I think my heart beats about twice as fast as a healthy twenty year-old heart. I drink six cups of coffee a day, I sleep for six hours a night, and never have I felt so alert. I know this just sounds like an unhealthy caffeine addiction, but it's more than that (although I concede that it is probably partially a side effect of the coffee).
I am studying connectivity. We can only understand our individual places on this planet once we deconstruct the context in which we exist. A synthesis of historical, economic, and political approaches is vital to understanding the fluid power dynamics that define each and every one of our interactions and relationships. Globalization did not simply begin in the 1960s or 80s or 90s; globalization describes a process, which must be historicized. This means that every time I ask "why?" the answer I find necessarily demands another "why". That is not to say that I am working in circles. With each new layer of "whys", I find myself digging deeper into this endless search.
So, how can I sleep? How can I sleep when I don't know who lobbied the government to subsidize the production of the food that I am eating? I don't know whose small businesses suffered from inflated corporate market power. I don't know what toxins and green house gases were released into whose towns to produce my food or for that matter to package and transport that food. I don't know what portion of the price I paid is going to the people who produced my food or the people who sold me my food at the grocery store. I don't know where the packaging of my food will wind up once it leaves my trash can, and I don't know whose neighborhood will take on the burden of my waste or whether or not more toxins will be released in some town that has the disadvantage of being the site of an incinerator.
The cliche is true; you are what you eat. I am what I consume. I am the criminally low wages of factory workers, the disproportionately high number of toxins released into low-income neighborhoods, the withholding of health care from the pregnant check-out woman. I am the melting of the polar ice caps. I am the enslavement of children and the trafficking of human beings. I am war, poverty, and suffering. I am torture. And let me tell you, shopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's will not help me sleep at night.
Oppression is systemic, and we are all a part of this system. We urgently need to explore real alternatives now for humanity and the planet. Electing Barack Obama is not going to cut it.
Yours in the land of lesbians and socialists and lesbian socialists,
Sars
8 comments:
you are also incredible.
def, sarah, def. we all know that, however enlightening it may be, buying a Prius or shopping at Whole Foods does not in actuality solve any of the worlds problems. Obama is a universal hybrid-car-type solution, one that makes us feel good, but inevitably allows far too many people to say they've done their part by voting for the man and evade any further responsibility. I truly, deeply hope his fervent followers will continue in their commitment, instead of taking the easy route, rescinding their responsibility to this world, and rather eschew this evasion in what may well be the eleventh hour.
I got a little carried away with the alliteration, I hope my ramble retained some sense of clarity.
ps I am not sure my comments were entirely relevant to your post, but i think they are entirely relevant in the larger picture.
pps you, are, beautiful.
I was just thinking...Even if Obama isn't the hero that will save the day..he is an inspiration to so many. Of course he isn't going to fix everything, but don't forget how much he inspired you. That inspiration can lead to change.
What this post is making me think of is how much of your studying is going to turn into action? can people study problems away? I have been debating whether or not to finish college; i like school, i have the money (barely), i DO learn....but what if all that time money effort creativity and love was put directly into actions. Do you think about this too? what do you decide?
here's a great example told to me by Gustavo Esteva:
"imagine a school to teach you how to swim. You learn about the chemical composition of the water, the physiology of your body as its in the water, the history of swimming, the cultures surrounding swimming, and then, finally, for your final exam you touch the water."
If we're plagued by how our food gets to us and if we feel like its out of our control (which bothers me as much as you), why don't we start producing our food? why don't we take ourselves away from the whole situation?
Before I entered this program, "BE the change you wish to see in the world" never had meaning for me. But now it is the clearest piece of advice I've ever heard.
Dana, I feel you! I spent a lot of my time at Willamette being frustrated that I spent so many hours sitting and studying, and so few actually DOING things. And the more I've gotten up and done, the less time I spend studying, the happier I am. I still value and appreciate the half-hour I spend reading here or there, but I feel more content learning in motion, I guess you could say. I don't think this is everyone's style, but it suits me well. I think it takes all kinds of people to make the world work- doers depend on thinkers now and then, and vice versa. I guess the best any of us can do is whatever suits us best.
I think that translating theory to action is always difficult, and it is especially problematic to study social justice in the ivory tower. However, I don't think that we have to choose either academia or action. Education and activism can only be effective with the support of one another. Activism without education leads to misguided and potentially harmful results, and education without activism leads to nothing.
As far as food production, there are effective methods of building locally sustainable economies for food. Growing a garden, buying from local farmers, and composting waste are all part of the solution. However, there are systemic issues that evolve from policy decisions and corporate greed that also need to be challenged. Personally, I try to consume consciously and reduce my waste, but my efforts can only go so far before I must address bigger questions about why I cannot find any locally grown produce in my grocery store. Why is it cheaper to buy a Twinkie, which has 39 ingredients than a carrot, which comes straight out of the ground? (For the answer, click here: http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=88)
Also, Ian your comments are absolutely relevant, and I always dig alliteration.
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