I have a close relative who has opinions on everything. When we chat, especially online, we get into long, tedious discussions that lead nowhere. You see, I, too, have opinions on everything and my opinions do not agree with hers. Oops!
She is big on personal freedom. Don't infringe on my space. Period. Governments pass rules and regulations setting the rules we live under and thus governments infringe on her personal freedom. She had an example.
In a small community in which she lived, a percentage of homes had to be town houses, a percentage semi-detached and single family homes could only use X amount of land. These rules were not enacted by the town but by the Provincial government. She felt a small village should be allowed to plan its own approach to urban expansion and not be forced to adhere to urban-use guidelines devised by the Provincial government.
This sounds reasonable but is it?According to the Ontario Farmland Trust, in the past 35 years, Ontario has lost 2.8 million acres (18%) of its farmland to non-agricultural land uses like urbanization and aggregate mining.
And the rate of farmland loss is increasing rapidly. The loss was 319 acres per day, according to the 2021 Census of Agriculture, and may well be more today.
I was raised by an ex-farmer living in Essex County, Ontario. It was the early '50s, 70 years ago, and he and my mother complained about urbanization way back then. They saw the agricultural land of Essex County as some of the best in Canada. Today, when I drive around Essex County, the substantial loss envisioned by my parents is obvious.
My relative does not understand that when she hates government for infringing on her right to build a single family home on as large a chunk of land as she can afford, she is hating me. The government should be, but all too often isn't, the voice of the people. But, in this case, for me it rather is. If it were left to me to write the regulations, even my home, which I love, would never have been built.
I live on a finite planet and I hope my descendants will be able to eke out a good life on this planet for thousands of years to come. Sadly, I don't believe the planet I am leaving my granddaughters is in good shape. You may not agree but it is an indisputable fact that the earth is not as healthy a planet as it was when I was born. And when I was born, the planet was nowhere near as healthy as it had been when my grandparents were born in the mid 1870's. Now, jump ahead and I ask you, "What will our planet be like in a millennium?)
