On to a Good thing

BACK in the 1970s, there was a popular sitcom called The Good Life. It revolved around Tom and Barbara Good, who gave up consumer living to become self- sufficient in their suburban home.

They converted their garden into a farm, raised pigs and chickens, grew their own crops and even ran the car on methane from the livestock. Their neighbours – henpecked Jerry and his social-climbing wife Margo – considered them eccentric but harmless...