The economy sucks. I've seen I dunno how many posts and articles and graphs showing how much it sucks, no matter what Washington or Wall Street might want to tell themselves and the rest of us.
The housing crisis? Still crisis-a-licious.
Unemployment? Still sky high. (And then there's the "speedup".)
...and so on and so forth. There's plenty of information out there.
The numbers are irrefutable and stomach-turning for me, and all things considered, I am incredibly lucky - I still have a job, I still have health insurance, I still have time before retirement for my 401k to bounce back, and I even have a small pension that took less of a hit than my 401k. But, even for me, a single woman who doesn't own a home or carry any debt, this shit is not hypothetical: the awful economy has been like a repeated punch to the gut. What does it say about the horrible-ness of it if someone like me, who ought to be relatively insulated from the crisis, is still feeling it significantly?
What do I mean, though? How has it hit me?
Well, first, let's talk about the fact that I work for a big multi-national corporation. In the past five years, we've paid cash to acquire two other companies and sponsored one of the world's most popular sports franchises to the tune of $20 million. Every quarter, our shareholder return grows. This year, my CEO got $6 million in bonuses alone. Meanwhile, hundreds of jobs here in the U.S. were eliminated and then replaced by offshoring operations in India and Mexico. That small pension, which should've been growing more every year, was frozen last year. My health benefits decreased, my deductibles increased. My salary, unlike shareholder returns, didn't increase enough to keep up with cost of living increases. On my little six person team, two of us have taken leaves of absence for major health reasons. I'm pretty sure all of us have been on anti-depressants and/or anti-anxiety meds at some point, and we're all working harder than we ever have, trying to keep up with expanding workloads and decreasing support. We're using outdated hardware and software that further challenge our efficiency, and management has become more and more draconian, because we're all supposed to be so grateful to even have jobs anymore.
So, yeah, I am luckier than a lot of people have been in this recession. I still have a job. But it's becoming less of a blessing every day, and I don't see much of a chance that trend will change anytime soon. I'm still holding on, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll still be able to say that.
Showing posts with label social justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social justice. Show all posts
1.21.2011
Thoughts on Ethical Meat, Vegetarianism, and Saving the Planet.
I'm in a crap place these days...my grandfather passed away on January 10, and that's shaken me up pretty well. Other stuff is going on, too - some good, some challenging....but all of it is leaving me pretty low. I keep trying to write about it, but I just get so tired of feeling like all I ever do is whine and bitch, so I never post anything. At some point, I imagine I will, but for now, it's easier to ramble on about something else. Feelings are confusing and frustrating; green activism, particularly food activism, is less so - and what does that tell you about the shit in my head, eh??
So, TreeHugger asked the question "Is Eating Meat the Best Way to Fight Factory Farms?" The various conversations around this topic bring in a lot of perspectives, because this is an incredibly complicated question to ask. Personally, though, I think even that complicated question is an oversimplification. Let me explain.
First off, there are two major reasons to oppose CAFOs (which I'm separating from factory farming, because factory farming also includes non-meat crop farming...which is awful, too) and consider going veggie: either for what I'll call Compassionate Reasons or Environmental Reasons. (I am choosing to ignore religious/spiritual reasons, even though there's some overlap, just for the purpose of keeping this relatively quick.)
If you're doing the compassion thing, the major concern is usually animal cruelty: animals in CAFOs live pretty awful lives. Overcrowded into standing-room-only cages and pens, fighting with their brethren for food and water and space. Poultry birds are debeaked so they can't peck each other. Excrement fumes and dust are inhaled by the animals with every breath, requiring prophylactic antibiotics to prevent illness. Some animals never see sunshine, or eat anything approaching an actual plant. And all of that's not even looking at how factory farmed animals are slaughtered....to put it mildly, it's not done kindly. (And, as someone who grew up seeing livestock and wild game slaughtered, I believe it can indeed be done kindly and ethically.)
If those are the reasons someone opposes factory farms, then eating grass-fed/small farm/ethically-raised-and-slaughtered meat is a much better option (though it's been my experience that many of these folks just oppose eating animals in general), since the animals usually have less horrible lives that end with much less misery. So, yeah, if your goal is to put CAFOs out of the business of torturing animals for us to eat....then yeah, eating meat from small farms with ethical agricultural practices is a good way to vote with your dollars - it more directly gives huge corporate meat producers a profit incentive to change their ways. If you stop eating meat altogether, they may not even notice; if you give their competition a bump, they're more likely to see it and maybe consider trying to get your money.
The other major reason for opposing CAFOs is the environmental one. CAFOs, in addition to all the awful crap already mentioned, also wreak total havoc on the environment. I don't just mean the shit lagoons that stink up the neighborhood and necessitate all that over-medicating the livestock....I'm talking about soil and groundwater contamination (not only with poo and bacteria, but also with those antibiotics I mentioned), I'm talking about waterways flooded with waste, I'm talking about massive fish kills, I'm talking about huge amounts of methane and carbon dioxide produced en masse by confined livestock. Beyond that, CAFOs are an integral part of the overall factory farm system, driven by petrochemically-supported monocrop operations that produce bumper crops of corn and soy that have to go somewhere....like, say, the mouths of food animals in CAFOs. The system as a whole is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, the oil industry via petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, and climate change overall.
If those are someone's reasons for opposing CAFOs, then it's still true that eating ethically produced meat would be a good step to take. The mechanics of a CAFO are not such an issue for small farms, since the volume of waste is significantly smaller.
However, both of these perspectives miss a bigger issue: even ethically produced meat can be problematic, environmentally speaking. The bottom line is that meat - regardless of how it's produced - requires more resources than plants do. More water, more time, more energy....and if you're trying to find the most environmentally conscious way of eating, meat is likely to be a small part of it, simply because eating vegetarian has the smallest footprint. Even if you don't "eat local," a vegetarian diet uses less water and less oil, and produces fewer greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
Also, as it becomes clear that global hunger is definitely going to be a huge issue (hello, food riots), the plain fact is that feeding food plants to animals instead of hungry people...is not exactly groovy. (Ditto putting food plants into gas tanks, ethanol!) If people ate less meat, that would mean fewer crops would go to feed livestock, meaning they could be shifted towards solving that hunger crisis thing.
So...if the point is to stop CAFOs, yeah, I guess eating ethical meat could be more helpful than skipping meat entirely. But if we think just a smidge bigger, to the overall global environemtal and sociopolitical issues that loom large now and will only become more and more critical, the truth is that eating less meat overall - if not going totally vegetarian - is the best choice for the health of the planet.
Of course, that's on a broad, global scale, and the other truth is that there are tons of complicating factors of economics, physical and mental health, etc. that make it tricky for lots of people to go veggie, even if they wanted to. As in most things, there is no such thing as One Size Fits All.
So, TreeHugger asked the question "Is Eating Meat the Best Way to Fight Factory Farms?" The various conversations around this topic bring in a lot of perspectives, because this is an incredibly complicated question to ask. Personally, though, I think even that complicated question is an oversimplification. Let me explain.
First off, there are two major reasons to oppose CAFOs (which I'm separating from factory farming, because factory farming also includes non-meat crop farming...which is awful, too) and consider going veggie: either for what I'll call Compassionate Reasons or Environmental Reasons. (I am choosing to ignore religious/spiritual reasons, even though there's some overlap, just for the purpose of keeping this relatively quick.)
If you're doing the compassion thing, the major concern is usually animal cruelty: animals in CAFOs live pretty awful lives. Overcrowded into standing-room-only cages and pens, fighting with their brethren for food and water and space. Poultry birds are debeaked so they can't peck each other. Excrement fumes and dust are inhaled by the animals with every breath, requiring prophylactic antibiotics to prevent illness. Some animals never see sunshine, or eat anything approaching an actual plant. And all of that's not even looking at how factory farmed animals are slaughtered....to put it mildly, it's not done kindly. (And, as someone who grew up seeing livestock and wild game slaughtered, I believe it can indeed be done kindly and ethically.)
If those are the reasons someone opposes factory farms, then eating grass-fed/small farm/ethically-raised-and-slaughtered meat is a much better option (though it's been my experience that many of these folks just oppose eating animals in general), since the animals usually have less horrible lives that end with much less misery. So, yeah, if your goal is to put CAFOs out of the business of torturing animals for us to eat....then yeah, eating meat from small farms with ethical agricultural practices is a good way to vote with your dollars - it more directly gives huge corporate meat producers a profit incentive to change their ways. If you stop eating meat altogether, they may not even notice; if you give their competition a bump, they're more likely to see it and maybe consider trying to get your money.
The other major reason for opposing CAFOs is the environmental one. CAFOs, in addition to all the awful crap already mentioned, also wreak total havoc on the environment. I don't just mean the shit lagoons that stink up the neighborhood and necessitate all that over-medicating the livestock....I'm talking about soil and groundwater contamination (not only with poo and bacteria, but also with those antibiotics I mentioned), I'm talking about waterways flooded with waste, I'm talking about massive fish kills, I'm talking about huge amounts of methane and carbon dioxide produced en masse by confined livestock. Beyond that, CAFOs are an integral part of the overall factory farm system, driven by petrochemically-supported monocrop operations that produce bumper crops of corn and soy that have to go somewhere....like, say, the mouths of food animals in CAFOs. The system as a whole is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, the oil industry via petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, and climate change overall.
If those are someone's reasons for opposing CAFOs, then it's still true that eating ethically produced meat would be a good step to take. The mechanics of a CAFO are not such an issue for small farms, since the volume of waste is significantly smaller.
However, both of these perspectives miss a bigger issue: even ethically produced meat can be problematic, environmentally speaking. The bottom line is that meat - regardless of how it's produced - requires more resources than plants do. More water, more time, more energy....and if you're trying to find the most environmentally conscious way of eating, meat is likely to be a small part of it, simply because eating vegetarian has the smallest footprint. Even if you don't "eat local," a vegetarian diet uses less water and less oil, and produces fewer greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
Also, as it becomes clear that global hunger is definitely going to be a huge issue (hello, food riots), the plain fact is that feeding food plants to animals instead of hungry people...is not exactly groovy. (Ditto putting food plants into gas tanks, ethanol!) If people ate less meat, that would mean fewer crops would go to feed livestock, meaning they could be shifted towards solving that hunger crisis thing.
So...if the point is to stop CAFOs, yeah, I guess eating ethical meat could be more helpful than skipping meat entirely. But if we think just a smidge bigger, to the overall global environemtal and sociopolitical issues that loom large now and will only become more and more critical, the truth is that eating less meat overall - if not going totally vegetarian - is the best choice for the health of the planet.
Of course, that's on a broad, global scale, and the other truth is that there are tons of complicating factors of economics, physical and mental health, etc. that make it tricky for lots of people to go veggie, even if they wanted to. As in most things, there is no such thing as One Size Fits All.
4.09.2009
Compare & contrast.
Things attempting to damage my calm today:
* Woman in elevator at office asks if I'm in tomorrow; I'm confused as to why I wouldn't be. Takes me a minute to realize it's Good Friday, which I don't celebrate because I'm not a Christian, but people assume I'm Christian until/unless I tell them otherwise. Somehow I thought the black nail polish and dyed red hair would be enough to project a stereotype here! Maybe I should start wearing my pentacle to work? Or more tattoos....hmmm...
* Coming through the security doors on my floor of the building, I vaguely hear footsteps before the door closes behind me. A woman says, "Thanks" in total sarcastic mode. What, the eyes in the back of my head were supposed to let me know you wanted me to hold the door? 'Cause clearly you're able to speak....but weren't able to ask me to hold the door since you were, uh, BEHIND ME?
* This article pulled from the Sudan Tribune, talking about the dangers of colonialism inherent in so much charity related to African countries. Makes me question where the donations I've made to "Save Darfur" are really going. Sonuvabitch! But a good reminder to me to do the effin' research before sending money to anything. Intentions are important, but thorough knowledge doesn't hurt. Time to wade into learning more about Sudan, I think.
* E-mails from family members basically telling me I don't trust Yahweh enough and also am un-American for thinking taxes make a better society. Yes, taxes suck, but the alternative sucks worse. Also, stop trying to convince me to have faith in Jesus.
* Danny Glover speaks truth about the Obama administration and racism. A bummer, but also informative.
Things helping me hold on to sanity:
* Ellen Brown preaches to this choir about how banks are totally fucking evil. Maybe not in those words.
* The Mayer explains a fear exercise I love to hate.
