In the twenty-fives years that Ann & I have been residents of Amazon, there have been many neighborly developments that Eugenians in other neighborhoods say don't occur in theirs.

We have a bee co-op and four-family worm bin, we have pruned and gleaned street trees, we have shared in buying garden amendments, we have work parties to accelerate yard projects, we look after pets when neighbors travel, we have an emergency response team.

We also have a sustainability discussion
group that reads and discusses and looks for ways to power down, localize, and build social capital. A recent discussion theme was our use of time. Interestingly, about a third of the members could not attend: too busy, double-booked! We have talked about growing more food in the neighborhood, getting more yards under cultivation, having a shared tool bank, and buying lots for garden and orchard.

Not much has been acomplished here, though the talk is heady and the sympathy among us has been warm.

The fact is that we are all too damn independent!

In reality, we do not need each other. We earn money outside of the neighborhood. That's where we shop, get our entertainment and medical care. We mostly have enough of the green stuff to allow this easy movement from station to station as we satisfy our wants and needs. We are living The American Dream as it was taught to us--to be self-reliant, to be independent, to ask and expect little from others.

The Dream is woven of many threads, one of which is the popular understanding of the Oregon Trail and its overland emigrants. Weren't they enterprising, risk-taking, able to fend for themselves, sturdy-looking like the Pioneer Mother and Father on campus? Well, they were, and they weren't.

John D. Unruh's The Plains Across makes it very clear that there were many facets of mutual aid and mutual interest. Emigrants traveled together; they were supported by white and native guides and traders along the way; the feds supplied protection, improved roads, and sent out agents who worked to calm settler/native frictions. West coast parties came to the rescue of stranded parties. So this historic trek exemplifies dependencies that made the trip possible, bearable, sometimers even easy .

Are we ready to decalre our dependence as we peer out across The Great American Desert created by the collapse of our economy and accustomed weather regimes? Not yet. The need is not great enough. We do not perceive risks great enough to seek out each other.

In the new year 2012, not very far into a new century, there may be events that will cause us to recognize our need for one another. We are indeed part of the 99%, but what does that impel us to do in our neighborhoods, with our neighbors? Especially when we have little time to think about it and enough cash or credit to patch up the equipment needed to keep our journey inching into that desert.

Your thoughts about the readiness of neighbors to declare dependence are welcome here.