Not really given the countryside that much thought, other than it's a great place to go to escape the grey urban and suburban concrete and that nature is a beautiful thing. One thing I have noticed is that there is an increased dissatisfaction with how the 'country folk' are being treated by the government. Admittedly rural politics are coming from the right and are about Conserving past traditions, for example Fox Hunting. This post is not about the rights and wrongs of this emotive issue, if anything I feel it may colour judgements and opinions about rural life. I'm not going to address the rights and wrongs of the rich landowners or celebrities that have bought hugh swathes of land. Fox Hunting is wrong and wealthy landowners and country life celebes should be taxed a lot, lot more. This post is about ordinary country folk like the farmer who has to sell his herd of prized dairy cows because the large supermarket chains are paying the farmers less than they did 10 years ago for their milk, it has got to the stage were some are losing money on the milk their cows produce. What about the beef farmer that has to needlessly slaughter animals as they can't afford to keep them because the government would rather we import all our meat from abroad because it is cheaper. Then there's the arable farmer who is dictated by subsidies and quotas as to what he/she can afford or not afford to grow. There are villages where post offices and schools are being shut due to economics. A whole way of life is being threatened, but then New Labour are if nothing else consistent in their actions; because in towns across Britain schools and Post Offices are being closed, local neighbourhood shops are shutting because they can't afford to compete with the big chains, green open spaces are being built on for housing that could be located elsewhere. The rural folk need to think about their future, rather than getting up in arms about housing developments being built in the country perhaps they should look on a couple of hundred houses on the outskirts of their village as a way to sustain their way of life and us urban dwellers should think of the countryside as more than just a killing field. The government talks about developing communities in one breath and with the next it is destroying them. Well sort of, what they are doing is building a new society. Believe me it won't make any difference who is in power, because the Conservatives will do exactly for the 'country folk' what Labour did for 'the workers' if they gain power i.e let them down and lie to them. We have 2 choices, where ever we live; we either go along with the agenda or we get off our arses and do something about it, and it is easier to achieve this if we are all united in our defiance, even with our differences.
No.14 out of 16: CULT MANIAX - Cities
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