* I have started a trend of reflexively un-friending or un-following or un-subscribing stuff that bugs me. I love Chicago Honey Co-op, for example, but yesterday, they were pimping out some article or program or something or other talking about "get off your fat ass and bike to work." Which, you know, just doesn't seem like it's gonna be anything but a bunch of "omg I'm so fat and lazy and disgusting, I need to bike - oh, and starve, too - my way to a socially acceptable body," and you know...I just don't feel like wading through that kinda bullshit just to hear about how the local honeybees are doing. Buh-bye! Ditto bloggers or Facebook friends who are dieting, proselytizing, selling something, or posting total nonsense. Someday I may crawl out of the echo chamber...or maybe not. For now, my brain really appreciates relaxing its tolerance muscles a little. I mean, they get enough exercise at the office, anyway.
* Elle posting at Shakesville about water. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking post.
* Speaking of really awesome posts that tear me up, there's this one from Beth at Fake Plastic Fish, one of my fave green blogs.
* This playlist:
* Woman in elevator at office asks if I'm in tomorrow; I'm confused as to why I wouldn't be. Takes me a minute to realize it's Good Friday, which I don't celebrate because I'm not a Christian, but people assume I'm Christian until/unless I tell them otherwise. Somehow I thought the black nail polish and dyed red hair would be enough to project a stereotype here! Maybe I should start wearing my pentacle to work? Or more tattoos....hmmm...
* Coming through the security doors on my floor of the building, I vaguely hear footsteps before the door closes behind me. A woman says, "Thanks" in total sarcastic mode. What, the eyes in the back of my head were supposed to let me know you wanted me to hold the door? 'Cause clearly you're able to speak....but weren't able to ask me to hold the door since you were, uh, BEHIND ME?
* This article pulled from the Sudan Tribune, talking about the dangers of colonialism inherent in so much charity related to African countries. Makes me question where the donations I've made to "Save Darfur" are really going. Sonuvabitch! But a good reminder to me to do the effin' research before sending money to anything. Intentions are important, but thorough knowledge doesn't hurt. Time to wade into learning more about Sudan, I think.
* E-mails from family members basically telling me I don't trust Yahweh enough and also am un-American for thinking taxes make a better society. Yes, taxes suck, but the alternative sucks worse. Also, stop trying to convince me to have faith in Jesus.
* Danny Glover speaks truth about the Obama administration and racism. A bummer, but also informative.
Things helping me hold on to sanity:
* Ellen Brown preaches to this choir about how banks are totally fucking evil. Maybe not in those words.
* The Mayer explains a fear exercise I love to hate.
* I have started a trend of reflexively un-friending or un-following or un-subscribing stuff that bugs me. I love Chicago Honey Co-op, for example, but yesterday, they were pimping out some article or program or something or other talking about "get off your fat ass and bike to work." Which, you know, just doesn't seem like it's gonna be anything but a bunch of "omg I'm so fat and lazy and disgusting, I need to bike - oh, and starve, too - my way to a socially acceptable body," and you know...I just don't feel like wading through that kinda bullshit just to hear about how the local honeybees are doing. Buh-bye! Ditto bloggers or Facebook friends who are dieting, proselytizing, selling something, or posting total nonsense. Someday I may crawl out of the echo chamber...or maybe not. For now, my brain really appreciates relaxing its tolerance muscles a little. I mean, they get enough exercise at the office, anyway.
* Elle posting at Shakesville about water. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking post.
* Speaking of really awesome posts that tear me up, there's this one from Beth at Fake Plastic Fish, one of my fave green blogs.
* This playlist:
"Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" - John Mayer
"I Got a Name" - Jim Croce
"Mr. Curiosity" - Jason Mraz
"A Case of You" - Jane Monheit covering Joni Mitchell
"The Part Where You Let Go" - Hem
"The Shape I Found You In" - Girlyman
"Running on Faith" - Eric Clapton
"Comfort You" - Denison Witmer covering Van Morrison
"One Good Year" - Slaid Cleaves
"I Drive Alone" - Esthero
"St. Peter" - David Ford
"Rootless Tree" - Damien Rice
"By Way of Sorrow" - Cry, Cry, Cry
"Heart of the Matter" - India.Arie covering Don Henley
"They Were Wrong" - Matthew Ryan
"Dear Chicago" - Ryan Adams
"She's Out of My Life" - Josh Groban covering Michael Jackson
"Mexico" - Kim Richey covering CAKE
"Say It To Me Now" - Glen Hansard
"31 Today" - Aimee Mann
"Spilt Milk" - Matt Duke
"Ain't No Love" - David Gray
"Gravity" - John Mayer
3.31.2009
Ranting about language.
So, despite my best intentions to take a break from the usual stress-and-rage-fueled adrenal fatigue of my day-to-day existence, yesterday I had an episode of raw fury, sparked by a couple things I bumped into while toddling through the afternoon. I have been pondering since, and enjoying (sort of) the reminder of how important language is. And now, I must rant.
I am beyond tired of the way our language is designed to promote the norm, the average, and the assumption that people are all alike. I understand the cultural impetus to support certain standards, but among people who value social justice and are working against patriarchy and broad frameworks of power-over, I think it's critical to find ways to tell individual stories, with respect for multiplicity and an abundance of diversity - as opposed to gross generalizations that inherently deny or devalue alternate experiences. And I think examining how I speak and the language I use is a really important first step towards that goal.
When I was first learning about nonviolent communication, I felt very challenged by what seemed to me to be unnecessarily fine parsing of phrasing and pronouns. I mean, what difference is there in saying "you know how sometimes you feel like life is total shit" and "sometimes I feel like life is total shit"? As I eventually started to recognize - a fuckload of difference. I started seeing how so much of the language I encounter daily is instructive and directive - not just giving me orders, but essentially defining my experience. I think this is why I used to spend a lot of time angry, without ever knowing precisely why....now, I can see how constantly being told how I think and feel would leave me generally and vaguely upset. Particularly since I'm the kind of girl who hates taking orders.
Yeah, I'm talking about marketing and commercials and print ads and mass media....but I'm also talking about conversations with friends and acquaintances, professional interactions, everything. Since shifting my perspective on language and communication, I've pretty much got a running commentary in my head that goes, "No, I don't feel like that. That's not what I think. Nope, that's not how it works for me. No, I've never done that. I don't say that." It's kind of exhausting, actually, because I have to keep reminding myself that my story is not the story I'm being told it is.
In becoming more aware and more sensitive to social justice issues, I've found my awareness of this phenomenon expanded again and again, as I encounter more and more perspectives that are new to me. I mean, I'm an urban-dwelling, non-Christian, middle class, white, fat girl...there's only so much I can understand from where I sit, and I really value hearing other stories that are not mine. I sometimes even like hearing the stories of other urban-dwelling, non-Christian, middle class, white, fat girls, because often their stories are so very different from mine - which is a really great reminder that stereotypes are not gospel, and people vary wildly, even within comparatively narrow demographics.
I find it incredibly frustrating, though, when other people tell their story as if it is universal, or even universal for everyone within some comparatively narrow demographic. I mean, some urban-dwelling people have never milked a cow or seen the Milky Way - but I have. Some middle class people have never lived in a trailer park or eaten government cheese - but I have. There are as many backstories as there are non-Christians and fat people. Operating under the assumption that my story is anything but MY story is delusional, and does a disservice to me and anyone who hears my story.
In particular, I think it's really important to be careful about making assumptions and recommendations based on assumptions. I can't tell every poor girl from the country that if she drops out of college, she'll still wind up making a decent living and doing music on the side - because, sure, that worked for me, and I don't have regrets about it...but every individual case requires its own room to breathe and grow and develop in its own way. Everyone has to consider their choices from their own unique circumstances, and make decisions based on their own hopes and resources and boundaries and willingness to engage in challenging norms.
In short: speak for your fucking self, and stop giving me advice on how to solve problems I don't have, please and thanks. I'll do my best to return the favor.
I am beyond tired of the way our language is designed to promote the norm, the average, and the assumption that people are all alike. I understand the cultural impetus to support certain standards, but among people who value social justice and are working against patriarchy and broad frameworks of power-over, I think it's critical to find ways to tell individual stories, with respect for multiplicity and an abundance of diversity - as opposed to gross generalizations that inherently deny or devalue alternate experiences. And I think examining how I speak and the language I use is a really important first step towards that goal.
When I was first learning about nonviolent communication, I felt very challenged by what seemed to me to be unnecessarily fine parsing of phrasing and pronouns. I mean, what difference is there in saying "you know how sometimes you feel like life is total shit" and "sometimes I feel like life is total shit"? As I eventually started to recognize - a fuckload of difference. I started seeing how so much of the language I encounter daily is instructive and directive - not just giving me orders, but essentially defining my experience. I think this is why I used to spend a lot of time angry, without ever knowing precisely why....now, I can see how constantly being told how I think and feel would leave me generally and vaguely upset. Particularly since I'm the kind of girl who hates taking orders.
Yeah, I'm talking about marketing and commercials and print ads and mass media....but I'm also talking about conversations with friends and acquaintances, professional interactions, everything. Since shifting my perspective on language and communication, I've pretty much got a running commentary in my head that goes, "No, I don't feel like that. That's not what I think. Nope, that's not how it works for me. No, I've never done that. I don't say that." It's kind of exhausting, actually, because I have to keep reminding myself that my story is not the story I'm being told it is.
In becoming more aware and more sensitive to social justice issues, I've found my awareness of this phenomenon expanded again and again, as I encounter more and more perspectives that are new to me. I mean, I'm an urban-dwelling, non-Christian, middle class, white, fat girl...there's only so much I can understand from where I sit, and I really value hearing other stories that are not mine. I sometimes even like hearing the stories of other urban-dwelling, non-Christian, middle class, white, fat girls, because often their stories are so very different from mine - which is a really great reminder that stereotypes are not gospel, and people vary wildly, even within comparatively narrow demographics.
I find it incredibly frustrating, though, when other people tell their story as if it is universal, or even universal for everyone within some comparatively narrow demographic. I mean, some urban-dwelling people have never milked a cow or seen the Milky Way - but I have. Some middle class people have never lived in a trailer park or eaten government cheese - but I have. There are as many backstories as there are non-Christians and fat people. Operating under the assumption that my story is anything but MY story is delusional, and does a disservice to me and anyone who hears my story.
In particular, I think it's really important to be careful about making assumptions and recommendations based on assumptions. I can't tell every poor girl from the country that if she drops out of college, she'll still wind up making a decent living and doing music on the side - because, sure, that worked for me, and I don't have regrets about it...but every individual case requires its own room to breathe and grow and develop in its own way. Everyone has to consider their choices from their own unique circumstances, and make decisions based on their own hopes and resources and boundaries and willingness to engage in challenging norms.
In short: speak for your fucking self, and stop giving me advice on how to solve problems I don't have, please and thanks. I'll do my best to return the favor.
1.27.2009
Today, in things that are fucked up...
Holy crap, I can't even believe this bullshit: Bill Gates has solved Africa!
Well, okay, he's figured out how to fix that whole problem they have of, like, starving all the time over there. They just need geneticaly modified seeds and lots and lots of agrichemicals (i.e., petrochemical fertilizer!). You know, so they can kick out bumper crops like farmers over here in the States do! 'Cause it's not like there are any negative consequences to that approach, especially not when rich corporations bring it to the tropics. Jeebus, Bill Gates, what is your deal?! Is it not bad enough that you sell buttloads of imperfect operating systems that bring blue screens and frustration* to people around the world....do you have to export crappy (environment-destroying) industrial farming, too?! (P.S. While it may be historically accurate, don't you think you could've found a better way to talk about the increase in crop yield due to petroleum-based mono-crop industrial agriculture than "Green Revolution"? 'Cause I dunno 'bout you, Bill, but I'm interested in a whole 'nother kinda Green Revolution these days...Plus, what the hell? USA, China, India, Africa: one of these things is not like the other.)
In fairness, though, this sentence in Bill's letter is spot fucking on:
In other news of the wackadoo, apparently someone's printing out the Shared Items from their Google Reader, and calling it a newspaper?? I saw one on the el this morning, and literally turned to my roomie and said, "I think they missed the point." Don't get me wrong, I love the tactile experience of printed media; I will probably always keep a magazine subscription or two, and you'll pry my books from my cold, dead hands. But. It makes zero sense to me to compile a bunch of blogs and print it out like a newspaper. Also? STOP NEEDLESSLY KILLING TREES, YOU THOUGHTLESS FUCKS! Read it on your damn laptop!
