NIMBY

"NOT IN MY BACK YARD," IS A PERPLEXING SENTIMENT. IT FLOWS, APPARENTLY, DEEP AND INGRAINED THROUGH HUMAN NATURE. COUNTRY AND CITY FOLK ALIKE EXHIBIT THIS VEIN OF RESENTMENT TO INTERFERENCE FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD WITH ESTABLISHED REGIMENS. I'LL CITE TWO EXAMPLES. FIRST IS THE PROPOSED (RURAL OF COURSE) HOG OR CHICKEN FACTORY FARM WHICH INVARIABLY ENGENDERS A NEGATIVE RESPONSE. ALL OBJECTIONS, UNREASONABLE AND UNREASONED, DON'T HOLD WATER, BUT THEY SPILL OUT LIKE A FLOOD ANYWAY. THE URBAN HOME CONVERTED INTO ANY TYPE OF "BUSINESS" IS ANOTHER. CHANGE IS REBUFFED WITHOUT THE COURTESY OF COMMON SENSE. ATTACKS FROM EITHER DEMOGRAPHIC AREA ALWAYS EMPLOY EITHER THE EXCUSE THAT 'IT' PUTS CHILDREN AT RISK OR IT RUINS THE LIFESTYLE TO WHICH NEIGHBORS HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED. WHY DO HOMO SAPIENS INSTINCTIVELY RESIST CHANGE, ESPECIALLY WHEN INNOVATION TRADITIONALLY REPRESENTS A GOOD? DOES THIS PHENOMENA PUT TRUTH TO THE POWER OF ORDINARY PEOPLE BY JUSTIFYING THE PHILOSOPHY THAT MAN IS INNNATELY FLAWED? SURE LOOKS LIKE IT TO ME. .