Rewilding
Would it start? My cousin insists cutting grass is cathartic. Upon the death of my father, I inherited an old farmhouse in rural Wisconsin situated on 2.5 acres of mostly lawn. A large, relatively new "zero turn" riding lawn mower has been parked in the garage all winter. A product of the suburbs, I'm familiar with lawn care. While I've cut the property twice now, I'm still waiting to experience anything more than a sense of temporary relief, knowing how temporary the impact will be. Most social impact efforts don't begin to address root causes. Instead, they focus on the more immediate and visible manifestations of the underlying dysfunctional systems. "Solutions" are temporary and incomplete, however much they may alleviate some suffering in the short term. Affordable housing garners regular attention in Detroit and Chicago, the two cities in which my work is currently largely centered. On the national agenda since at least the 1934 National Housing Act, the issue has received billions of dollars over decades to satisfy a perpetual deficit. While I've seen, and participated in, some of these well-intentioned efforts, they rarely include an analysis of the multitude of factors that cause the issue and will continue to no matter how many new units are built. The push of capitalism creates and perpetuates the problem and will continue to do so until more fundamental shifts are instituted. I'm going to start replacing parts of parts of the lawn with more native and robust vegetation that doesn't require constant care. While I don't hate riding the mower, the carbon impact of which isn't lost on me, I can't embrace my job-well-done knowing that it will need to be repeated again, again, and again.