Another thing fueling my rage today: TreeHugger's "Vegetarians We Love," which is a list of *dudes* who don't eat meat. 'Cause, apparently, it is totally girly to not eat meat. Don't get me wrong, TreeHugger, I get that y'all are trying to show other dudes that not-eating-meat can totally be manly, since Joaquin Phoenix is totally a vegan and all....but excellent work ignoring the fact that food choices (should) have FUCK ALL to do with gender. And that guys need some kind of extra special prize for not guzzling steak at three meals a day.
Finally, to round out the sad state of the good, green earth and some of her fucked up peoples, it seems that Americans don't really buy this whole "climate change" business, and that if those of us who do buy it and give a damn are going to convince them to change, we're gonna have to dumb it down a bit, 'cause all that science talk is just confusing, or something. I know not everybody wants to pore over charts and data and read scientific studies which are, admittedly, often a little on the dry side...but the evidence is ubiquitous enough these days that we've already boiled it down to stuff like the penguins will all die and global warming is irreversible....I dunno how much less "science-y" it gets than those really plain statements, but apparently Jane Six-Pack still somehow thinks that's not a big deal. Ugh.
Le sigh. Okay, some good stuff to get the brain churning a bit: BFP & Jess' collab called (re)Thinking Walking, which is really interesting food for thought; a manifesto from Jeremy Schlosberg at Fingertips, who I find one of the smartest, fairest and most ethical music bloggers on the web; also, this bit about racism in SF&F is delightfully blunt.
The world is a complicated place, and I rarely find enough time to wrap my brain around even a small piece of it. But I keep trying.
_____________________________
* Note: I detest Microsoft only marginally less than I detest anything Apple-related. Just in case you were thinking I was a Mac person or something. *shudder*
Well, okay, he's figured out how to fix that whole problem they have of, like, starving all the time over there. They just need geneticaly modified seeds and lots and lots of agrichemicals (i.e., petrochemical fertilizer!). You know, so they can kick out bumper crops like farmers over here in the States do! 'Cause it's not like there are any negative consequences to that approach, especially not when rich corporations bring it to the tropics. Jeebus, Bill Gates, what is your deal?! Is it not bad enough that you sell buttloads of imperfect operating systems that bring blue screens and frustration* to people around the world....do you have to export crappy (environment-destroying) industrial farming, too?! (P.S. While it may be historically accurate, don't you think you could've found a better way to talk about the increase in crop yield due to petroleum-based mono-crop industrial agriculture than "Green Revolution"? 'Cause I dunno 'bout you, Bill, but I'm interested in a whole 'nother kinda Green Revolution these days...Plus, what the hell? USA, China, India, Africa: one of these things is not like the other.)
In fairness, though, this sentence in Bill's letter is spot fucking on:
It is interesting how often the impact of climate change is illustrated by talking about the problems the polar bears will face rather than the much greater number of poor people who will die unless significant investments are made to help them.I totally agree, Bill. I'm not sure, though, that expanding industrial farming techniques to countries that don't use them now will actually help this situation. In fact, I'm pretty darn sure it won't. Now, organic and permaculture resources? Whole different story.
In other news of the wackadoo, apparently someone's printing out the Shared Items from their Google Reader, and calling it a newspaper?? I saw one on the el this morning, and literally turned to my roomie and said, "I think they missed the point." Don't get me wrong, I love the tactile experience of printed media; I will probably always keep a magazine subscription or two, and you'll pry my books from my cold, dead hands. But. It makes zero sense to me to compile a bunch of blogs and print it out like a newspaper. Also? STOP NEEDLESSLY KILLING TREES, YOU THOUGHTLESS FUCKS! Read it on your damn laptop!
Another thing fueling my rage today: TreeHugger's "Vegetarians We Love," which is a list of *dudes* who don't eat meat. 'Cause, apparently, it is totally girly to not eat meat. Don't get me wrong, TreeHugger, I get that y'all are trying to show other dudes that not-eating-meat can totally be manly, since Joaquin Phoenix is totally a vegan and all....but excellent work ignoring the fact that food choices (should) have FUCK ALL to do with gender. And that guys need some kind of extra special prize for not guzzling steak at three meals a day.
Finally, to round out the sad state of the good, green earth and some of her fucked up peoples, it seems that Americans don't really buy this whole "climate change" business, and that if those of us who do buy it and give a damn are going to convince them to change, we're gonna have to dumb it down a bit, 'cause all that science talk is just confusing, or something. I know not everybody wants to pore over charts and data and read scientific studies which are, admittedly, often a little on the dry side...but the evidence is ubiquitous enough these days that we've already boiled it down to stuff like the penguins will all die and global warming is irreversible....I dunno how much less "science-y" it gets than those really plain statements, but apparently Jane Six-Pack still somehow thinks that's not a big deal. Ugh.
Le sigh. Okay, some good stuff to get the brain churning a bit: BFP & Jess' collab called (re)Thinking Walking, which is really interesting food for thought; a manifesto from Jeremy Schlosberg at Fingertips, who I find one of the smartest, fairest and most ethical music bloggers on the web; also, this bit about racism in SF&F is delightfully blunt.
The world is a complicated place, and I rarely find enough time to wrap my brain around even a small piece of it. But I keep trying.
_____________________________
* Note: I detest Microsoft only marginally less than I detest anything Apple-related. Just in case you were thinking I was a Mac person or something. *shudder*
1.14.2009
Other people's words.
I'm still reacclimating to being back at work after a week off. I don't really have brilliant, insightful, inspiring, or thought-provoking things to say today. Luckily, other people do:
Hillary Clinton's opening remarks during the hearings confirming her as the next Secretary of State:
Lesley at Fatshionista writes about lines and stuff, which is way more brilliant than my crap description makes it seem:
Blackspot / ReThinking Capitalism talks about reframing music labels:
Ryan Adams (an artist I dig on several levels) muses about stepping away from music:
Hillary Clinton's opening remarks during the hearings confirming her as the next Secretary of State:
Too often, we see the ills that plague us more clearly than the possibilities in front of us, but it is the real possibility of progress, of that better life free from fear and want and discord, that offers our most compelling message to the rest of the world.
Lesley at Fatshionista writes about lines and stuff, which is way more brilliant than my crap description makes it seem:
I was hurt by fatphobia. I was injured by dieting. It’s taken me years - and I am still working on it - to begin to recover; to begin to have a healthy concept of food and eating; to begin to love my body for being mine no matter its size; to learn to see myself reflected in a mirror, or a shop window, or in a photograph, and not cringe; to survive in a culture that stereotypes me as lazy, stupid, disgusting, immoral, out of control, and so forth. I was bent by all this, and am very fortunate I never broke. If I draw lines, it’s because I don’t want anyone else - my friends, my family, even total fucking strangers - to have to go through that shit, to hate themselves for it. I don’t want to get sucked back down into that vortex myself.
Blackspot / ReThinking Capitalism talks about reframing music labels:
Basically, the business aspect needs to be put much lower on the priority list in the music business. If all labels followed this theory, there wouldn’t be a need to emphasize the money-making aspect - it would come naturally out of the talent they have nurtured and promoted instead of the One-Hit-Wonders they have used and abused.
Ryan Adams (an artist I dig on several levels) muses about stepping away from music:
that is not love. love is being accepted for who you are. love is taking care of yourself and caring for others and dreaming out loud when it matters. not chasing rainbows. not hoping for some eventual collective sigh of approval which will never come. how did i ever think in those terms? i always knew better. thank goodness i know now how to be honest with myself.
11.20.2008
International Transgender Day of Remembrance
Today, it's the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (click the link for a list of events around the world), and I'm thinking about Duanna Johnson and Lateisha Green and Angie Zapata. I've been thinking about gender as a social construct, and my own past gender complexities, and Prop 8, and my inability to really understand people who maintain hatred based on someone else's sex life or sex organs.
Some of my thinking was sparked by this commentary via Media Matters, from Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker. Baker said, in part (I'm only quoting this much - go to Media Matters if you want more of his drivel):
Now, firstly, Baker is clearly a douchebag: murderers are not nitwits, they're people who have committed the ultimate act of violence, and the fact that their victims have lost their lives deserves a little fucking gravity - certainly more than the term "nitwit" encompasses. On top of this, Baker is employing a variation on the "she was asking for it" victim-blaming technique of putting the responsibility for preventing violence onto the person who suffered from it. That's plenty asstastic, but Baker's equally wankeriffic larger premise is that the media's acceptance of a person's chosen gender and its attendant pronouns...makes trans folk bold and confident enough to "go anywhere" and "walk into any party." Because walking into any party is obviously provocation enough to justify murder. Obviously, this is total bullshit.
I believe that anyone, regardless of birth sex or perceived gender presentation, should be able to go anywhere without fear of harassment or violence. Assholes like Chris Baker don't share that belief, and if nothing else illustrates the cultural divide I see in America these days, that fucking does. Here's a hint, Chris: if you're offended by the sight of someone who was born with a penis presenting as someone who doesn't have a penis, that would be YOUR problem. A trans woman getting comfy in her skin? Only bothers people who aren't comfortable in theirs. Or that's my amateur pop-psych theory, anyway.
I personally have experienced gender to be a pretty fucking fluid and slippery thing, and my own feelings and preferences and beliefs about my gender change based on circumstance and mood and a bazillion other conscious and unconscious factors. And at the end of the day, do I think it should really matter? No. Regardless of what genitalia I'm carrying around in my pants, or what I want to do with that genitalia and in whose company I want to do it, or the way I dress or think or behave....I'm still a human being worthy of respect. The fact that I do identify as a woman, and was born into a female body, is just dumb fucking luck, as I see it - and shouldn't get me any special treatment (though, hey, fair treatment I would totally love).
All the trappings of all genders ought to be accessible to anyone interested in enjoying them. Makeup and frilly dresses? Not just for chicks. Ditto for having babies, nurturing, getting emotional, and high heels. Power tools and guzzling beer? Not just for dudes. Ditto for pants and athletic prowess and math and running for President. None of the opportunities in life should be predicated on fitting into gender "norms" or even acknowledging them. The "reality" that Baker's talking about above is not one where trans people are so broadly accepted that they dare to walk around the world unafraid - I'm not trans and I know that ain't the world I'm living in.
The "real" reality I see is that gender is way more complex than human nature's need to fit everything in neat little boxes can handle. I think brains and bodies and spirits and identities come together in lots of variations, not just "male" or "female," and I think it's willfully ignorant to insist that every person sort into one of those two categories, based on how the sex hormones in their mother's womb sorted out their gonads before they were born.
So, today, I am remembering those lost to ignorance and hatred, and I am holding a bright hope for a future where all people of all genders can live peaceably in a world without fear.
Some of my thinking was sparked by this commentary via Media Matters, from Minneapolis radio host Chris Baker. Baker said, in part (I'm only quoting this much - go to Media Matters if you want more of his drivel):
"I would say a majority of the blame does not lie with the nitwit that shot him, other than the fact that he's a nitwit and a guy who should have been in prison in my opinion, who shot him. But to me, this is the -- this is an example of how, by enabling people and trying to push this false reality, leads to horrible crimes like this."
Now, firstly, Baker is clearly a douchebag: murderers are not nitwits, they're people who have committed the ultimate act of violence, and the fact that their victims have lost their lives deserves a little fucking gravity - certainly more than the term "nitwit" encompasses. On top of this, Baker is employing a variation on the "she was asking for it" victim-blaming technique of putting the responsibility for preventing violence onto the person who suffered from it. That's plenty asstastic, but Baker's equally wankeriffic larger premise is that the media's acceptance of a person's chosen gender and its attendant pronouns...makes trans folk bold and confident enough to "go anywhere" and "walk into any party." Because walking into any party is obviously provocation enough to justify murder. Obviously, this is total bullshit.
I believe that anyone, regardless of birth sex or perceived gender presentation, should be able to go anywhere without fear of harassment or violence. Assholes like Chris Baker don't share that belief, and if nothing else illustrates the cultural divide I see in America these days, that fucking does. Here's a hint, Chris: if you're offended by the sight of someone who was born with a penis presenting as someone who doesn't have a penis, that would be YOUR problem. A trans woman getting comfy in her skin? Only bothers people who aren't comfortable in theirs. Or that's my amateur pop-psych theory, anyway.
I personally have experienced gender to be a pretty fucking fluid and slippery thing, and my own feelings and preferences and beliefs about my gender change based on circumstance and mood and a bazillion other conscious and unconscious factors. And at the end of the day, do I think it should really matter? No. Regardless of what genitalia I'm carrying around in my pants, or what I want to do with that genitalia and in whose company I want to do it, or the way I dress or think or behave....I'm still a human being worthy of respect. The fact that I do identify as a woman, and was born into a female body, is just dumb fucking luck, as I see it - and shouldn't get me any special treatment (though, hey, fair treatment I would totally love).
