Originally Posted by Lone Wolf
Lone Wolf, the Tree Hugger...It'll take some time to get used to that...
If not NOW, then WHEN?
ME>GA 2006
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3277
Instagram hiking photos: five.leafed.clover
nothin' of it. dude asked a question, i answered. what of it?
Yeah, TAK. LW is some tree hugger. It takes a real man to call LW a librul.
I did address that by referring to FD's post. It's not an inherently harmful act. It's a long walk with a lot of ups and downs.Hypothetically -- there's the possibility of the hiker shirking other responsibilities. I'm sure that's never happened.
It's an odd way of raising money... connecting cash-toward-charity with someone else's physical exercise. Yeah, I know it's done all the time -- I still find it very strange.
It depends in part on what you do when you return home. As Henry Thoreau rightly observed, "In Wildness is the preservation of the world." Only those that have experienced wildness are likely to fight to preserve wildness.
Many of the ills of society result from a lack of contact with the natural world. As Henry also observed, "City life is millions of people being lonesome together."
Though some of the threads on White Blaze belie this truth, trails produce the nicest folks one is likely to meet in this world, and the best and most dedicated volunteers.
Weary www.matlt.org
At the time I did my long distance hike it was probably selfish. I was in a dead-end job that I didn't enjoy, wasn't sure where I was going to go with my life. I was 26 years old, finished college, but still very unhappy.
I took a year off to hike.
I came back to the "Real World", got trained as a Paramedic, and for the past 20+ years have done what I consider "Service" type jobs (not all as a Paramedic). I think that taking the year off allowed me to re-evaluate what was important and since that time society, as a whole, has benefited from my decision.
I'm at a point now that another break is starting to loom in my mind - not sure if it will wait until retirement. I know if I were allowed a six-month leave, that I would come back as a rejuvenated and more valuable employee.
I strongly believe that for many of us, society would be better off if extended breaks from the everyday work schedule were to become the norm - will probably never convince the bureaucrats of that tho.
Teach at university level.
Maybe the question should be, does being a worker ant further society, and to what end?
We all can't be Einsteins.
You know, after I posted that, I thought of Universities as one example of a bureaucracy that did embrace the idea of extended time away from the normal job. Not only through the summers off, but through the use of sabbaticals. The Professors are allowed time away from teaching in order to pursue special interests. Granted the University expects publishing to follow, but it is still time away from the norm.
I don't know about paramedic instructors but there's a pretty severe shortage of nursing instructors overall.
I suppose that getting a drink of water, taking a breath of air, looking into the light of day, enjoying the sight of a full moon, getting an education, wanting a family or reading a book also fall into the category of selfish acts then.
This republic was built on the genocide and removal of the American Indian, and their "pursuit of happiness" was not taken into account, so how exactly did that "seminal document" help them? The original treehuggers, people like Dragging Canoe, Crazy Horse, Sweet Medicine and other Indians, fought to protect not only their women and children but the land they considered to be their "church". I do not believe the Indians wanted Karl Marx or Adam Smith speaking on their behalf. Those early "environmentalists" wore quillwork and feathers and knew the land and would not be happy to be categorized with the limp-wrist treehuggers of today.
Tipi, I was sooo right there with ya until the last sentence. Got a little ugly.
I wasn't calling Wolf a treehugger, I'm sure he likes trees like most of us but he doesn't cry when a few get turned into home for republicans.Lone Wolf, the Tree Hugger...It'll take some time to get used to that...
You are right about the American Indian being the original environmentalist, and I agree that they probably don't think much of Ted Kazynski or Algore, but "genocide" hardly applies to America's treatment of them, there are more native americans alive today than when Columbus landed. We took most of their land, but not all of it. I worked at the Gallup Indian Medical Center for awhile, they recieve quality medical care, for free, for life. They can go to college in most states for free. That nazi/genocide brush is a wee bit broad, methinks.
Because of our hike, we will be giving presentations later this spring at our public library and to a group of 14 Scout leaders in our area, encouraging others to get out and hike and enjoy nature rather than live lives in front of tvs and video games. These meetings wouldn't have come about except we did the hike. I also sent out a press release and got a great write up for hiking the AT and on the ATC. If you do keep such a feat to yourself and don't use it to benefit others in some way, then it is selfish. But then again, who would want to endure the hardship of the AT - the pain, the bugs, the mud, the cold, the heat, the rocks, for some selfish pleasure? Honestly?
I thought I was agreeing with you.
oh. ok.
That's entirely consistent with what I've said. The hike itself is selfish. It's what you do afterwards, as a consequence, that makes it less so. Any benefits to society are indirect, at best.
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