Comments for Compost Nation - Kunstler at http://atlanticfreepress.com , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://atlanticfreepress.com Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:18:20 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/1490-compost-nation-kunstler.html#comment-2065 I appreciate your commentary and have followed your writing for many years. While I agree with most of your observations it would be nice to hear about some of the positive developments in the American landscape. One place you might start is to talk to and or read what Christopher Alexander has to say about the whole process of building a living landscape. His website www.patternlanguage.com, has a good introduction to a lot of great ideas for turning this mess around. Keep up the good work and lighten up the light at the end of the tunnel might not be a train coming. - a guest Wed, 02 May 2007 21:27:09 +0100 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/1490-compost-nation-kunstler.html#comment-2063 . . . is how driving through parts of upstate New York makes me feel. The dilapidation James cites, as well as the poverty that saps the inhabitants and owners of houses of the will and wherewithal to maintain them. "Geography of Nowhere," which I read only last year, opened my eyes. It was all new to me. I highly recommend it. Regarding housing, at this point Americans are just happy to have a home, never mind how it looks or affects the quality of their lives. I never thought I'd see the day where people would pay so much for apartments, row houses or starter homes. The comment about "decorated shacks" was disgusting in its condescension. Today's power tools can be compared to word processing applications. One would have thought they enabled workmanship and craft. Instead they're used primarily to increase productivity. Regarding lack of maintenance, many landlords (like mine) of rental houses do little or no upkeep, inside or out. Guess they figure if they sell the house in poor shape they can still get a good price for it. Not for much longer. Thanks for a great post, James. - Russell Wellen Wed, 02 May 2007 20:10:18 +0100 http://atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/1490-compost-nation-kunstler.html#comment-2061 Sir: YOU SAID IT! When I return to Flint, Michigan where I grew up, I am astonished at the numbers of empty lots because the houses were torn down and removed' after being stripped of materials. Most of the houses built in the 1930's and 1940's were hand built. What will replace them? One thing I note is that the laborers hired to do the construction work now mainly are uneducated, non-unionized, non-certified, un-licensed immigrant laborers. They are eager to work and do so with determination, however, not backed up with close supervision. Who's to blame? Contractors looking for more profit, home buyers looking for a lower price, not enough taxes to pay true building inspectors, or just dunno and don't care. Like the excessive slang in our language and the continued corsening of our speech, our standards are steadily falling. Thanks for writing this article, Mr. Kunstler. - a guest Wed, 02 May 2007 19:37:30 +0100