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here are a couple of writers that I rather enjoy who are in some sense "radicals". They reject modernity, or at least great swathes of it, and then actually follow through on that rejection -- doing things like owning no car, living truly self-sustainably off the land, eschewing the "rat race".
Part of me wants to be a radical, or pursue radicalism in some way. There's something very grand about it, something very coherent about making sacrifices for one's beliefs. I suppose the question becomes, what do you want, and how badly do you want it?
These radicals tell me that their way of life bears fruit that is difficult to communicate to someone who hasn't followed them. I'm used to this kind of perspective -- it's precisely the way I feel about the Christian faith.
So what do I, and my family, want? I want to be grounded in the earth, and know the real cost of a mile (say, by walking or biking everywhere). But I also want to see my family regularly, who live an hour or more from me by car. I cannot both not have a car, and travel regularly to see my family -- so what to do? Just how much is the simplicity, connection, strength, and lack of bureaucracy of car-avoidance actually worth? Is it worth making my family come to see us, if we're to see them at all? How does one even gauge this choice?
Unfortunately, it's a rare sacrifice that doesn't force someone else to sacrifice a bit at the same time.