption - where man consumes often just to show that he can - not for need or even desire for the product.*

Well yeah some do. In my experience they are low self esteem
individuals, trying to pretend to be something else to gain
acceptance and praise. The problem is largely psychological IMHO.

OTOH there are also plenty saying they have enough stuff, they
quite enjoy a simpler lifestyle.

*I'm sure he thinks I live in the base of tree*

Not at all Poirot. I think that you probably have a quite successfull
partner, who has a very conventional job, like a shire CEO or
something similar. But you were also born with an enquiring mind,
so all that reading has made you question the system. You might
grow a few vegies and do the simple living thing, but you also mix
within your partners more conventional social circles, thus feel
judged by them about your unconventional viewpoints, like home
schooling etc.

Saltpetre - just one point. I was one of the hippies trying a new way of living in the Northern Rivers district back in the '70's.

It was not the availability of welfare that led us to try and establish alternative lifestyles; it was the lack of jobs;the difficulty of living with the insecurity that comes from an economy that allows such high levels of unemployment, that meant that some of us thought, why knock outselves out looking for jobs that aren't there; lets try and do something different.

It was that far back that some of understood that 'the market' wasn't the solution to all of our problems; that 'working for the man' and climbing the ladder of material success and seeking social status, wasn't going to bring us happiness and freedom.

The appalling blaming of the victim that went on then, the cries of lazy dolebludgers, were damaging to those of us naive enough to believe that we could do something good and right. We were far too naive but I think it is even more obvious now that an alternative to 'the market' is needed for humans to make any more progress.

Mollydukes,

Those were exciting times, and turbulent times, and I look back on them with more than a little fondness. Life certainly did seem simpler then, and all possibility lay before us - albeit the Vietnam war was an absolute downer; I was even arrested at an anti-war rally, and that wasn't one of my most memorable experiences. And two years later I was called up, won the lottery, who would have thought, and the rest is history - but fortunately I didn't go to Vietnam, and only had one near-death experience - with a tree. No regrets there anyway, just part of the journey.

I didn't mean to cast any aspersions on the alternative lifestylers; truth beknown if I wasn't such a staid and whimpy youth I would have liked to have given it a go myself - but we are prisoners of our own skin as it turns out. I had to settle for bushwalking, bagging the occasional bunny, and surf lifesaving. Staid as always. Failed at nearly every opportunity to do something different. More fool me.

"We were far too naive but I think it is even more obvious now that an alternative to 'the market' is needed for humans to make any more progress."

May be you weren't all too naive at all, bucking the system is never easy, and the world has to be grateful for the perennial exhuberance and idealism of youth, without which many wrongs would not have been exposed, or alternatives properly explored, and so it remains today. Our current system has proven itself to be mortally flawed, so something has to change, and we have to hope there will be the right changes. I guess "Occupy" is holding up the banner in one sector, and others are laying down their lives elsewhere for a fair go. God (or at least our thoughts) be with them.