Published Letters and Op-Eds from
COK’s Writers Group

Back to the Future

The Scranton Times
November 24,  2008

Editor: Sometimes, progress is a return to traditional practices.

The Nov. 16 article “Vegan teen changing the world one handmade scarf at a time” reminded me of this. Farmers’ markets, increased use of public transportation, renting out a room in your house, and the passage of Proposition 2, banning confined spaces for farm animals — which will at least put some animals back to pasture where they belong — all admit to the danger of modern excess.

The fair trade goods Amanda and Kathy Fox sell might cost a little more than factory-produced items, but fair trade goods come with hidden value. By eliminating the middle man with direct connection between producers and vendors, and ending factory homogenization, consumers can once again purchase goods of quality and care — this is the value of holding something and knowing it was made by a human and not a machine.

Becoming a modern citizen involves admitting our strengths and weaknesses, and making connections.

Fanciful Fox, with its emphasis on sustainability, quality, and fair play, is making all of the right connections. It might sound haughty coming from a 15-year-old such as Amanda Fox, but she sounds more like an old-timer from the Greatest Generation than many adults I know.

DAVID LESSER

WASHINGTON, D.C.