[at-l] Sense of Wilderness and Town Stops

[rickboudrie@hotmail.com (rick boudrie)]

>Ohhhhhhhh.........wilderness destroyed by a cellphone.....
>
>silly.
>_______________________________________________


You are right, wilderness will not be destroyed by a cell phone.

By the same token, the culture of a developing country will not be destroyed 
by building a McDonalds.  And small town life won't be destroyed by Walmart.

Still, with all these things come changes.  The ones felt at first are 
limited to individuals.  I believe that over time these things can help 
bring on changes to cultures (of the trail, countres and communities) that 
are not so grand. With changes of culture come real consequences.

What sucks IMHO, is that because the cold-hard logic surrounding each of 
these examples supports their proliferation (phones save lives and keep the 
spouse happy, McDonald's provides jobs and serves a market, K-mart delivers 
goods better and cheaper), people who really should know what consequences 
will follow simply shrug.  Including me.

But there is alway the internet to vent on.  I'll do that anyway.  I'll also 
leave my phone at home, eat the local cuisine and support my down-town 
merchants.

I'll also have a new found appreciation for the board of the ATC who has 
seemed to show (I just know what I read in the ATN of these things) that 
they value things that do help preserve the sense of wilderness along the 
AT.  The magazine reported that they came down in support of the advertising 
ban in shelters and against the windpower project in Maine. Of course thier 
actions on other issues speak even louder.  I guess what I am saying is that 
I am glad those board members feel a need to take positive steps to preserve 
the sense of wilderness on the AT, rather than simply saying "What the hell, 
ain't no wilderness so ain't no big deal".




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