I used to be a laid-back guy. Now I'm impatient. I chafe. I get irritable when my gratification isn't instantaneous. And it isn't just me. The whole world is bitchier these days.
You think technology benefits you because it gives you an easier row to hoe? Bollocks. The ease it provides is illusory. It has trapped you, made you a slave to things you don't even need but suddenly can't live without. So you rot in a cubicle trying to get the money to get the stuff, when you should be out walking in a meadow or wooing a lover or writing a song.
Long doesn't explicitly offer solutions, but we can try to stave off creeping technocorporatism by embracing some of the practices he laments the loss of: "yakking over the back fence, or sitting huggermugger at the bar or simply walking with a friend."
Buy books from your local bookseller, vs. ordering from Amazon.
Have a garage sale, vs. posting on craigslist.
Shop at a butcher or druggist or florist, vs. going online.
