I remember back in Elementary a program to get children involved in environmentalism called Kids for Saving Earth. At the time it was mostly an excuse to get out of class and get brownie points with the teacher. There were also ad campaigns at that time boasting the three 'R's - not Reading wRiting and 'Rithmetic - but Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Most people who saw these can remember these words represented by the three arrows forming a triangle.
It's been about a decade since that campaign, and fortunately, in the past ten years the level of awareness and involvement of both the general public and organizations have improved. Recycling has become easier - just drop off a blue bag with the garbage and it's taken care of. Bottle depots will give you money for beverage containers. Blue bins for paper can be found in most offices and schools. Reusing is a little more difficult, but some small things are easy enough like using both sides of a sheet of paper, refilling a pop or water bottle with tap water, or giving clothes to charities or second-hand stores. There are countless places where objects that were designed for a one-time use can serve another purpose; sometimes it takes a little creativity. Reducing has basically been forgotten, a discovery I made recently when unfolding my pizza box so it would fit in my blue bag.
The familiar blue arrows were on the bottom of the box, each inscribed with a word. I was shocked to see that "Reduce" had been replaced with "Reorder." But that's the opposite idea of reducing our consumption of unnecessary items! It's a clever marketing scheme disguised as a benevolent gesture that serves the good of the planet and its people. It serves the pizza company's purpose to look good in the eyes of consumers, while selling the idea that you need to buy more.
The experience opened my eyes, and I think it's time I look at what kind of unnecessary things I'm buying. Not only will it help me save money, but I'll also be participating in what I learned all those years ago: Reduce was the first step in those three 'R's to help the environment.
I remember reading this short piece of literature in grade 11 or 12. There was one part which I always remembered, and now years later, helped me find it available online.
John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.
This is a great example of an author doing her job to point out the obvious, which no one is willing to accept, in a poignant and memorable way. I'd like to be able to do that someday. But will it make me happy? All I know is that someday, I'll have the same fate as John and Mary. And Louie and Mark and Isabella. And you.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions". In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
I read this introduction a few months ago. It was the beginning of an ardent look at society and technology, something I'd rarely considered the entire time I was studying for my undergraduate engineering degree. I've since been exposed to many resources on this topic, and our culture in general, but it's still not enough; I need to learn more. The book this foreword precedes was written in 1985. Some of the ideas are dated, but the title itself gives away that it remains a crucial topic of study today.
I've read Brave New World several times and so many parallels can be drawn between the society Huxley dreamed of in 1924 and today's first-world countries. If the predictions made in Orwell's 1984 seemed like a threat to our freedom, then we should be equally frightened and aware of how we are willingly giving up those freedoms without the need for one centralized big brother. As Howard Rheingold notes in his book Smart Mobs, with pervasive technologies in an always-on and always-connected world, society can become its own Big Brother. We need only to monitor each other, and knowing that we are monitored, we act accordingly.
It's not as though technologies were necessary to enforce this behavior, it's just that it will do it better, more efficiently and more consistently. Growing up in a small town where anyone who did not conform to the social norms was treated unpleasantly, I saw and felt these social constraints. