Here’s a lovely essay by Rebecca Solnit on “slowness [as] an act of resistance” to the cult of efficiency, speed, innovation, and techno-mastery. (Via James Poulos @ the American Scene)
"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal
One response to “Subversive slowness”
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I am sympathetic to what the writer is saying here, yet the piece assumes life in a big city (as does a lot of this sort of cultural criticism). I enjoy walking down the rural roads around my house – an activity that requires careful attention since the sound of an oncoming vehicle presages a dive into the weeds to avoid being run over – but it’s unlikely that I will find myself in a social situation. Amazon and the Internet in general are about the only way I have of finding books unavailable in Borders. There is only one browsable used bookstore for miles and the proprietor is nearing retirement age. And while I wouldn’t say the writer is romanticizing poor rural folks it should be noted that in my neck of the woods those who live a slow, non-consumerist lifestyle spend most their time consuming beer and TV. Not exactly idyllic.
A Thinking Reed 
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