Weird winter weather. Five degrees above freezing on March 7, on the Canadian prairies. Many people think this is WONDERFUL, "spring is right around the corner!" We had a big dump of sow the other day, and most of it melting tonight. Call me silly, but I feel like 'when it's winter, it should be winter; when spring comes (April), it should be spring. I feel nervous about such mild weather in March. To me, it seems like a climate change freaky thing. There are many people in this part of the world who believe that the climate change concern is a plot by someone "back east" to foul up westerners.
It's hard to believe, but I have talked to farmers who say, "Climate change? I can't see it…hasn't affected my farm." I suspect that by the time their farms start blowing away into desert, the rest of the world will be a wreck, and some of them will be sure that the whole thing is an Ottawa plot to interfere with western economic vitality.
It's a strange phenomenon here in rural Alberta, that some very progressive people in the area of their work are surprisingly conservative when it comes to issues of change in society. Why else would people vote for the same political party for 40 years without once considering that a different point of view would be refreshing? I find it odd that a region that is so vital in some ways is content to remain a one party state politically. Perhaps it comes from having been through a number of "booms," which sustain people's positive spin even through the bust years. But, in the end, I don't understand it.
It's hard to believe, but I have talked to farmers who say, "Climate change? I can't see it…hasn't affected my farm." I suspect that by the time their farms start blowing away into desert, the rest of the world will be a wreck, and some of them will be sure that the whole thing is an Ottawa plot to interfere with western economic vitality.
It's a strange phenomenon here in rural Alberta, that some very progressive people in the area of their work are surprisingly conservative when it comes to issues of change in society. Why else would people vote for the same political party for 40 years without once considering that a different point of view would be refreshing? I find it odd that a region that is so vital in some ways is content to remain a one party state politically. Perhaps it comes from having been through a number of "booms," which sustain people's positive spin even through the bust years. But, in the end, I don't understand it.
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