Haven't been checking out the "debating room" for awhile so I was mighty impressed to read your sane take on life, Claire. Voluntary simplicity is catching on in North America, at least in some circles. Perhaps people are slowly cluing in to the uselessness of many things made for us ravenous consumers...more, more, more!!! Over the past decade I have begun to realize the value of giving and receiving gifts which were handmade, sometimes by recyling what would have been tossed away. Those items are worth more to me than anything a store can try and sell me.I've learnt to fend for myself, too. Relying on somebody or something else will not get you far, except perhaps tied down to some job to pay off that loan, that mortgage, finance that car you just couldn't survive without, to purchase those items you saw in the mall and just had to have, to feed yourself, clothe yourself....Guess what? You're a slave. Well, I am trying to slowly move away from that system. It can take time, it can be difficult, challenging, but empowering. We are living life!! So why are we enslaving ourselves into the twelve plus years as youths in the education system which teaches us to obey, tow the line. Learn? Maybe, but mostly it is just passing time holding back real talent, creativity, life knowledge. Personally I feel robbed of my childhood and if I had a real life education that taught me how to survive, how to be human and live symbiotically with all other beings I might be doing a lot better than I am now.
Then we finish going to school. Some keep going but now it costs money, entering the relm of post-secondary education. Others enter the workforce. Others have already "dropped out" some enter "criminial" occupations: stealing, drug dealing, robbing. Some people who drop out though may be stepping aside from all the harsh realities of living in modern society and trying to create a healthy alternative, one which is more sustainable for all forms of life. The earth was not meant for humans alone. Perhaps we ought to be taking a closer look at our caretaking abilities, the track record sucks. Critical mass critical mass.
Do you [general you, not just claire] want to bring a child into this? What steps are you making to ensure their future will be healthy? We have to fend for ourselves, if we rely on our governments or our employers to do it the end could be grim. Build communities. Help an elder. Repect one another. FUCK THE GOVERNMENT. FUCK CORPORATE GREED.
There are millions of people dazed into that whole instant gratification, TV-bred, ignorance is bliss scene. I was there once. But I learnt about the beauty of a silent moment standing in a rainforest as the rain is pouring down around me and the pacific ocean roaring dulled by the thick, dense growth of trees and other plants. I learnt I would rather walk through a park and down some side streets and purchase fresh organic produce at the farmer's market than go a few blocks to the local store and buy under-priced imported chemically treated "food".
Living can be a wonderful thing. Perhaps others will one day embrace upon the wonder of life itself, begin to see how to get by comfortably without harming the planet or others. It begins when we share ideas, teach one another, and give assistance to those who need it. There is room to grow but more folk need to wake up. I think the answer lies when we stop looking to the media for our opinions and form them ourselves. The media influences us far too much.
But, hey, what do I know? The world might end on Oct 6th anyway....
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