Limited relations beyond local environments

The high cost and time taken in transportation discourage mobility except for dire emergency and for securing locally unavailable necessities, and the residents of many communities have only very limited relations with the world beyond their particular village. Current work patterns demanded by subsistence living confine the individual to the village, the fields, and the home. The practical benefits of modern society may be vaguely known but are seldom available, and appreciation of outside experience is frustrated by the villager's experience of, or stories about, its complex structures. Lack of a constant flow of information inhibits practical knowledge of technical resources and marketing possibilities which directly affect the local economy; and, with only word of mouth reports of what is happening in the nearby vicinity, the imagination of the people is stifled. They have little understanding of the regional, national or global dynamics which actually affect their lives, and little perception of how they can creatively participate in today's society.