Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 13, 2005 A camp for the overly housed is best plan With all due respect to those who are homeless and are really having problems with it, over-housedness in America is a much bigger problem. Living a lifestyle that is subsidized by war and ecological destruction, over-housedness threatens all life on the planet, which cannot be said for homelessness. To confirm that this is such a problem, consider a concept called "ecological footprint" which is measured in acres. There are about 5 acres available per person on earth. The average American has an ecological footprint of 25 acres, which requires war to push other people out of their share of the earth and excessively tapping into the earth's resources in an unsustainable way. To have your own ecological footprint roughly calculated, go to www.myfootprint.org. After answering a few questions on which the calculation is based and getting your measurement, you can then experiment with different answers to see what manner of living would allow an American to live within his or her 5 acres. Being vegan, carless and living in a tent comes under 5 acres. Being vegan, carless and living in a big house is over 5 acres. There are local individuals, groups and businesses that will help a person transition to veganism. The free buses, community bike program and the many bike shops will help a person transition to carlessness. The only thing missing to help a person transition to being completely within his or her 5 acres is help to become homeless in an enjoyable way. Proposal: A camp to help the overly housed transition into becoming homeless. The camp would consist of 10-foot square dwellings, would employ 12 to 20 experts at living homeless who could occupy some of the dwellings, and the additional 20 to 30 living spaces would house, not just those who are transitioning from being overly housed, but also a number of "ecotourists" who are just trying out simpler living before they make the full commitment. Give this camp a scarred piece of land, like that old quarry, and give the camp the challenge of transforming and restoring the land, like a Gaviotas or Auroville, and that alone will draw the ecotourists. The quarry site also has the advantage of being near the swimming reservoir, so a shower facility could be built there in a collaborative effort that would benefit all the Ashland residents who like to swim there, as well as the homeless who work in town and the ecotourists who'll want to cool off and shower after a day of planting trees. The 10-foot square dwellings will evoke Henry David Thoreau ("Consider first how slight a shelter is absolutely necessary"); the small hut in which the Buddhist Vimalakirti instructed (the Vimalakirti Sutra); and the 12th-century Japanese musician and poet Kamo no Chomei, who retreated to his small hut, weary of the brutal wars of his time. We can recall Jesus and Lao Tzu as two famous pacifists gone homeless. Also recall the story of Alexander the Great seeking out and meeting Diogenes, the famous philosopher who went homeless voluntarily. Alexander the Great was about to go off and conquer all the known world, wanting everything, and he finds Diogenes soaking in a tub. "Isn't there anything you want?" he asks Diogenes. "I want you to get out of my sun," is the answer, Diogenes apparently happy enough to live a life unsubsidized by the blood of the young people. Tom Crimmins Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams