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The public is to be blamed for harboring unrealistic expectations.

posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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I always had a feeling this would happen. Obama won the election and now the people are growing disconcerted over the sluggishness of progress. The winner of the 2008 election, irregardless of party or platform, was going be immediately met with one of the most vitriolic and partisan governments we have known in quite some time. The issues facing this country have been decades in the making yet two years into this administration it is being criticised for not doing enough. The effects of the financial meltdown will take years to reverse yet the hemorraging has been slowed.

It is naive to assume that any president would be able or willing to achieve all their campaign promises. It is naive to assume that one President would be able to reverse years of entrenched business interests and corale all members of The Senate and The House. My realistic expecation for this administration has been for it to be slightly left of center and so far that is what we have gotten. Any expectations of massive change in this country are completely unrealistic.

posted 2 years, 5 months ago
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I have crossed the country, I am originally from SC, to do what Evelyn and David have done. I am seeking to retreat into the woods in order to find my life again. I have found that modern society does not provide us with the time or the space we need to live a true life. We are constantly barraged by work that is separate from us, communication devices, and other trappings of modern life. We have no time to be still. We have no time to learn and grow ourselves as we are too busy dealing with the demands of modern civilization. It has crept into every crevice of our lives. We have banished the night sky and its sea of stars in favor of a pink halogen haze. We have broken our connection with nature. We have forfeited something essential to our very beings in favor of civilization. I am seeking to recover all of these things we have let go of.

I escape into the woods as often as possible. Every available weekend, vacation, or day I can steal from work will find me off escaping into the natural world. There are times when it is the only place I feel free. I am often overcome with a great sadness when it is time to return to civilization. I live, work, and save for the day when I will not have to come back.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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