All the trappings of all genders ought to be accessible to anyone interested in enjoying them. Makeup and frilly dresses? Not just for chicks. Ditto for having babies, nurturing, getting emotional, and high heels. Power tools and guzzling beer? Not just for dudes. Ditto for pants and athletic prowess and math and running for President. None of the opportunities in life should be predicated on fitting into gender "norms" or even acknowledging them. The "reality" that Baker's talking about above is not one where trans people are so broadly accepted that they dare to walk around the world unafraid - I'm not trans and I know that ain't the world I'm living in.
The "real" reality I see is that gender is way more complex than human nature's need to fit everything in neat little boxes can handle. I think brains and bodies and spirits and identities come together in lots of variations, not just "male" or "female," and I think it's willfully ignorant to insist that every person sort into one of those two categories, based on how the sex hormones in their mother's womb sorted out their gonads before they were born.
So, today, I am remembering those lost to ignorance and hatred, and I am holding a bright hope for a future where all people of all genders can live peaceably in a world without fear.
11.12.2008
This Prop 8 Bullshit.
Okay, Californians, we have got to fucking talk.
First off, I've never been to the West Coast, so I only have media-ratified ideas about your culture and a few secondhand impressions from my city-hating sister and an old roomie who lives in L.A. However, all of this information has led me to believe that y'all were on the cutting edge of social mores. I mean, your Republican governator has actually made statements talking about how he represents all of the people of California, not just the ones who share his beliefs - that's some radical politician talk, there!
When I talk to my rural farmfolk family about social anarchy and radical environmentalism and anti-capitalist, anti-consumerism stuff, you're the people I'm thinking of. You and your awesome climate and your free thinking and your awesome labor movements and your state-regulated medical marijuana and your access to alternative medicine and yoga and various flavors of woo and local food networks and your legal marriage for any two people who want to get married and are over the age of consent. I'm not saying I'm into all the popular weirdness out there (you can keep your fucking colonics thankyouverymuch), but you guys are the people I look to when I think about the social evolutions that could save not only the world itself, but all her beautiful diverse peoples. Hell, in my day-job industry, we hate your state, 'cause every claim is a zillion bucks to the claimant - hello, protecting the people and not the business.
So, when I hear about how over half of you voted to add discrimination and bigotry into your state constitution, I don't know what to say. I mean, how does that fit in with your whole radical agenda, Californians? How the fuck do you reconcile taking the national lead on climate change and immigrant rights, with this kind of hatred? I don't fucking get it.
Which is why, along with probably a substantial portion of the 48% of y'all who have some sense in your damn heads, and hopefully the eloquent Keith Olbermann, and people all over the country, I will be bringing my loud mouth and all my anger to Federal Plaza this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. to let y'all know how crazy I think Prop 8 is.
Chicago folks, hope to see you there. Everyone else, go here to find a protest near you - there's one in every state plus D.C.
First off, I've never been to the West Coast, so I only have media-ratified ideas about your culture and a few secondhand impressions from my city-hating sister and an old roomie who lives in L.A. However, all of this information has led me to believe that y'all were on the cutting edge of social mores. I mean, your Republican governator has actually made statements talking about how he represents all of the people of California, not just the ones who share his beliefs - that's some radical politician talk, there!
When I talk to my rural farmfolk family about social anarchy and radical environmentalism and anti-capitalist, anti-consumerism stuff, you're the people I'm thinking of. You and your awesome climate and your free thinking and your awesome labor movements and your state-regulated medical marijuana and your access to alternative medicine and yoga and various flavors of woo and local food networks and your legal marriage for any two people who want to get married and are over the age of consent. I'm not saying I'm into all the popular weirdness out there (you can keep your fucking colonics thankyouverymuch), but you guys are the people I look to when I think about the social evolutions that could save not only the world itself, but all her beautiful diverse peoples. Hell, in my day-job industry, we hate your state, 'cause every claim is a zillion bucks to the claimant - hello, protecting the people and not the business.
So, when I hear about how over half of you voted to add discrimination and bigotry into your state constitution, I don't know what to say. I mean, how does that fit in with your whole radical agenda, Californians? How the fuck do you reconcile taking the national lead on climate change and immigrant rights, with this kind of hatred? I don't fucking get it.
Which is why, along with probably a substantial portion of the 48% of y'all who have some sense in your damn heads, and hopefully the eloquent Keith Olbermann, and people all over the country, I will be bringing my loud mouth and all my anger to Federal Plaza this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. to let y'all know how crazy I think Prop 8 is.
Chicago folks, hope to see you there. Everyone else, go here to find a protest near you - there's one in every state plus D.C.
11.06.2008
What happened that night...
The night started out with me standing under the horse statue on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway, discussing (at volume, 'cause I'm loud like that) the ridiculous anatomical correctness of the horse's nether regions, while an indie reporter behind me tried to conduct an interview about the historic nature of the evening's proceedings.
Hey, what's ground-breaking history without some obnoxious chick in the background yelling about horse cock?
After that, we shuffled through three different security checkpoints in waves of frantic (and generally polite) Obama supporters. Then through the metal detectors, into a sea of milling and standing people who were all buzzing with excitement over the expected results of the election. CNN was playing on the Jumbotron, Wolf Blitzer recounting results as polls started to close and numbers started trickling in. Projection after projection, broken up by discussion of the Democratic Revolution, or the Generational Shift in Politics, or other equally relevant features of the landscape in American Government. James Carville, oh, how I've missed ye! (He might be on CNN every night, for all I know....I don't have cable.)
I was pleased to see that when CNN cut to commercial, the Jumbotron went to a screensaver and music blared over the loudspeakers. I would've ranted at significant length if they'd run ads at this kind of rally. Phew!
A beachball popped up from somewhere and was batted around the park. When CNN showed the waiting crowd at the park, we all looked out for the cameras, and screamed like lunatics. Time passed; CNN called a few states for McCain - no surprises, and the huge crowd booed anyway.
Then, Wolf Blitzer announced that the polls were about to close in California. Obama, per CNN projections, was at 225 (I think), and the guy behind me says that we'd still need Florida even if California went blue. I turn to him and, using my advanced arithmetic skills, let him know that if Cali goes to Obama, it's over. A countdown clock flashes up on the Jumbotron, as CNN counts down to the last polls closing. The crowd chants along with the numbers.... five.... four... three.... two.... one.
The screen has some kind of explosion graphic, and giant letters scream "CNN PROJECTION: OBAMA WINS!" or something like that. I don't remember it precisely because my brain short-circuited and I was screaming - not yelling, not shouting, screaming at the top of my not inconsiderable lungs. I didn't stop for several minutes.
There were several minutes of excitement - CNN showed Oprah, various crowd reactions, and the iconic shot of Jesse Jackson. It reminded me of his presidential run in 1988, and how I had (at ten years old) much preferred him to Dukakis. I can only imagine how amazing that moment was for him, and I hope he recognizes how much his efforts have contributed to Obama's success now, and I hope he feels vindicated and appreciated and loved. 'Cause I love me some Jesse Jackson.
Then, they showed McCain's concession speech. I was by turns disgusted and encouraged. I saw glimpses in that speech of the man I used to respect, of the John McCain I considered an honorable enemy. I don't know that he'll ever get back my respect, but I hope he really can abandon the divisive rhetoric of the campaign and really get behind President Obama in making this country, and this world, a better place.
Shortly thereafter, they cut CNN and played a pre-recorded segment about the campaign, and how it was all about the people in the trenches and on the ground. The phrase "community organizer" flitted through my head several times. It was a lovely video....and then we got to listen to music for awhile, and stand around wondering what the lineup of speakers would be.
A roadie (do they call them that in politics?) came out and did the last of five or six soundchecks. He said, "Final soundcheck for the next president of the United States," and the crowd lost its collective shit. I cried for the first of many times.
A little while later, there was a prayer from a Reverend of some stripe. It was actually pretty open for a prayer, but one of these days, I'd like to see a truly inclusive blessing at a big political function; something that allows people of all faiths (and no faith) to support the sentiment of a benediction, without having to pay homage to Jesus.
A lovely woman came out and butchered the Star Spangled Banner. I know I'm biased, not only as a singer, but as someone who has sung this particular song for various events, messing up the national anthem happens - sometimes you forget a word, sometimes you mix up a line, it just happens. But. At the fucking victory rally for the next goddamned President of the nation for which the song is the anthem, maybe you sneak a crib sheet onto the fucking podeum so you can get the words right, hey?
And then......then....there he was. Michelle was there, and the girls, and it was the new first fucking family, and it was amazing. After a few minutes of unrepentant cheering, he spoke. I called my sister in Michigan, and put her on speaker so she could listen with me. We were both crying, and I was yelling every now and then, juggling the phone and my camera back and forth. The whole field (felt like the whole world) yelled "Yes we can!" right on cue as he recounted some history, reminding us just how far we've come as a nation...and reminding us obliquely how far we have yet to go.
As the ridiculous crowd left the park when he was done, people were crying and shouting and dancing and singing and carrying signs and celebrating. One dude was high-fiving everyone he met walking along Michigan Avenue. Near the Art Institute, someone had set up a boombox and people were dancing in a huge clump under the watchful eyes of sixty gajillion Chicago cops. Folks were hawking photos and buttons and shirts and towels (hoopy!) every ten steps. I walked slowly, enjoying the undeniable energy of excitement and hope and connection. People were smiling and laughing and dancing and cavorting and connecting, and it was glorious to behold.
At Lake Street, I turned and headed for the Red Line, where I waited for something like six trains before my claustrophobic ass found one non-crowded enough to get on. I rode next to a young white dude with blazing red hair, who was basically harassing a couple black college kids (who were totally handling him beautifully), somehow presuming some kind of connection based on the fact that he'd voted for Obama. When he eventually got off the train, the college kids had one of the most interesting discussions about race and identity politics and privelege that I've ever heard, and I wondered how much of that was because there were no white people talking.
A posse of cops greeted me on the el platform when I got off the train, and another blocked the street below. I'm not sure what to make of that, but I made it home finally.
I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out, but this is what I remember now. I wish I'd had more than a day to get used to the new camera....but I got some relatively decent shots, which you can see here.
I'm hopeful today, and hopeful that that feeling will last. I've been playing "Somewhere Different Now" by Girlyman today, and these lyrics are sticking with me:
Yeah.
Hey, what's ground-breaking history without some obnoxious chick in the background yelling about horse cock?
After that, we shuffled through three different security checkpoints in waves of frantic (and generally polite) Obama supporters. Then through the metal detectors, into a sea of milling and standing people who were all buzzing with excitement over the expected results of the election. CNN was playing on the Jumbotron, Wolf Blitzer recounting results as polls started to close and numbers started trickling in. Projection after projection, broken up by discussion of the Democratic Revolution, or the Generational Shift in Politics, or other equally relevant features of the landscape in American Government. James Carville, oh, how I've missed ye! (He might be on CNN every night, for all I know....I don't have cable.)
I was pleased to see that when CNN cut to commercial, the Jumbotron went to a screensaver and music blared over the loudspeakers. I would've ranted at significant length if they'd run ads at this kind of rally. Phew!
A beachball popped up from somewhere and was batted around the park. When CNN showed the waiting crowd at the park, we all looked out for the cameras, and screamed like lunatics. Time passed; CNN called a few states for McCain - no surprises, and the huge crowd booed anyway.
Then, Wolf Blitzer announced that the polls were about to close in California. Obama, per CNN projections, was at 225 (I think), and the guy behind me says that we'd still need Florida even if California went blue. I turn to him and, using my advanced arithmetic skills, let him know that if Cali goes to Obama, it's over. A countdown clock flashes up on the Jumbotron, as CNN counts down to the last polls closing. The crowd chants along with the numbers.... five.... four... three.... two.... one.
The screen has some kind of explosion graphic, and giant letters scream "CNN PROJECTION: OBAMA WINS!" or something like that. I don't remember it precisely because my brain short-circuited and I was screaming - not yelling, not shouting, screaming at the top of my not inconsiderable lungs. I didn't stop for several minutes.
There were several minutes of excitement - CNN showed Oprah, various crowd reactions, and the iconic shot of Jesse Jackson. It reminded me of his presidential run in 1988, and how I had (at ten years old) much preferred him to Dukakis. I can only imagine how amazing that moment was for him, and I hope he recognizes how much his efforts have contributed to Obama's success now, and I hope he feels vindicated and appreciated and loved. 'Cause I love me some Jesse Jackson.
