Children, ecology, and the importance of beauty in designing habitats

Good essay.

Problem: MONEY.
It's easy for a professor to be "anti materialistic", but one wonders how he plans to improve the world for poor people, who tend to prefer materialism/TV/airconditioned malls and handplows that are not as peaceful as working in the hot sun behind a water buffalo...

Good news.My stepson is building a beautiful habitat here, to hold business and training meetings.
He was given the gift of design, and the gift to make things beautiful.
Bad news: To do this, he's going thru my husband's life savings...

Gapan, like many rural towns just beginning globalization, is ugly. Yes, the new city hall and the new housing areas are beautiful...but we live downtown, where some houses are nice, and others are slipshod falling apart, with houses for the help in the back that would depress any slum dweller.

Yet it is money and globalization that allows the beauty.
Our farm is in SantaCruz. When I first visited there, there was no electricity, and the houses were bamboo traditional huts or made of plywood/steal roofs.

Now there is electricity, the housing is ugly concrete, with decent roofs...and some of the people are even rich enough to paint the houses and plant flowers.

I grew up in Philly. The "palenke" is like the South Street market, and the old Reading terminal market. Exotic. Sells everything (don't forget to barter). With garbage on the floor, rotting veggies and meat stinking up the place, and full of flies.
Main street Gapan is like the old Fifth street shops.
And Waltermart? Ah, clean, up to date, and even poor people go there, because it is cool...and even poor people can afford ten pesos for a snack.

So yes, I agree...but ...