I’m writing a series of blog posts exploring the
books “How to be free” and “The Idle Parent” written by Tom Hodgkinson.
I enjoyed a lot of the ideas expressed in these books, and think that
exploring them further will help me to explore further the principles behind my
own way of living and parenting.
In the old days there was a collective approach to life. There was an
emphasis on charity and hospitality. The
ideas of collective ownership and the common good now seem revolutionary. We’ve gone from “love thy neighbour” to “keeping
up with the Joneses” and “you’re on your own”.
In some societies you still see evidence of group fun – sitting together
chatting outside your shop, playing in large groups, travelling in one big
group, not the isolated tube journey that so many suffer today, shrinking even
from a friendly “hello” in case they get drawn into conversation… heaven
forbid!
Isolation is a relatively new (a few hundred years) phenomenon, and not
a welcome one. We stay in our own
houses, with our burglar alarms, we don’t even know our neighbours, much less
share with them. Where is our camaraderie? Life is easier when it is shared.
Embrace community, get together with neighbours and friends, put on
parties and start clubs.
How does this match up to the "ink spots and
grass stains life"?
Sometimes this is hard to put into practice whatever your
intentions. You can invite people to “pop
round any time”, but they don’t, and you feel a little awkward doing it to
them, just in case you are intruding and they don’t really want you there, or
they are busy or just unsociable. I want
to have a home where the children are in and out, sharing toys with other
children, playing out. Where my friends
pop around for a cup of tea and I do the same.
Not so easy sometimes, as it involves having the trust that this is
welcome.
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