[AT] Here's one for you Mattias

[Al Walker]

Grant,
I, for one, love reading your musings.

Al in NW MN


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Grant Brians" <sales at heirloom-organic.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Here's one for you Mattias


> Matthias, I understand and appreciate the issue with the poverty and 
> social
> differences for your wife. The US is NOT Sweden. It is easy for us
> (residents of the USA) to become jaded on those subjects because there is 
> so
> much poverty and we recognize that some places there is huge social
> stratification and prejudice, along with separation of the haves and have
> nots. I know that anywhere the climate is less harsh, you find many 
> homeless
> people, some because of mental or physical health issues, some because of
> poor decisions and some because of a VERY fractured social safety net.
>     One can argue the politics and philosophy of whether government should
> or should not take care of citizens/residents in need of help in these
> situations, but it is absolutely inarguable that western Europe 
> (especially
> Scandinavia) has a vastly smaller number of people homeless and in hunger
> because of the choices made by society in those countries to provide more
> services and support to the populace.
>     Another factor that plays into the difference in experience between
> Sweden and Memphis is the climate and social makeup. Even Memphis (which I
> think of as a cold place because I am a native Californian living here in
> coastal central California) has much warmer temperatures than all or 
> nearly
> all of Sweden all year round. This has a number of impacts as far as both
> the visibility and the ease of not doing more to reduce the problem. Here 
> in
> California, aside from having a cost of living that is higher than most
> other parts of the country, we also have dramatically higher levels of
> homelessness than the colder parts of the nation. There is much argument
> about cause and effect, but all one has to do is to walk around the 
> eastern
> parts of San Francisco or parts of any other large city and this becomes
> obvious....
>     As anyone on this list knows, I am a farmer and luckily do not live in
> the cities anymore. In certain senses it is possible to live much cheaper 
> in
> the country here than in the cities, but even in our county there are many
> homeless who sleep in cars or makeshift shelters similar to slums in the
> third world or in doorways or under bridges. I contribute each year more
> produce value to feed the hungry than I make in monetary profit partly
> because I believe it to be the right thing to do and also because I feel
> better doing so. This is one of the benefits of being a vegetable, fruit 
> and
> nuts farmer from my perspective. We do have a tradition in this country of
> privately helping people that predates government providing more services
> and it is both commendable and absolutely necessary. A difference today 
> from
> the past is that there are fewer social connections than there were and a
> vastly larger population than in pre-depression America. As the population
> grows in a society, it becomes more and more impossible to personally and
> privately manage issues such as mental health, medical care, hunger, 
> income
> inequalities and homelessness.
>     I too sometimes think with nostalgia, especially when I am in church
> back to a time when the churches were literally the centers of most
> communities and they served as the connection point for vast parts of the
> population. That is not our country today sadly. I personally think that
> distraction and population growth are the main reasons. In any case I
> remember when I attended a church service with my wife in a London suburb 
> in
> a modern but modest Anglican Church how I sensed how similar the changes
> were there, and when I attended a Catholic church in Brazil and a Catholic
> church in Munich, Germany, and a Lutheran Church in Wittenburg, Germany.
>     I need to get back to the fields and check on the growing vegetables
> and make sure our Beet (Beetroot to the British) harvest is going and how
> the Spinach packing is going in the packing shed. Enough musings and
> historical references to non-equipment and direct farming items for me
> today.
>               Grant Brians
>               Hollister,California vegetable, fruit and nut farmer
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]On Behalf Of Mattias Kessen
> Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 1:21 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] Here's one for you Mattias
>
>
> Charlie,
> She made the trip and came back. She really enjoyed it. Nashville, Pigeon
> Forge, Smoky mountains and Dollywood was great. Memphis wasn't that great,
> she didn't like the poverty and the social differences. Worst was flying
> home via Charles De Gaulle (those frogs). She really liked all the 
> friendly
> people and that all things was so well organized. She keeps talking about
> the "Smokies".
>
> Dave,
> Since she begun the trip in Memphis and didn't like the poverty there she
> decided against the Congressional Express Card since you seemed to need
> every penny. But it felt good to have in case of emergency :-) Since it's 
> me
> that pays our credit card bills I can assure you that she really 
> stimulated
> the US economy and more likely the Chinese to.
>
> Mattias
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