I respect people who've tried something and decided it's not for them. But to never even try a different kind of food? I suspect it's less that he's found what he likes and more that he's scared he'd find out he actually liked something else better, and has wasted those 10 years.
The Welsh live a different way of life. This guy's attitude is far from unique. A bunch of people live in the same town, with the same job their great great great grandparents worked, that rarely travel more than 10 miles away.
Don't knock it, though, there's something to be said about this level of extreme stability. It simplifies a lot of life's worries.
It's something I never understood until I moved to Wales, and now I do understand, and I think it's one of the most admirable characteristics of the people here.
You can go out in the valleys right now and ask someone, ~40 years after the mines were shut, whether they'd want the mines back. And a significant proportion would say yes without pausing.
I went to university with a guy who turned around to me one day and said "I never want to leave the Rhondda". Not sure what he does with his design degree up that way but I'm sure he's happy.
There's a great tie to family and friends and where you live, here, which has somewhat died out in the south of England. I hope it survives even as more travel to experience things elsewhere. Of course the south of Wales does have one advantage that was taken from elsewhere, and that's that it's possible to live cheaply in the valleys and commute into the cities by train for work, so it's possible to do both here. I feel like England lost this somewhat with the Beeching report ripping half the rural railways out.
I don't think that many people want the mines back tbh. Easy to get and simple jobs maybe, but I don't know anyone who'd want the mines back. Anecdata I know. Wife's family is a mining family and I've lived and worked in South Wales for a while now.
Yeah I think it's less the mines themselves and more having guaranteed employment, and the camaraderie of working together in such a way. There aren't many professions that employ entire towns. You are right though, in that the attitude has changed - I think those who were alive at the time of the mine closures likely see it differently from those who have never known it. In that aspect it has changed since I first moved here, as that generation who grew up with the mines open has aged or passed away.
That sounds about right. My wifes side is a mining family and several of the men died young, not from accidents, but from lung issues so that potentially colours it a bit. On the tech side of things, I do see a lot of people who want 'better' jobs and there's often a lot of frustration in start-up folks I know that the Senydd just want call center or manufacturing jobs.
Yeah it's a bit of a shame that there's not more investment into tech startups here. Bristol seems to attract much more of that scene. Swansea seems to have more than Cardiff, possibly because it's slightly further from Bristol. I think there's pretty good support for starting your own small business here, but there's a bit of a gap after that which I imagine restricts the opportunities somewhat.
I'm Welsh myself, I grew up in a farming village, I'm quite aware. I think knocking it is absolutely warranted. I've got some respect for those who tried a different way of life and decided this was what they preferred, but not for those who picked stasis without even examining the alternatives.
Have you considered that people have different tastes? Personally, I hate eating; if I could take a pill to replace all my nutrition needs, I would in a heartbeat, even if it costs more than my current dietary expenses.
I think it's in reference to the rationalizations made in the article. It's perfectly sufficient to have preferences. But the author makes irrational projections about what change might be like to justify his choice.
I think "stick with what you know" can be a sound strategy if you are loss-averse and generally content.
> Have you considered that people have different tastes?
Yes. If he'd tried eating a variety of foods and hated it, I'd say fair enough. But how can you possibly know something like that without having tried it? To just dismiss so much of human experience without even considering it is honestly tragic.
As Proust put it in his somewhat overused but in this case relevant quote "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes". Understanding the human experience is first and foremost learning introspection, not tasting thousands of different fruits. Everything you can learn about the human experience is probably somewhere in that little valley where the man lives already.
Fiber seems to be the main thing he's missing (typical for a British diet). Other than that, he's eating a pretty well balanced meal. Between the fish, bread, and fruit, you end up with most nutrients you need.
I respect people who've tried something and decided it's not for them. But to never even try a different kind of food? I suspect it's less that he's found what he likes and more that he's scared he'd find out he actually liked something else better, and has wasted those 10 years.