Rolf Jackson: Is he a fanatic?
Well, if he is, then so am I! And I’m proud. I really wanted to write something about this lecture because I was quite appalled that people were so rude, and unwelcoming, and that they thought it was okay to talk and snigger whilst somebody else was talking. For me, sustainability begins with people, and a respect for one another. I am aware this may not be the general view, but if we are ‘saving the planet’, and ‘trying to decrease our ecological footprint’ then who are we doing this for, I suggest that it is for future generations, for people, and so perhaps ‘saving the planet’ should begin with saving our awareness of one another (refer to Heidegger) and showing some respect, in the here and now.
I was interested to gather other people’s views on the lecture, unfortunately most opinions seemed to focus upon the lecturer, rather than the content, which is a pity. One comment was that Anton showed the most opposition to what Rolf was saying, that Anton “tried to break down the wall”. I disagree, I think perhaps this was just misunderstanding. I agree with Anton that building a mud house, or a straw bale house is not intrinsically linked with being a hippy, and doing folk dancing. In Europe I think it is perfectly possible to build these houses in a suburban neighbourhood, or in a rural area, miles from anywhere.
However Rolf came to talk on eco-villages. Eco-villages by their nature are communities. People who chose to live in communities are making a statement about what they value – this is usually people, (the ‘glue’ of community) and frequently the earth and nature as well. As a result of caring for the people, this warmth gets extended to the environment that sustains the people, and hence these people turn to a vernacular architecture – an architecture that works in harmony with its locality. The architecture they build happens to be ‘sustainable’, but I would suspect that few communities gather to build architecture (apart from crazy architecture-smitten students) but rather to form a network of people.
And now I agree with Rolf, spirituality is intrinsic to community, but not in the sense of religion. I have friends who have lived and grown a family at Findhorn, the Scottish community pictured in the lecture, and I am a meditator. These people are not ‘followers’, these centres are not freaky cults. People are free to choose whether and what to participate in, and many people find their individual spirituality expressed in many different ways. The connection of the community comes from the fact that they all do respect one another, and are interested in growth – this is the spirituality, just simple being and letting others be. Now please can we try that next time one of these ‘freaks’ comes to very kindly offer us their knowledge?
posted by lucy cartlidge
Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:40:51 GMT
