There are some obvious answers, of course. Sports, activities, a place to park your broken-down Bronco, etc. But what is the point of having a well-manicured, sprawling, utterly useless lawn past pride? How did they even come to exist? Come to think of it... when did they come to exist. This thread ought to be as exciting as watching grass grow.
It makes jobs for many people. Lawn mowers, edgers, fertilizers, weed control sprays, insect control sprays and on and on. Think of a lawn as a business then you will understand them better.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
lawns are better than dirt or concrete, aesthetically and to play/walk on. well manicured lawn is a statement of pride, efficiency etc. we should definitely aim for some bigger issues.
sorry. it's past midnight here, i'm zoned out on sleeping pills, and it just seemed like a valid question. And I did learn a bit. I declare this thread exterminated!
OMG!! That's it! The whole of evolution has been directed toward satisfying a lawnmower's need for a few hours in the sun. There is a god and his name is Flymo!
Oh lets bring back the good ol' days when human powered push mowers were the only way to mow! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I think my main hang up is why it had to be a lawn itself if someone didn't use it. why not some sort of garden? But i'm thinking in a very narrow-minded sense
Narrow? Asking why people would want an expanse of mostly useless green carpet instead of a practical and more visually pleasing garden, vegetable and/or flower, is not stupid. Thinking you have to do as everyone else and slave over a lush green lawn (some people really get kind of crazy about it) is narrow minded. Of course, there is a difference between front and back yards. I think a small amount of lawn is acceptable in the appropriate areas. It's the going overboard that gets to me.
I'm largely guessing here. On a level of semiotics, I'm guessing a smooth, even lawn says something about social class. If we show we have something utterly unnecessary we can make perfect, it probably goes towards saying how high we rank. Maybe.
The answer is that Americans are reproducing the landscapes of English gentility. Britains created carefully manicured lawns as a sign of wealth. Only rich people could afford to have lawns instead of fields of crops.
Excellent display of conspicuous consumption, in that case, according to the rules set down by Thorstein Veblen--i.e. create something as near to totally useless as possible, literally just to show your neighbours that you're rich enough to afford the expense of doing so.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
i keep reading this thread as "Why does civilization create laws?" and thinking what a stupid questionPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
it might turn out that fewer laws would create fewer lawns with the added aspect of major potheads using their lawns to grow crops of marijuana. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! :m: