In the halcyon days of the final economic booms, everyone on your cul de sac could have died overnight from some mysterious plague, and while you might have been sad, you wouldn’t have been inconvenienced. Our economy, unlike any that came before it, is designed to work without the input of your neighbors. Borne on cheap oil, our food arrives as if by magic from a great distance (typically, two thousand miles). If you have a credit card and an Internet connection, you can order most of what you need and have it left anonymously at your door. We’ve evolved a neighborless lifestyle; on average an American eats half as many meals with family and friends as she did fifty years ago. On average, we have half as many close friends.

— Bill McKibben, EAARTH: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet (2010).  Excerpted on Alternet under the title, ” The Surprising Reason Why Americans Are So Lonely, and Why Future Prosperity Means Socializing with Your Neighbors.” [via]

1. clothedinsky liked this
2. becoming-wave liked this
3. informate liked this
4. andrewfm liked this
5. anythingcouldhappen liked this
6. desnoise reblogged this from anthropophagous
7. ohstella liked this
8. poortaste liked this
9. buffleheadcabin reblogged this from anthropophagous
10. rachelulgado reblogged this from anthropophagous
11. anthropophagous reblogged this from marxistsinspace
12. anthropophagous liked this
13. marxistsinspace posted this