Why are we a divided Nation?

You said "they like to keep people as car slaves." Who wants to keep whom as a car slave?

 

Good for them. Do they grow any? Because even the tiniest apartment has a window or two.

 

That's not reimagining rural. That's simply carrying on doing what no longer works.

As to not wanting to be off grid - saying "I don't like it" is nice, if rich enough to pick and choose.

 

A huge proportion of Americans are fat, and they're not the richest.

 

There is nothing wrong with potatoes. When you do adequate exercise, and combine them with brown rice, beans, fresh greens etc, they will not hurt you. Sweet potatoes are even better.

Again, convenience foods literally can't be cheaper than the raw materials used to make them. Every single step in the processing and packaging adds cost. Pound for pound in terms of the raw ingredients, the processed stuff costs way more.

 

Yes, it's become very very bad in the past few years. Unbelievably bad, in fact.

It's as though once normal people have been infected with some kind of mind altering plague.

 

Mentally and/or physically ill, senile, addicted, etc. folks are going to grow food in a window box? Really?

 

No, it does work, but for fewer people. There are fewer people on the farm, and fewer people in farming communities.

My former students left because they felt there was nothing for them in the community.

 

If they're so mentally ill/senile/disabled that they can't manage a few house plants, why are they living alone?

And yes, it's entirely possible to grow enough greens (and perhaps some reds) for one person, in the space of a couple of windows.

 

Exactly! If it's now only working for a fraction of the number of people it used to work for, it's time to take a different approach. Clearly doing the same thing is not going to work. It's a shame those youngsters lacked the imagination and initiative to make that free housing and land (ie, the family farm) work for them. They don't understand what an incredible advantage that is.

 

What is all this stuff about? Who cares what a celebrity says?

Where is that happening? I don't see it.

How's that going to work given the First Amendment?

 

Some poor folks are skinny.

 

Not in the First World. The poorest are always the fattest.

 

They can either create something for the local community or something to sell in the city or beyond. I taught business startups to these people. Some people are creative and can come up with businesses, some struggle.

 

Yes, here, too. Sure, there are fat people who could spend their food budget wisely, but there are others who go hungry and are thin.

 

Junkies and such, that's about it. There is no genuine starvation-related thinness in the First World.

 

That's it. They need to re-think, and take advantage of their access to land and housing.

 

I've seen hungry, thin children. In this country.

 

Some people aren't cut out to run a business. Some take to it like ducks to water. One former student ended up creating a huge chinchilla farm in China. He raised chinchillas as a kid on a farm.

 

"Healthy" foods are often sold at values inflated far beyond their "natural" price. Potatoes are a nutritious food in combination like you say, but by themselves they're not at all good, being nearly pure carbohydrate

 

We are in the time of 100 different types of soda and crisps. People who seem to be short on food are fat and all have a smartphone and sometimes a big dog. The real problem is dishonesty.
People facilitate by being nice and see not offending as the winning way.
The fact is this is not the way; In UK you are not permitted to use the word FAT. You must say some crap such as .......??? I cant even think of the words because they are so illogical.
Your best friend, if he/she is a true friend, will tell their over fat friend they are FAT and this affects their health because they care. They will not keep saying.... "Oooh, you are so lovely it's your character that counts, you are so beautiful at 200 pounds, what a lovely dress, the flowers suit you"!!!!
I would say to my friend - "Because you are my friend I am worried about you, it is not good for your health to keep eating and weigh 16 stones, we should exercise together otherwise you will have serious health problems". If my friend dumped me for that then OK but I know I was truthful and cared. I would not keep saying... "big is good, character is everything"??

 

Let's keep this to adults, for now. Children are in a temporary situation, and we can assume they'll make better choices than their parents did upon reaching adulthood.

 

Couldn't have said it better!

These fatsos need to spend some time in China. The Chinese don't pretend it's kind to be dishonest. They will tell you flat out that you're ****ing up, and won't even try to soften it.

 

Sorry, but that's bollocks. A 20kg bag of brown rice is incredibly inexpensive, as is a 20kg bag of beans. Add in a little cheap protein like cans of low sodium tuna, and whatever vegetables are in season and therefore plentiful and cheap, and you have seriously healthy diet .. at half the cost of an unhealthy diet.

There is no getting around the fact that people don't eat that way because they're too lazy and too gluttonous. After all, it requires daily cooking from scratch, and a denial of the base urge for calorie dense foods like meat and dairy.

 

In which case they could just stay on the farm and practise a frugal and self-sufficient lifestyle, while working part-time. They'd still end up far ahead of their peers who leave without the means to keep themselves well in expensive big cities.