Let’s imagine the world as a bizarre neighborhood. On the sunny side of the street some individuals are so rich they can afford to live in castles or mansions. They can travel around the globe in hours instead of weeks, and they throw away enough food to feed a small country. The United States alone produces enough to feed the… return to article
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Reader Comments (4)Page 1 of 1 pagesvery system that is preventing the hungry from being fed and the homeless from finding shelter.”
Is this meant to imply that if i consume less, then somehow the “excess” consumption will get to the needy? Is there any sense of cause and effect here, or merely wishful thinking?
“through a practice known as dumpster diving or, more euphemistically, urban foraging.”
Um, gross.
According to Alf, some 35 percent of all food in the United Kingdom goes to waste. How many of the estimated 200 million children who go to bed each night starving would that help feed?”
Bad logic. The problem is not with lack of food, but rather abusive governments (e.g., virtually all African nations). Having the food here does nothing for the starving (and often war torn) people who need it far far away.
“People have been encouraged through capitalism to fight each other for the world’s resources.”
More to the point: via capitalism excess wealth has been CREATED. This then leads to an increase in the standard of living and the possibility of helping others in need.
Freegans are the “mushrooms” of capitalism. They merely feed off the excess waste, but i do not see how they help those in need in doing so. As opposed to Bono, who actually raises and channels funds to the needy.
That said, i imagine Freegans have good hearts, even if their heads are a bit lagging.
Posted by wolf on Sep 7, 2007 at 10:09 AM Wolf, your post on this is actually pretty good. Although “capitalism” (what I think is more accurately called free enterprise) does involve competition it is much more about cooperation between people and businesses.
Posted by chopper on Sep 7, 2007 at 3:57 PM I was so disappointed with this article.
It’s a fascinating subject, but the article really failed to tell me what these people are really about. There are no scenes or any color as to how these people really live. I’m still not sure I know the core of their philosophy, not because the author didn’t try to tell me over and over that “For fregans, this…” or “For freegans, that…” with such abstract concepts, but because after all those long quotes I still know nothing about the basic human fabric that makes these people who they are. There are just vague mentions of what they eat and where they live. Perhaps if I was given a glimpse of what their everyday life is like, I would be in a better position to judge them or understand their argument for “Freeganhood.”
I can see where Wolf is coming from, especially with the last statement. Freegans come off as free loaders who judge the rest of us for indulging in something they do nothing to fight or fix. Or perhaps we simply were left with a poor picture of a group of people who like many are merely trying to figure out a way to fit in the world—to make a difference.
Posted by M.E.H. on Sep 8, 2007 at 8:05 PM I really ejoyed the article because I found I am not alone in my ideas and practices. The description of freegans (of whom I hadn’t ever heard) fits me fine. Most people are using the measuring mind, full of statistics, politics, always looking for the good guy and the bad guy and expect others to fix the mess we all are in. The only contribution I have found possible to give is my own personal life, the way I care about nature, the development of empathy, but there is no formula for it, it’s a lonely road everyone can take once you grow conscious of your responsibility. AS the Bhagavad Gita wisely says: Your motive for working should be to set others on the path of duty.
and” Accumulation brings about pain” (Krishnamurti). There are no recipes, we all have the freedom to act the way we find fit as long as we start by admitting our actions are harmless to others. A free mind doesn’t need to judge others for their actions, and doesn’t expect noticeable results, it justs has the quality of projecting the consequences of the causes he puts into motion on the common ground, which is life on earth.
Posted by Maria on Sep 13, 2007 at 12:15 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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