"presley" expounded:

Years ago I was startled when a Swiss girl of my acquaintance in NYC told me
that she hoped to move to the US. When I asked why, she said, "In
Switzerland, everyone is in your business - it is quite normal for every one
of your neighbors to feel that it is their right and their duty to come over
to your house and tell you that your yard has too many weeds, your front
stoop and sidewalks need sweeping, you have to put flowers in your
flowerboxes, etc..... in America, I don't think people do that". It seems
that in many crowded lands (the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan) - there is
tremendous social pressure to maintain appearances, and shame is used as a
weapon to keep people in line. However, the US, which was always laissez
faire in the past, partly because of its enormous size and the distance of
one neighbor from another, is rapidly becoming a crowded country too,
especially in certain regions. I think the tremendous energy this thread has
generated is a reflection of a change in attitude. People are recognizing on
a subconcious level that some of the freedoms (e.g. the freedom to be
eccentric) that are possible when people are spread out, start to become
problematic when people are in close proximity. Because we are a legalistic
nation, I imagine that over time zoning regulations will take the place that
shame has in other cultures. But all of that is going to arouse resentment,
because it's a change from the values we were raised with.


You're right, Presley, however, there are still plenty of places where
you can live without too much interference from others.

Thing is, the people who want to control move into an area and then
try to enact their controls. VH hopes a pig farm would open near me.
More the point, if I chose to move in next to a pig farm, I wouldn't
start trying to change the laws nearby to outlaw the pig farm. We
have that happen around here all the time. VH would move next door
and spend the rest of her life fighting the pig farm and drive the
farmer out of business.

There's a family who have owned a farm for generations in Scituate,
it's now a retail nursery. Someone bought the land on the hill above
them (it has ocean views) and built several large homes. The people
who moved in directly behind the farm didn't like seeing the nursery
operations while they gazed at their view. They tried their damnedest
to shut them down. Thankfully there are enough people around here to
see their property rights eaten up at town meetings thatthey voted
these idiots down. They bought their $800,000 house knowing full well
the nursery was there. Tough luck for them.

Yes, as things get more crowded some of this will happen. The towns
around here pretty much recognize that people buy here because it's
small-town New England, and with that come farms, animals, etc. The
townies rightfully resent the newcomers who try to change the rules to
citify things. If you don't like what goes on in an area, then don't
move there. Stick to a nice, governed subdivision and leave the rest
of us alone.
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
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