Then, they showed McCain's concession speech. I was by turns disgusted and encouraged. I saw glimpses in that speech of the man I used to respect, of the John McCain I considered an honorable enemy. I don't know that he'll ever get back my respect, but I hope he really can abandon the divisive rhetoric of the campaign and really get behind President Obama in making this country, and this world, a better place.
Shortly thereafter, they cut CNN and played a pre-recorded segment about the campaign, and how it was all about the people in the trenches and on the ground. The phrase "community organizer" flitted through my head several times. It was a lovely video....and then we got to listen to music for awhile, and stand around wondering what the lineup of speakers would be.
A roadie (do they call them that in politics?) came out and did the last of five or six soundchecks. He said, "Final soundcheck for the next president of the United States," and the crowd lost its collective shit. I cried for the first of many times.
A little while later, there was a prayer from a Reverend of some stripe. It was actually pretty open for a prayer, but one of these days, I'd like to see a truly inclusive blessing at a big political function; something that allows people of all faiths (and no faith) to support the sentiment of a benediction, without having to pay homage to Jesus.
A lovely woman came out and butchered the Star Spangled Banner. I know I'm biased, not only as a singer, but as someone who has sung this particular song for various events, messing up the national anthem happens - sometimes you forget a word, sometimes you mix up a line, it just happens. But. At the fucking victory rally for the next goddamned President of the nation for which the song is the anthem, maybe you sneak a crib sheet onto the fucking podeum so you can get the words right, hey?
And then......then....there he was. Michelle was there, and the girls, and it was the new first fucking family, and it was amazing. After a few minutes of unrepentant cheering, he spoke. I called my sister in Michigan, and put her on speaker so she could listen with me. We were both crying, and I was yelling every now and then, juggling the phone and my camera back and forth. The whole field (felt like the whole world) yelled "Yes we can!" right on cue as he recounted some history, reminding us just how far we've come as a nation...and reminding us obliquely how far we have yet to go.
As the ridiculous crowd left the park when he was done, people were crying and shouting and dancing and singing and carrying signs and celebrating. One dude was high-fiving everyone he met walking along Michigan Avenue. Near the Art Institute, someone had set up a boombox and people were dancing in a huge clump under the watchful eyes of sixty gajillion Chicago cops. Folks were hawking photos and buttons and shirts and towels (hoopy!) every ten steps. I walked slowly, enjoying the undeniable energy of excitement and hope and connection. People were smiling and laughing and dancing and cavorting and connecting, and it was glorious to behold.
At Lake Street, I turned and headed for the Red Line, where I waited for something like six trains before my claustrophobic ass found one non-crowded enough to get on. I rode next to a young white dude with blazing red hair, who was basically harassing a couple black college kids (who were totally handling him beautifully), somehow presuming some kind of connection based on the fact that he'd voted for Obama. When he eventually got off the train, the college kids had one of the most interesting discussions about race and identity politics and privelege that I've ever heard, and I wondered how much of that was because there were no white people talking.
A posse of cops greeted me on the el platform when I got off the train, and another blocked the street below. I'm not sure what to make of that, but I made it home finally.
I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out, but this is what I remember now. I wish I'd had more than a day to get used to the new camera....but I got some relatively decent shots, which you can see here.
I'm hopeful today, and hopeful that that feeling will last. I've been playing "Somewhere Different Now" by Girlyman today, and these lyrics are sticking with me:
Now I don't mind saying, I believe in the waiting
In the visions of grandeur, and the random encounter
I'm not on fire, not burned out
Just somewhere different now
Yeah.
10.21.2008
Seen in Chicago.
(click to see full size)
Saw this modified ad on the way home from work the other day. It made me happy. And also made me want to carry around electrical tape for my own ad mods...hmmm...
9.23.2008
Green v. "LOHAS"
If you live in Chicago (or L.A. or San Fran or Seattle...hmmm, one of these things is not like the other...), you may be familiar with Conscious Choice, a magazine dedicated to "LOHAS" (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), which from what I can deduce, consists of yoga, meditation, and buying a whole buttload of eco-friendly stuff. The consumerist bent of this magazine has really started rubbing me the wrong way; I read it because it also has info on local green happenings and occasionally, interesting articles or essays (I tend to enjoy the heck out of Daniel Pinchbeck's monthly columns). The class blindness generally creeps up my ass only mildly, but this month, when they were running down the idea of green leases, I kinda lost it. I mean, they expect people to pony up two years worth of utilities in advance. So, let's conservatively argue that a month's utilities are, say, $100, between water and gas and electric...which is $1200 a year. Now, I don't know about other folks, but if I'm already shelling out to move into a new apartment, I'm spending on moving costs, plus deposit on the new apartment; on top of that, which could run a couple grand itself, depending, I'd need to come up another $2400 or more?! Who the fuck has money like that laying around, especially these days? So, yeah, not striking me as terribly helpful on that count, Conscious Choice.
((Sidenote: Shucks, it would be nice to find green resources that didn't involve shelling out craploads of money, or just in general green tips that weren't just replacing the same ol' consumerist habits with green versions of the same! End digression.))
Every month, they have a feature that runs down a bunch of statistics. This month's listing included this tidbit, recommending a vegetarian breakfast over the "traditional" American breakfast:
Now, first off, I don't know *anyone* who actually eats a breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes, and toast on a regular basis. Once or twice a month at weekend brunch, maybe, but I can't think of a single person I know who does that more than occasionally. (Granted, my social sphere may be skewed by my hippie liberal leanings, but still...I come from farm folk, and even my grandparents don't eat like that!) In fact, I'd hazard a guess that I know more people who eat *no* breakfast than who eat eggs plus two servings of both meats and carbs for breakfast.
Secondly, and maybe more disturbing to me, the breakfast they're recommending includes yogurt, cereal, milk, and fruit. I like this breakfast - in fact, it's one I have myself fairly often (sans milk - I like cereal in my yogurt). Over this past summer, I've enjoyed it many times with farmer's market blueberries or strawberries. As we shift into fall, I suspect it may become apples, since that's what's both local and seasonal. I'm curious, though, why Conscious Choice would make a specific recommendation for a particular type of fruit, when a general statement would have done just as well. I am specifically curious as to why they felt it necessary to recommend bananas, the evil-est of all evil exotic fruit. Are the Conscious Choice editors and writers not aware of the political ramifications of bananas? Of the environmental ones, due to monoculture and long-distance transport and petrochemical agriculture and genetic modification?
Needless to say, I have written a letter to the editors asking them to reconsider this recommendation. I'm all for yogurt, cereal, and fruit for breakfast - but skip the blood-soaked environmentally-unfriendly banana in favor of some local, seasonal fruit instead. Or, if you can't get local/seasonal fruit, try organic raisins or just about anything at your neighborhood fruit market that's not a banana.
Also annoying? The usual weight loss claptrap. Especially the part about cutting 300-500 calories from your diet to "slow aging." Not only did this two sentence blurb contain three (count 'em) weasel words (might, may, could), it mentioned no cautionary statements about starting points....like if you're already eating 500 calories on a starvation diet, cutting 300 of them might be a bad idea. Also, although it's impossible to know for sure which study they're basing this off, all of the likely studies in the publication they reference involve mice and rats - not a human-based experiment in the lot! Again I say: "THEY DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW FOR SURE, and whatever they're selling you is based on FUCK ALL."
I wish there were better choices in the world.
((Sidenote: Shucks, it would be nice to find green resources that didn't involve shelling out craploads of money, or just in general green tips that weren't just replacing the same ol' consumerist habits with green versions of the same! End digression.))
Every month, they have a feature that runs down a bunch of statistics. This month's listing included this tidbit, recommending a vegetarian breakfast over the "traditional" American breakfast:
10 Times less, in greenhouse gas emissions, incurred by eating a light breakfast of yogurt, banana, cereal and milk in place of a traditional breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes and toast.
Now, first off, I don't know *anyone* who actually eats a breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes, and toast on a regular basis. Once or twice a month at weekend brunch, maybe, but I can't think of a single person I know who does that more than occasionally. (Granted, my social sphere may be skewed by my hippie liberal leanings, but still...I come from farm folk, and even my grandparents don't eat like that!) In fact, I'd hazard a guess that I know more people who eat *no* breakfast than who eat eggs plus two servings of both meats and carbs for breakfast.
Secondly, and maybe more disturbing to me, the breakfast they're recommending includes yogurt, cereal, milk, and fruit. I like this breakfast - in fact, it's one I have myself fairly often (sans milk - I like cereal in my yogurt). Over this past summer, I've enjoyed it many times with farmer's market blueberries or strawberries. As we shift into fall, I suspect it may become apples, since that's what's both local and seasonal. I'm curious, though, why Conscious Choice would make a specific recommendation for a particular type of fruit, when a general statement would have done just as well. I am specifically curious as to why they felt it necessary to recommend bananas, the evil-est of all evil exotic fruit. Are the Conscious Choice editors and writers not aware of the political ramifications of bananas? Of the environmental ones, due to monoculture and long-distance transport and petrochemical agriculture and genetic modification?
Needless to say, I have written a letter to the editors asking them to reconsider this recommendation. I'm all for yogurt, cereal, and fruit for breakfast - but skip the blood-soaked environmentally-unfriendly banana in favor of some local, seasonal fruit instead. Or, if you can't get local/seasonal fruit, try organic raisins or just about anything at your neighborhood fruit market that's not a banana.
Also annoying? The usual weight loss claptrap. Especially the part about cutting 300-500 calories from your diet to "slow aging." Not only did this two sentence blurb contain three (count 'em) weasel words (might, may, could), it mentioned no cautionary statements about starting points....like if you're already eating 500 calories on a starvation diet, cutting 300 of them might be a bad idea. Also, although it's impossible to know for sure which study they're basing this off, all of the likely studies in the publication they reference involve mice and rats - not a human-based experiment in the lot! Again I say: "THEY DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW FOR SURE, and whatever they're selling you is based on FUCK ALL."
I wish there were better choices in the world.
8.22.2008
FUotD: the State of Alabama! (DIS-honorable mention to Business Week's Philip Rawls)
When I lived in Atlanta and spent many months driving I-20 into Anniston, Alabama to visit my sister while she was in Basic Training at Ft. McClellan, I heard this joke a lot:
Today, there's this bullshit (via Shakesville):
Let's start with the complete non-starter about "deep-fried Southern favorites." Skinny people eat fried foods all the time without getting fat (ummmm, Michael Phelps, anyone?)...and not eating fried foods doesn't make people skinny. ('Cause seriously, I hate me some fried foods.)
What bugs me about this is that this is, essentially, an employer gathering personal and private information about its workers, and then using this to affect the benefits some workers receive along with their paychecks (and let's not forget that we're talking about Alabama, one of the lowest-ranked states in terms of median income - hmmmm, the poverty-fatness combo again; wonder if there's a connection?). And what personal data will they be using to determine who pays and who doesn't? Our old friend, the BMI!
So, we know the BMI is crap...but I particularly love the part where there not sure how to measure progress. (Maybe that's because diets don't work, or something.) My fave part is that "everyone could avoid the charge" by "working to lose weight." I wonder if anybody's ever considered that maybe the fatties have tried (and are probably still trying) to lose weight a few times before. Jackholes!
Here's the piece that will inevitably be overlooked:
...because the State of Alabama can't pocket $300 a year per fat person if they recognize that health cannot be regulated, or at least that fat is not the same thing as unhealthy.
I also love that they quote the state employees' union as not being upset:
Riiiight. Not designed to punish employees. Only take some of their money. Those are totally different things.
Honestly, this program is similar to a "wellness" program at my company; if I joined the program, got a "health coach" and followed whatever steps they told me I should, I would save $20 a month on my premiums. But you know what? My weight is none of my employer's fucking business, and $20 a month is something I can afford to spend to preserve my privacy. Is it right, though? Is it fair that I basically pay a premium to be fat and insured? Hell, no. It's total crap.
The part that sucks hardest is that the people (substantially women, I bet) with the least financial resources are probably also the ones who'll be stuck finding a way to budget in an extra $25 a month because they don't have time, money, or the resources it takes to force their bodies to lose weight. I smell eating disorders and starvation - if they aren't already there.
So, yeah, State of Alabama: FUCK YOU!
Q: What's the only good thing to come out of Alabama?
A: I-20!
Today, there's this bullshit (via Shakesville):
Alabama, pushed to second in national obesity rankings by deep-fried Southern favorites, is cracking down on state workers who are too fat.
