Rural Exodus And Mass Migration (II)

Rural Exodus And Mass Migration (II) - Unaware of where exactly I might have obtained that piece of information, I remember hearing a while ago that currently about 55% of the entire world population lives in urban areas. By 2050, the projected number is said to be around two thirds. That's fairly impressive if you think about it! - I partially grew up in a rural setting which seemed to be downright drenched in quiescence and unusual tranquility. Often times, I felt I was embedded in a ghost- town or rather one- horse- town as they fittingly put it here. I couldn't really say that I was strictly opposed to that life- style, but just like everyone else I was desperately hoping for much more out there than simply that. Luckily, I ultimately got a chance to learn about life in the city (small but fine) from an an early age on as well. This form of parallel existence definitely turned out to be a wonderful experience in terms of comparison which I would not want to have missed ever. After all, I could suddenly enjoy both worlds at more or less the same time. When I was little, I naturally felt more sheltered in that small rural community out in the country. The older I got, though, the more my curiosity began to peak a serious interest as far as exploring what urban life was really like. I have to admit that I can only refer to such on a small scale. Sure enough, I have visited at least a few world metropoles over the years, but frankly, even the size of Vienna (the capital of my home country Austria) would be too big for me to handle on a permanent level. Today I find myself ever the more regressing to my childhood days, which means the smaller and less urban my surrounding, the better. Back then, most of my peers left our tiny Sleepy- Hollow- like village to seek higher and more refined education for one and later on ins into careers that had not yet been existent for another. I'm certain that quite a few reconsidered returning to their own roots at some point, but in the end only a small percentage actually moved back home where their kinship is still up to this day farming their land. Why the heck would their old folks continually be active? Well, the necessity of sustaining their livelihood beyond their time arose as a direct consequence of local abandonment on part of the younger generations. Their own successors basically walked away and so turned their backs on crafts and occupations previously deemed most respected and reputable because those would not come easy but require constant personal input as well as a great deal of sacrifice. Yeah, I suppose, you might call the lastest generations effete. Let's be honest, which of us namby- pamby whoosies today would still want to work outdoors, knee- deep in animal poop, at any given time of day or night, in sweltering or freezing temps? Exactly, not too many as most rather prefer cozy indoor jobs in well- heated offices where we clock in and again out after eight hours. Work profiles, conditions and most importantly, profits are in fact more secure this way and therefore far more appealing overall. Life on the countryside is still comparatively tough despite a wide range of technically advanced helpers and facilitators in use these days. What's more, humans increasingly prefer independence, anonymity and more freedom in general. As a matter of fact, the feel for communal life has largely gone lost over the last thirty plus years. We are no longer willing to hold up, honor, much less cherish our ancestors' traditions of interacting with neighbors, friends and strangers alike, just to name one example. We just wish to be left unbothered by everything and everyone, and not seldom, this sadly includes our own families as well. Many people might feel that strong pull to live in towns, cities, large or even mega- metropoles, and yet, we ultimately set the preference to merely co- exist along with thousands and sometimes millions of other urban inhabitants. For the most part, we simply request easily accessible convenience wherever possible, and such can't usually happen too prompt on top. This ultimately sets the trend for rural populations worldwide to just keep dramatically dwindling away, while at the same time numerous larger metropoles are pushed towards the edge of exploding. All out of alignment, if you ask me. An imbalance such as this one can only call for more severe shortages (e.g. water) in extremely condensed living quarters on the one hand and for quickly progressing desertion of the rural elsewhere on the other side. Rural exodus comes with lots of problems in tow as we all know. - To be continued.