Thank you, Rhyd, for your good article! The whole of Europe is going through a sea-change again where 'the other' is perceived as the enemy rather than the solution. We deplore the manipulations that have fuelled the rioting in Britain. As the Lord Mayor of Liverpool said, 'We understand that people hold particular views but how do these views excuse the theft of goods from shops and other destruction?' Those feeling dispossessed in material and cultural ways need to be addressed by many means - not least by education, support, community cohesion and a deep sense of belonging that is not nationalist but mythically whole.
Who is profiting from the displacement and from the societal break down? Maybe it's obvious, and I have some hunches, but I'm curious of specifics in regards to immigration. Big tech? Landlords?...
Thanks. I realise I've not been so frequent during this summer and since that family crisis late spring. Hoping you'll see much more of my writing now!
Just seeing this- thank you! Of course I'm always happy to see you've published again. Respect though, to the direct experiences you have that shape your perspectives, and the space it requires to maintain the authenticity of what you share when you are able. 🍂🌓🦋
Glenn Albrecht has coined the term Solastalgia for the grief and pain we feel when home leaves us – when environmental shifts alter a place so profoundly, that we can no longer recognize it. You’ve tapped into something equally important, Rhyd. The grief and pain we feel when our culture leaks away. When epochal shifts, including migration, cause such profound dislocation, that we feel completely unmoored. The Capitalist egrigore would have us believe these dislocations are complete ruptures – one generation breaks with another, one culture erases another. But what if, as Tim Ingold writes about in The Rise and Fall of Generation Now, we can imagine these elements being woven together to form something new and perhaps stronger?
Thank you for such a thought provoking and interesting article . As an immigrant myself to rural Ireland these 35 years I too see how my presence and the presence of other ‘ blow ins’ inevitably changes the communities I live in but not always for the worse …. I came for a ‘simpler life’ but have learnt of the complexities and paradoxes of living in small communities and the shadow side of those small communities which has perhaps been opened and examined by the presence of people from other cultures with different mores. Living amongst people who have lived here for generations has humbled Me and led me to endless ponderings on my place Inthe world …. As someone from ‘out foreign ‘ I am fortunate to be able to live my life quite freely unencumbered by the need to abide by the unspoken rules of the local community and their religion and I see how they have no expectation of us blowins todo so but rather are fascinated by our ability to move inand out of places whereas they are much more rooted ( which I am wistful about but am unable to change) however My own children and childrens children are to my satisfaction and surprise much more rooted here so that we ourselves as an a extended family have connections and are established as a part oif things in a mostly benign way .
Is the village really dying? Or is it just changing as its always done, albeit at a faster rate than in the past. It's clearly not in demographic decline, as numerous villages have been in Southern Europe in recent decades. You suggest a lack of community and erosion of tradition, but that can evolve or be built anew. Perhaps the problem is the end of Christianity, which for centuries would have provided a common glue to the community which has not yet been replaced.
Thank you, Rhyd, for your good article! The whole of Europe is going through a sea-change again where 'the other' is perceived as the enemy rather than the solution. We deplore the manipulations that have fuelled the rioting in Britain. As the Lord Mayor of Liverpool said, 'We understand that people hold particular views but how do these views excuse the theft of goods from shops and other destruction?' Those feeling dispossessed in material and cultural ways need to be addressed by many means - not least by education, support, community cohesion and a deep sense of belonging that is not nationalist but mythically whole.
Hello Rhyd,
Who is profiting from the displacement and from the societal break down? Maybe it's obvious, and I have some hunches, but I'm curious of specifics in regards to immigration. Big tech? Landlords?...
Thank you,
Autumn
Also, so great to see two pieces from you in so days. Thank you for these!
Taking advantage with low wages, etc... presumably.
Thanks. I realise I've not been so frequent during this summer and since that family crisis late spring. Hoping you'll see much more of my writing now!
Just seeing this- thank you! Of course I'm always happy to see you've published again. Respect though, to the direct experiences you have that shape your perspectives, and the space it requires to maintain the authenticity of what you share when you are able. 🍂🌓🦋
Hey! I'll answer this in my next "sundry notes". :)
I wish we could all have your level of self-awareness, Rhyd. I love this essay. Very thought-provoking.
"the true enemy of the bugs in the jar is not the other bugs, it’s the kid who keeps shaking it.
it’s time we remembered that and swarmed out of here to go bite that little bastard." el gato malo
Glenn Albrecht has coined the term Solastalgia for the grief and pain we feel when home leaves us – when environmental shifts alter a place so profoundly, that we can no longer recognize it. You’ve tapped into something equally important, Rhyd. The grief and pain we feel when our culture leaks away. When epochal shifts, including migration, cause such profound dislocation, that we feel completely unmoored. The Capitalist egrigore would have us believe these dislocations are complete ruptures – one generation breaks with another, one culture erases another. But what if, as Tim Ingold writes about in The Rise and Fall of Generation Now, we can imagine these elements being woven together to form something new and perhaps stronger?
Thank you for such a thought provoking and interesting article . As an immigrant myself to rural Ireland these 35 years I too see how my presence and the presence of other ‘ blow ins’ inevitably changes the communities I live in but not always for the worse …. I came for a ‘simpler life’ but have learnt of the complexities and paradoxes of living in small communities and the shadow side of those small communities which has perhaps been opened and examined by the presence of people from other cultures with different mores. Living amongst people who have lived here for generations has humbled Me and led me to endless ponderings on my place Inthe world …. As someone from ‘out foreign ‘ I am fortunate to be able to live my life quite freely unencumbered by the need to abide by the unspoken rules of the local community and their religion and I see how they have no expectation of us blowins todo so but rather are fascinated by our ability to move inand out of places whereas they are much more rooted ( which I am wistful about but am unable to change) however My own children and childrens children are to my satisfaction and surprise much more rooted here so that we ourselves as an a extended family have connections and are established as a part oif things in a mostly benign way .
Is the village really dying? Or is it just changing as its always done, albeit at a faster rate than in the past. It's clearly not in demographic decline, as numerous villages have been in Southern Europe in recent decades. You suggest a lack of community and erosion of tradition, but that can evolve or be built anew. Perhaps the problem is the end of Christianity, which for centuries would have provided a common glue to the community which has not yet been replaced.