The state has given its 37,527 employees a year to start getting fit -- or they'll pay $25 a month for insurance that otherwise is free.
Let's start with the complete non-starter about "deep-fried Southern favorites." Skinny people eat fried foods all the time without getting fat (ummmm, Michael Phelps, anyone?)...and not eating fried foods doesn't make people skinny. ('Cause seriously, I hate me some fried foods.)
What bugs me about this is that this is, essentially, an employer gathering personal and private information about its workers, and then using this to affect the benefits some workers receive along with their paychecks (and let's not forget that we're talking about Alabama, one of the lowest-ranked states in terms of median income - hmmmm, the poverty-fatness combo again; wonder if there's a connection?). And what personal data will they be using to determine who pays and who doesn't? Our old friend, the BMI!
The board will apply the obesity charge to anyone with a body mass index of 35 or higher who is not making progress. A person 5 feet 6 inches tall weighing 220 pounds, for example, would have a BMI of 35.5. A BMI of 30 is considered the threshold for obesity.
The board has not yet determined how much progress a person would have to show and is uncertain how many people might be affected because everyone could avoid the charge by working to lose weight.
So, we know the BMI is crap...but I particularly love the part where there not sure how to measure progress. (Maybe that's because diets don't work, or something.) My fave part is that "everyone could avoid the charge" by "working to lose weight." I wonder if anybody's ever considered that maybe the fatties have tried (and are probably still trying) to lose weight a few times before. Jackholes!
Here's the piece that will inevitably be overlooked:
A recent study suggested that about half of overweight people and nearly a third of obese people have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while about a quarter of people considered to be normal weight suffer from the ills associated with obesity.
...because the State of Alabama can't pocket $300 a year per fat person if they recognize that health cannot be regulated, or at least that fat is not the same thing as unhealthy.
I also love that they quote the state employees' union as not being upset:
Mac McArthur, executive director of Alabama State Employees Association, said the plan is not designed to punish employees.
"It's a positive," he said.
Riiiight. Not designed to punish employees. Only take some of their money. Those are totally different things.
Honestly, this program is similar to a "wellness" program at my company; if I joined the program, got a "health coach" and followed whatever steps they told me I should, I would save $20 a month on my premiums. But you know what? My weight is none of my employer's fucking business, and $20 a month is something I can afford to spend to preserve my privacy. Is it right, though? Is it fair that I basically pay a premium to be fat and insured? Hell, no. It's total crap.
The part that sucks hardest is that the people (substantially women, I bet) with the least financial resources are probably also the ones who'll be stuck finding a way to budget in an extra $25 a month because they don't have time, money, or the resources it takes to force their bodies to lose weight. I smell eating disorders and starvation - if they aren't already there.
So, yeah, State of Alabama: FUCK YOU!
8.19.2008
The weekend was a black hole of motherfucking suck, and I am going to be processing for awhile. This saddens me, and leaves me no spare thoughtspace to pontificate on the ills of the world; my heart is creaking for more personal reasons today.
Lucky for me, other people are saying insightful things, though. For example, there's the Women of Color and Beauty Carnival at Yennenga, which is seriously worth reading. I also liked this rant about torture, from John Buell via Common Dreams. Also exciting: Connecticut's steps to make solar power more accessible to the masses! I also liked the Anti-Advertising Agency's take down of a travel ad.
Then, of course, there's this pile of horse shit that purports to defend GMO crops and by extension agribusiness. I read it over and was too pissed to properly dress it down, but in summary:
...that is bullshit. That framing of success only applies if your goal is to make a profit. If your goal is to properly nourish people with actual real live food, all the while NOT destroying the planet....well, then, maybe GMO crops aren't quite so damn fabulous.
Lucky for me, other people are saying insightful things, though. For example, there's the Women of Color and Beauty Carnival at Yennenga, which is seriously worth reading. I also liked this rant about torture, from John Buell via Common Dreams. Also exciting: Connecticut's steps to make solar power more accessible to the masses! I also liked the Anti-Advertising Agency's take down of a travel ad.
Then, of course, there's this pile of horse shit that purports to defend GMO crops and by extension agribusiness. I read it over and was too pissed to properly dress it down, but in summary:
If a new product's characteristics are attractive and the price is right, it succeeds in the marketplace, stimulating still more innovation. Ironically, some of Prince Charles's own organically produced vegetables failed this test: so deformed and repulsive to look at, they were not marketable and had to be given to local schools.
...that is bullshit. That framing of success only applies if your goal is to make a profit. If your goal is to properly nourish people with actual real live food, all the while NOT destroying the planet....well, then, maybe GMO crops aren't quite so damn fabulous.
8.01.2008
Suck fatigue.
I've been spending a lot of time lately re-educating myself on history and culture, trying to get a more balanced perspective than the white patriarchy version I learned in school. A lot of this has been really jaw-dropping for me, like stumbling across the story of Saartjie Baartman (a.k.a. the 'Hottentot' Venus, a Khoikhoi woman who was shown off like some sideshow freak for the shape of her ass - which, as a substantially bootylicious chick myself, just...yeah, it blew my mind, and not in a good way), learning about the "convict leasing system" (a vomitous practice that kept black men legally enslaved well into the twentieth century), and discovering the truth about "banana republics.
You know, I would think that surviving childhood rape, divorce, a schizophrenic mother, and suicidal-drug-addicted roommates would pretty much keep my expectations for the human race pretty fuckin' low....but turns out I still have a shred of faith in humanity. Lord knows why.
What with my illness awhile back, I spent most of my vacation time from work....but I think I'm going to take a summer media vacation anyway. I declare that I need a break from having my nose rubbed in mankind's shit-on-the-carpet, so my soul can grow back a little. Otherwise, I may just lose all ability to believe that change is possible, and give up, and go buy an SUV or something.
So, for awhile, I am willfully burying my head in the sand, though in this case, the sand is likely to be music and popsicles and fluffy novels and a quest for sunburns at my local beach.
Before I officially shut off my political awareness, though, I need to mention that the ass-kicking Coalition of Immokalee Workers is going after Chipotle (not to mention apparently planning to target Whole Foods soon - yippee!), trying to ensure something closer to fair work conditions for farm workers. You can learn how to help here, including awesome letters you can print up and deliver to your local Chipotle managers. You know, if you eat there.
Also: via my awesome roomie, here's a site encouraging communities to convert high-visibilty lawns and such into organic food gardens. There's a petition to start with the White House lawn. How fucking cool is that?
You know, I would think that surviving childhood rape, divorce, a schizophrenic mother, and suicidal-drug-addicted roommates would pretty much keep my expectations for the human race pretty fuckin' low....but turns out I still have a shred of faith in humanity. Lord knows why.
What with my illness awhile back, I spent most of my vacation time from work....but I think I'm going to take a summer media vacation anyway. I declare that I need a break from having my nose rubbed in mankind's shit-on-the-carpet, so my soul can grow back a little. Otherwise, I may just lose all ability to believe that change is possible, and give up, and go buy an SUV or something.
So, for awhile, I am willfully burying my head in the sand, though in this case, the sand is likely to be music and popsicles and fluffy novels and a quest for sunburns at my local beach.
Before I officially shut off my political awareness, though, I need to mention that the ass-kicking Coalition of Immokalee Workers is going after Chipotle (not to mention apparently planning to target Whole Foods soon - yippee!), trying to ensure something closer to fair work conditions for farm workers. You can learn how to help here, including awesome letters you can print up and deliver to your local Chipotle managers. You know, if you eat there.
Also: via my awesome roomie, here's a site encouraging communities to convert high-visibilty lawns and such into organic food gardens. There's a petition to start with the White House lawn. How fucking cool is that?
7.21.2008
Briefly...
*Apparently, some people don't know how awesome sex is. I can't think of any other reason for taking action that endangers ready access to contraception. (Well, I guess there's that old chesnut about keeping women barefoot-and-pregnant...) Big yays, however, to my favorite former presidential candidate, for not fucking around and letting this go by without calling out the Bush administration and their obvious fucking agenda (click that link to sign the petition!).
* Speaking of turning back the clock on social progress...apparently a state-recognized legally binding marriage isn't good enough for the Census Bureau. Hey, anybody want to go in with me on getting them some calendars dated more recently than 1950?
* Government fucks people over, gets away with it as usual. Myanmar's junta is apparently going to get a pass on holding up aid, an act that probably directly resulted in death and suffering (we'll never know, because the questions aren't being acknowledged by those in a position to press for answers). Good thing the junta has now promised to uphold human rights and democracy and stuff.
* Brain food: a 1986 speechification on feminism from author Ursula LeGuin (h/t to Chelidon); a transcript of Al Gore's appearance on Meet the Press yesterday (the one week I don't watch; GAH!); a really interesting piece on the evolution of our culture from the industrial to...whatever comes after that.
* Speaking of turning back the clock on social progress...apparently a state-recognized legally binding marriage isn't good enough for the Census Bureau. Hey, anybody want to go in with me on getting them some calendars dated more recently than 1950?
* Government fucks people over, gets away with it as usual. Myanmar's junta is apparently going to get a pass on holding up aid, an act that probably directly resulted in death and suffering (we'll never know, because the questions aren't being acknowledged by those in a position to press for answers). Good thing the junta has now promised to uphold human rights and democracy and stuff.
* Brain food: a 1986 speechification on feminism from author Ursula LeGuin (h/t to Chelidon); a transcript of Al Gore's appearance on Meet the Press yesterday (the one week I don't watch; GAH!); a really interesting piece on the evolution of our culture from the industrial to...whatever comes after that.
7.15.2008
Little things.
So, today I'm shopping.
I bought a new mp3 player (my old one is falling apart, and runs on AAA batteries that I'm tired of buying*, so I went for something USB rechargeable), and got one of these skins for it (because I do my research, and they come highly recommended). I was totally stoked, until I read the helpful hints in the order confirmation, which includes this bit:
Setting aside the ridiculous use of "pr0n" (Uh, hello? Are you a business or a twelve-year-old?), how freakin' hard would it be to swap the gendered language there for "spouse" or "partner" or even "roommate" instead? They're entirely excluding straight women and gay men (not to mention possibly lots of trans or genderqueer people) with this wording, and while that may be in line with their demographics, it still pissed me off. Not to mention the assumption that all of these people (apparently parents of teenagers [?], or those daffy women) "think the word Skin means" pornography. Plus, all women (or parents) would throw "pr0n" out without even looking at it? Say what? I mean, if I thought something was porn, I would probably at least give it a look to see if it was something I could parlay into a good story or a feminist rant!
I had a similar reaction in an entirely different situation earlier. I was shopping on Etsy this morning, looking for wrist cuffs. (I'm trying to motivate myself to get the tattoo I've been chickening out of for several years now. I can't help it, they fucking HURT.) Anyway, I'm checking out all these cute steampunk pieces with lace and hardware and all kinds of interesting little doodads. I opened one up to read about the construction, and in the description was this: "Fits a normal wrist."
Okay, not to pick on the Etsy artisan that created the lovely wrist cuff I was browsing....but what the fuck is a "normal wrist"? More importantly, how does being "normal" or not indicate anything about how the wrist cuff would fit? I recognize that people who don't have 9 inch wrists (or anything else sized out of mass manufactured - or apparently even handmade - goods) might not recognize that using the term "normal" as a size actually makes anything outside of that size range, logically speaking, NOT normal. Which, while it may be true from a purely statistical perspective, carries some pretty intense cultural baggage. Beyond that, saying something fits a "normal wrist" just communicates ZERO useful information (I mean, seriously, most craftspeople measure this kind of thing *anyway* so why not post some numbers and leave the adjectives for the trim?).
I know these are little things, but it seems like these little things are a big part of the daily onslaught that could actually be changed without nearly as much pain and work as, say, the ERA or federally sanctioned gay marriage. It seems like little linguistic shifts wouldn't kill whoever typed up the copy for situations like this.
Since it seems few are willing to give it a try, though, maybe it's not such a little thing.
* At one time, I rocked some rechargeable AAAs. One day, as I'm waiting for a train, one of the batteries literally melted down in my purse. I'm shocked it didn't burn me, it was so hot. I still don't know what the fuck caused it to go nuclear like that, but I swore I'd never touch another rechargeable battery (of that sort, obviously) again, and I have - and will - not.
I bought a new mp3 player (my old one is falling apart, and runs on AAA batteries that I'm tired of buying*, so I went for something USB rechargeable), and got one of these skins for it (because I do my research, and they come highly recommended). I was totally stoked, until I read the helpful hints in the order confirmation, which includes this bit:
Tell your parents, wife or girlfriend about Best Skins Ever before your order arrives. They think the word Skin means pr0n and will throw it out before you ever see it.
