This is an interesting piece, and expresses a view I have strong agreement with. City people often have little to no understanding of what it’s like to live in a rural area, or the issues that affect rural people. Equally, rural people often have little clue about what life is like in a city. As a city-raised person who has tree-changed to a life in the bush and working in agriculture, I feel like I have a useful perspective on both.
These factors are significant on a social and political level. Some examples that my city friends might have less insight to:
- despite being a Green politically and socially, I very much understand why hunting is a part of rural life and the value it can provide as a conservation measure
- I also get why the timber industry fights to retain access to old growth forest, despite there being viable alternatives and my deep opposition to continued old growth harvesting
- being a farm worker, I obviously understand where our food comes from, and the conditions and activities required to get that food to supermarket shelves
I feel like I have a job to do to help bridge this divide in both directions. Maybe I can be that? Maybe I can answer questions here (because screw Insta and Facebook and the rest of algorithm-driven corporate social media) that help build understanding?
In the interests of that, AMA!
#bushlife #farming #rurallife #treeChange
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jun/01/crossing-the-city-country-divide-how-do-australian-farmers-advocate-for-their-industry-in-an-urbanised-world