Setting aside the ridiculous use of "pr0n" (Uh, hello? Are you a business or a twelve-year-old?), how freakin' hard would it be to swap the gendered language there for "spouse" or "partner" or even "roommate" instead? They're entirely excluding straight women and gay men (not to mention possibly lots of trans or genderqueer people) with this wording, and while that may be in line with their demographics, it still pissed me off. Not to mention the assumption that all of these people (apparently parents of teenagers [?], or those daffy women) "think the word Skin means" pornography. Plus, all women (or parents) would throw "pr0n" out without even looking at it? Say what? I mean, if I thought something was porn, I would probably at least give it a look to see if it was something I could parlay into a good story or a feminist rant!
I had a similar reaction in an entirely different situation earlier. I was shopping on Etsy this morning, looking for wrist cuffs. (I'm trying to motivate myself to get the tattoo I've been chickening out of for several years now. I can't help it, they fucking HURT.) Anyway, I'm checking out all these cute steampunk pieces with lace and hardware and all kinds of interesting little doodads. I opened one up to read about the construction, and in the description was this: "Fits a normal wrist."
Okay, not to pick on the Etsy artisan that created the lovely wrist cuff I was browsing....but what the fuck is a "normal wrist"? More importantly, how does being "normal" or not indicate anything about how the wrist cuff would fit? I recognize that people who don't have 9 inch wrists (or anything else sized out of mass manufactured - or apparently even handmade - goods) might not recognize that using the term "normal" as a size actually makes anything outside of that size range, logically speaking, NOT normal. Which, while it may be true from a purely statistical perspective, carries some pretty intense cultural baggage. Beyond that, saying something fits a "normal wrist" just communicates ZERO useful information (I mean, seriously, most craftspeople measure this kind of thing *anyway* so why not post some numbers and leave the adjectives for the trim?).
I know these are little things, but it seems like these little things are a big part of the daily onslaught that could actually be changed without nearly as much pain and work as, say, the ERA or federally sanctioned gay marriage. It seems like little linguistic shifts wouldn't kill whoever typed up the copy for situations like this.
Since it seems few are willing to give it a try, though, maybe it's not such a little thing.
* At one time, I rocked some rechargeable AAAs. One day, as I'm waiting for a train, one of the batteries literally melted down in my purse. I'm shocked it didn't burn me, it was so hot. I still don't know what the fuck caused it to go nuclear like that, but I swore I'd never touch another rechargeable battery (of that sort, obviously) again, and I have - and will - not.
5.28.2008
Hitting a wall.
A lot of activists seem to be hitting a wall this week for some reason. I'm feeling it, too...when I look at the enormity of the injustices in the world, how close the planet is to total oblivion, and how little many people seem to give a damn....it's overwhelming. I get frustrated with what often feels like my own inability to shed the expectations of the culture I grew up in, and engage in more authentic, more sustainable daily habits - not to mention doing stuff beyond the everyday to try make the rest of the world a more equitable place. I forget sometimes, though, just how far outside the "norm" I already am, in many ways. There are plenty of people who consider me obnoxiously radical, even though I feel like there's so much more I could be doing.
That's the context in which I read David Korten's brilliant remarks to the Seattle Green Expo. While part of me thinks the Green Expos are still too driven by commerce and consumerism, I do think they're great baby steps to help spread green ideas and information. Korten's speech, however, was a breath of fresh air - it touched on things I believe but don't always articulate very well - particularly the idea of Empire. Some excerpts:
This bit here strikes me as particularly relevant to social justice movements...it's one reason why fat activism is so important to me, why it's important to share stories that break cultural assumptions about fat bodies and what it means to live in one. Most importantly, this idea of shifting the "failure" from the individual to the cultural construct that defined that failure in privileged terms that excluded the entirely valid experiences of many people.
One of the things Korten mentions is the Earth Charter, a fairly comprehensive statement of principles related to environmental, social, and economic justice that I like a great deal (although there was a spiritual/moral bent that I would want to shift to make more open to those who follow no spiritual path). It's a little more extensive than the Reclaiming Principles of Unity, but covers a lot of the same ground (although minus the witchy framework). In looking over the people involved with creating the Charter and maintaining its propagation in the world, I see a lot of diversity, but also a lot of powerful people; I'm not entirely certain the egalitarianism I find inherent in the values is also present in the actual operation....but then again, there's a whole thing about decentralized expansion - which breaks down hierarchies....so maybe it's more like Reclaiming than not.
Ahem. Anyway.
Sometimes I worry that I am not doing enough. I have no doubt there's more I can be doing everyday to live within my values.....but I also think it's important to recognize how much I'm already doing. Sure, for every radical action (like, say, catching graywater when I'm washing dishes and using it to water the plants - or growing some of my own food in an urban environment - or daring to be fat and not hate myself), there are multiple not-so-radical, not-so-awesome actions (like dying my hair with horrible chemicals - or sometimes getting frou-frou coffee from Starbucks - or buying a new pair of shoes when I have forty pairs at home already). I work a corporate job, and don't own a car. I use laundry detergent made by Proctor & Gamble, but biodegradable dish soap.
It's a process, working towards a sustainable life. I'm not yet ready to give away everything I own, wear sack-cloth, and sleep on a straw pallet....or pull myself entirely out of the capitalist world in which I was born. I add a little bit every day. I come closer every moment. I am compassionate for the times I don't do as well as I'd like, succumbing to convenience and privilege. I try again.
In summary, from Mr. Korten:
That's the context in which I read David Korten's brilliant remarks to the Seattle Green Expo. While part of me thinks the Green Expos are still too driven by commerce and consumerism, I do think they're great baby steps to help spread green ideas and information. Korten's speech, however, was a breath of fresh air - it touched on things I believe but don't always articulate very well - particularly the idea of Empire. Some excerpts:
No more throwaway stuff. No more economic growth for the rich. Our priority must be to grow our well-being rather than our consumption. Invest in peace, education, and health care rather than war. Invest in compact communities rather than suburban sprawl. Invest in local economies and environmental rejuvenation rather than in shipping toys around the world and speculating in the global financial casino. Invest in sidewalks, bicycles, bicycle paths, and public transportation rather than cars and highways. Invest in education for living rather than advertising to get us to consume more. Here is the kicker. We must eliminate exactly those forms of non-essential production and consumption that our economic and political systems are designed to promote.
We might wonder how such injustice could happen in a world governed by democratically elected governments. The answer is simple and alarming. Our world is not governed by democratically elected governments. It is ruled by global financial institutions in the service of financial speculators who exchange trillions of dollars daily in search of instance unearned profits to increase the fortunes — and the power— of the richest people on the planet. They bring down governments that displease them, and buy and sell the largest corporations like commodities. By design and law the defining priority and obligation of these governing institutions is to generate financial profits to make rich people richer, in short to increase inequality in a world in desperate need of greater equity.
Absent the discussions that encouraged the sharing of their true stories, women whose experience failed to conform to the prevailing cultural story held themselves responsible for the failure. They assumed they were simply different, and thus in some way deficient. By breaking the silence to share their stories they ended their isolation and rose above self-doubt as they came to realize that they were in the very good company of a great many other wonderful women. Many then lent their voices to a growing chorus of women engaged in changing the cultural stories by which society had long defined women and their roles.
This bit here strikes me as particularly relevant to social justice movements...it's one reason why fat activism is so important to me, why it's important to share stories that break cultural assumptions about fat bodies and what it means to live in one. Most importantly, this idea of shifting the "failure" from the individual to the cultural construct that defined that failure in privileged terms that excluded the entirely valid experiences of many people.
One of the things Korten mentions is the Earth Charter, a fairly comprehensive statement of principles related to environmental, social, and economic justice that I like a great deal (although there was a spiritual/moral bent that I would want to shift to make more open to those who follow no spiritual path). It's a little more extensive than the Reclaiming Principles of Unity, but covers a lot of the same ground (although minus the witchy framework). In looking over the people involved with creating the Charter and maintaining its propagation in the world, I see a lot of diversity, but also a lot of powerful people; I'm not entirely certain the egalitarianism I find inherent in the values is also present in the actual operation....but then again, there's a whole thing about decentralized expansion - which breaks down hierarchies....so maybe it's more like Reclaiming than not.
Ahem. Anyway.
Sometimes I worry that I am not doing enough. I have no doubt there's more I can be doing everyday to live within my values.....but I also think it's important to recognize how much I'm already doing. Sure, for every radical action (like, say, catching graywater when I'm washing dishes and using it to water the plants - or growing some of my own food in an urban environment - or daring to be fat and not hate myself), there are multiple not-so-radical, not-so-awesome actions (like dying my hair with horrible chemicals - or sometimes getting frou-frou coffee from Starbucks - or buying a new pair of shoes when I have forty pairs at home already). I work a corporate job, and don't own a car. I use laundry detergent made by Proctor & Gamble, but biodegradable dish soap.
It's a process, working towards a sustainable life. I'm not yet ready to give away everything I own, wear sack-cloth, and sleep on a straw pallet....or pull myself entirely out of the capitalist world in which I was born. I add a little bit every day. I come closer every moment. I am compassionate for the times I don't do as well as I'd like, succumbing to convenience and privilege. I try again.
In summary, from Mr. Korten:
In everything you do, share the story of our human possibility and of our right and responsibility to create for ourselves and for future generations, the world of our shared dream. Our distinctive human capacity for reflection and intentional choice carries a corresponding moral responsibility to care for our Mother Earth and for one another. We must now test the limits of the individual and collective creative potential of our species as we strive to become the change we seek.
5.22.2008
Today's outrage.
I never really was all that hot for John Edwards as a presidential candidate (I've been a Hillary girl since, well, 1992?), but I always considered him as strong a candidate as either Obama or Clinton. And, since he's officially NOT running for veep (which totally makes me think of that truism from Lions for Lambs), I like what he's doing instead. Beefing up Head Start (of which I'm a beneficiary, by the by), Medicaid, SCHIP, and other programs that offer aid to low income families - especially children - is a great idea.
Disappointingly, though, it seems like corporate interests are running the show pretty much everywhere - first by maintaining a stranglehold on the intellectual property and patent system that keeps medicines only in the hands of those who can afford them (or profit by them) - second by destroying local food systems in favor of agribusiness that propagates GMO crops, enjoys significant government funding in the form of subsidies and grants for cleaning up their own unnecessary environmental messes, survives on the backs of underpaid and overworked labor, not to mention prioritizes profit over human life or environmental sustainability. With those powers at the wheel (and can anyone really argue that corporations aren't calling the shots here? how scary is it that drug companies are giving more to Democrats than Republicans?? REAL scary....and please note that Obama - he of the "no special interests" money position - got the largest number reported in that article...), it's a huge challenge to try and level the playing field for those living in poverty, in this country and around the globe.
In the context of my ongoing re-education about the geography and history of the planet, I found this article from The Independent really fascinating. Now, I hate bananas and don't eat them....but I know lots of people who do, and I think it would be a shame if there were no more bananas. Furthermore, I find it really fucking horrible how rich, white people seem to have swapped the cunning use of flags for equally unjust corporate takeovers, which trend this story illustrates nicely.
((Sidenote: I feel really disappointed in myself for not previously knowing the origin of the term "banana republic," which for some reason I thought was just a descriptor for countries in steamy equatorial regions that would be good for growing bananas. I had no idea it was such a blood-drenched term, and I'm furthermore very interested in following up this read with some digging about what countries currently embroiled in conflict of some sort might be suffering from this kind of corporate interference in their governments.))
I assume that most people think I'm a little crazy for thinking capitalism is evil and money is evil and corporations are evil and banks are evil and that most of the world's ills can be laid directly at the feet of one or more of those culprits. But this pattern is so clear to me, and so clearly WRONG. And killing people, and destroying the planet. Right now, I'm having trouble understanding how anyone can think money and banks and corporations and capitalism *aren't* evil.
Disappointingly, though, it seems like corporate interests are running the show pretty much everywhere - first by maintaining a stranglehold on the intellectual property and patent system that keeps medicines only in the hands of those who can afford them (or profit by them) - second by destroying local food systems in favor of agribusiness that propagates GMO crops, enjoys significant government funding in the form of subsidies and grants for cleaning up their own unnecessary environmental messes, survives on the backs of underpaid and overworked labor, not to mention prioritizes profit over human life or environmental sustainability. With those powers at the wheel (and can anyone really argue that corporations aren't calling the shots here? how scary is it that drug companies are giving more to Democrats than Republicans?? REAL scary....and please note that Obama - he of the "no special interests" money position - got the largest number reported in that article...), it's a huge challenge to try and level the playing field for those living in poverty, in this country and around the globe.
In the context of my ongoing re-education about the geography and history of the planet, I found this article from The Independent really fascinating. Now, I hate bananas and don't eat them....but I know lots of people who do, and I think it would be a shame if there were no more bananas. Furthermore, I find it really fucking horrible how rich, white people seem to have swapped the cunning use of flags for equally unjust corporate takeovers, which trend this story illustrates nicely.
((Sidenote: I feel really disappointed in myself for not previously knowing the origin of the term "banana republic," which for some reason I thought was just a descriptor for countries in steamy equatorial regions that would be good for growing bananas. I had no idea it was such a blood-drenched term, and I'm furthermore very interested in following up this read with some digging about what countries currently embroiled in conflict of some sort might be suffering from this kind of corporate interference in their governments.))
I assume that most people think I'm a little crazy for thinking capitalism is evil and money is evil and corporations are evil and banks are evil and that most of the world's ills can be laid directly at the feet of one or more of those culprits. But this pattern is so clear to me, and so clearly WRONG. And killing people, and destroying the planet. Right now, I'm having trouble understanding how anyone can think money and banks and corporations and capitalism *aren't* evil.
5.20.2008
Also...
This is awesome!
I'm not sure what it means for paper currency....but what a really awesome step to make the world more fair for blind people.
I'm not sure what it means for paper currency....but what a really awesome step to make the world more fair for blind people.
Tuesday Ruminations.
I think it is human nature to separate the micro and the macro into nice, cozy separate boxes. I think the blurry lines between individual choices and the inextricably connected Big Picture are frightening on some insitinctual level - it challenges whatever it is in human brains (or maybe just ones bathed in capitalism and patriarchy and Western culture?) that individuates and helps us prioritize the survival of our genes over the survival of those *other* genes that are NOT ours. I think about this kind of paradox a great deal, which is why I feel like I spend a lot of time walking the razor-thin line between, er, "normal" (for lack of a better term) and some kind of Peak Experience. I see this dynamic in religion (a sort-of-like-a-human God v. the entirety of creation and uncreation being one seamless whole living being in all its diverse parts), in politics (individual freedom v. peaceful coexistence), in activism (my individual actions v. the faceless and overwhelming status quo), etc., etc., etc.
I think it's hard for one brain to comprehend the endless complications of even the most seemingly simple idea. A cup of coffee isn't just a cup of coffee - it's a product of an ancient process with millenia of history and context, with impact based on where and how it was grown and harvested and shipped and processed and transported and prepared and how I choose to drink it, not to mention the various social and cultural and economic and environmental factors for all the people involved in all those processes...and then there's the effect it has on my body when I drink it, the cultural implications of drinking coffee, how it affects my appearance and status and how the way I choose to drink that coffee reflects my personality and my lifestyle, the effects on my immediate environment and possibly the regional environment...but even holding an awareness of all those layers of complication, I have trouble not just focusing on the cup of coffee. I can only hold so much thought at one time, and I haven't yet progressed in my enlightenment enough to truly sip coffee with a full awareness of the vast network of inter-related factors tied to this two second moment of my life.
And therein lies, in my opinion, the central challenge humanity wrestles with as a species. Self. Universe. And the mushy middle between, where most of life fits.
I stumbled aboard this train of thought this morning while reading this piece. The writer talks about the idea of food activism and individual choices being a somehow more manageable alternative to massive environmental problems, like global warming or soil contamination or polluted water or deforestation or toxic chemicals in everything. It's an interesting way of looking at the environmental movement as it's become more and more mainstream over the past few years; I find it particularly interesting the way so much activism (especially the kind I hear about in the media) has shifted from nuclear protests and people chaining themselves to redwoods and laying in front of bulldozers....to more capitalist measures - conscious consumerism, as it were. That's a really noteworthy (and sort of disturbing) shift, and it brings up the idea of individual choice in a context of severely harmful systems of being.
((My inner conspiracy theorist says: How much of a shift from groups challenging systems, to individuals changing how they consume...how much of that shift is a total red herring?))
This theme popped up again for me, in reading the comments on this piece from The Guardian. As always with any story about fat people, there was a lot of "just eat less, and move more" (with various levels of courtesy or coherency) and also plenty of "get rid of your cars and bike everywhere" (not to mention "people just need to learn how to eat healthy" - which makes me wonder, what the fuck rock do people think these alleged ignorant people are living under that they don't know how to "eat healthy"? Seriously, I can't crack a newspaper, flip on a TV, listen to a radio, or surf the internet - or have a conversation with most of my friends and family - without having seventeen opinions about what "healthy eating" means shoved right down my throat! If anyone doesn't know how to eat healthy, it's because the only person they ever talk to is painted on a volleyball...) (/end rant). The premise of the article, though, was that there are systemic issues at work, not just individual choices...that food "choices" are less free than people want to think, that economic realities and various other cultural factors have an effect on fatness. Interestingly enough, the bugaboo of fatness leading to a decrease in life expectancy didn't come up in this article (via Common Dreams), which talked about how life expectancy has gone down, but mostly for poor people with little access to proper healthcare...which again begs the question: is it the individual, or is it the bigger picture? Magic Eight Ball says: Answer Not Clear.
I have said before (in answer to many, many questions) that "It's Not That Simple," and I always mean it. It's been my experience that very little in life is ever simple - and if it appears so, there's likely more to it than what's visible. The personal is political, the part affects the whole, as above - so below, all different ways of saying the same thing: what is done in this moment matters, and cannot be disconnected from what was done in the preceding moment or what will be done in the moment following. When we're talking about fighting presidential secrecy, that won't just be done by my writing to the White House and telling the President I think he's an asshole for legislating from the Oval Office and pissing on the Constitution - it will probably also take massive systemic change coming from Congress and broader, collective efforts to reestablish the checks and balances that separate a representative democracy from a fascist oligarchy. When we're talking about ending racism and sexism and sizism and ableism and looksism and other kinds of outdated (and yet, sadly, still present and active and pervasive) discrimination, it can't just be done by calling out some jerk for shitty comments at a press conference...it will probably also take a complete and total reframing of our cultural understanding of gender and race and ethnicity and all the other visible (and not visible) characteristics that mark the tremendous diversity of the human race. Saving the planet won't just happen because I buy local, organic food...it will take global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, massive shifts in food and transportation systems, and an overhaul of what "lifestyle" means in a world on the brink of breakdown.
I recognize that I have some pretty radical ideas, in general. I sometimes want to give away everything I own and go walkabout in a veggie-powered RV, fer chrissakes (holy cows, I'm not the only one!). A lot of that has to do with wanting to distance myself from People. You know, Them. They are stupid and ignorant and different and intolerant and judgmental and whatever other adjectives apply. They are faceless and there are way more of Them than there ever are of Us. Part of my desire to go a-wand'ring is tied to my chronic boho hiraeth, but it's also part of how I manifest my own personal need to draw a line around myself and clarify that I Am Not Them. I separate myself from the Whole, because it makes it easier for me to simplify the messy chaos of life - it makes it harder for me to get hamstrung by the heartbreak that would inevitably haunt me if I really could see the impact of every moment I am alive.
But the harder I work to become more aware of my impacts on the world around me, the more I recognize that that line between me and the world around me is a creation in my head and doesn't really exist. And there has to be a way to apply this concept to all the systemic injustice and degradation in the world. I'm still working on that.
I think it's hard for one brain to comprehend the endless complications of even the most seemingly simple idea. A cup of coffee isn't just a cup of coffee - it's a product of an ancient process with millenia of history and context, with impact based on where and how it was grown and harvested and shipped and processed and transported and prepared and how I choose to drink it, not to mention the various social and cultural and economic and environmental factors for all the people involved in all those processes...and then there's the effect it has on my body when I drink it, the cultural implications of drinking coffee, how it affects my appearance and status and how the way I choose to drink that coffee reflects my personality and my lifestyle, the effects on my immediate environment and possibly the regional environment...but even holding an awareness of all those layers of complication, I have trouble not just focusing on the cup of coffee. I can only hold so much thought at one time, and I haven't yet progressed in my enlightenment enough to truly sip coffee with a full awareness of the vast network of inter-related factors tied to this two second moment of my life.
And therein lies, in my opinion, the central challenge humanity wrestles with as a species. Self. Universe. And the mushy middle between, where most of life fits.
I stumbled aboard this train of thought this morning while reading this piece. The writer talks about the idea of food activism and individual choices being a somehow more manageable alternative to massive environmental problems, like global warming or soil contamination or polluted water or deforestation or toxic chemicals in everything. It's an interesting way of looking at the environmental movement as it's become more and more mainstream over the past few years; I find it particularly interesting the way so much activism (especially the kind I hear about in the media) has shifted from nuclear protests and people chaining themselves to redwoods and laying in front of bulldozers....to more capitalist measures - conscious consumerism, as it were. That's a really noteworthy (and sort of disturbing) shift, and it brings up the idea of individual choice in a context of severely harmful systems of being.
((My inner conspiracy theorist says: How much of a shift from groups challenging systems, to individuals changing how they consume...how much of that shift is a total red herring?))
This theme popped up again for me, in reading the comments on this piece from The Guardian. As always with any story about fat people, there was a lot of "just eat less, and move more" (with various levels of courtesy or coherency) and also plenty of "get rid of your cars and bike everywhere" (not to mention "people just need to learn how to eat healthy" - which makes me wonder, what the fuck rock do people think these alleged ignorant people are living under that they don't know how to "eat healthy"? Seriously, I can't crack a newspaper, flip on a TV, listen to a radio, or surf the internet - or have a conversation with most of my friends and family - without having seventeen opinions about what "healthy eating" means shoved right down my throat! If anyone doesn't know how to eat healthy, it's because the only person they ever talk to is painted on a volleyball...) (/end rant). The premise of the article, though, was that there are systemic issues at work, not just individual choices...that food "choices" are less free than people want to think, that economic realities and various other cultural factors have an effect on fatness. Interestingly enough, the bugaboo of fatness leading to a decrease in life expectancy didn't come up in this article (via Common Dreams), which talked about how life expectancy has gone down, but mostly for poor people with little access to proper healthcare...which again begs the question: is it the individual, or is it the bigger picture? Magic Eight Ball says: Answer Not Clear.
I have said before (in answer to many, many questions) that "It's Not That Simple," and I always mean it. It's been my experience that very little in life is ever simple - and if it appears so, there's likely more to it than what's visible. The personal is political, the part affects the whole, as above - so below, all different ways of saying the same thing: what is done in this moment matters, and cannot be disconnected from what was done in the preceding moment or what will be done in the moment following. When we're talking about fighting presidential secrecy, that won't just be done by my writing to the White House and telling the President I think he's an asshole for legislating from the Oval Office and pissing on the Constitution - it will probably also take massive systemic change coming from Congress and broader, collective efforts to reestablish the checks and balances that separate a representative democracy from a fascist oligarchy. When we're talking about ending racism and sexism and sizism and ableism and looksism and other kinds of outdated (and yet, sadly, still present and active and pervasive) discrimination, it can't just be done by calling out some jerk for shitty comments at a press conference...it will probably also take a complete and total reframing of our cultural understanding of gender and race and ethnicity and all the other visible (and not visible) characteristics that mark the tremendous diversity of the human race. Saving the planet won't just happen because I buy local, organic food...it will take global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, massive shifts in food and transportation systems, and an overhaul of what "lifestyle" means in a world on the brink of breakdown.
I recognize that I have some pretty radical ideas, in general. I sometimes want to give away everything I own and go walkabout in a veggie-powered RV, fer chrissakes (holy cows, I'm not the only one!). A lot of that has to do with wanting to distance myself from People. You know, Them. They are stupid and ignorant and different and intolerant and judgmental and whatever other adjectives apply. They are faceless and there are way more of Them than there ever are of Us. Part of my desire to go a-wand'ring is tied to my chronic boho hiraeth, but it's also part of how I manifest my own personal need to draw a line around myself and clarify that I Am Not Them. I separate myself from the Whole, because it makes it easier for me to simplify the messy chaos of life - it makes it harder for me to get hamstrung by the heartbreak that would inevitably haunt me if I really could see the impact of every moment I am alive.
But the harder I work to become more aware of my impacts on the world around me, the more I recognize that that line between me and the world around me is a creation in my head and doesn't really exist. And there has to be a way to apply this concept to all the systemic injustice and degradation in the world. I'm still working on that.
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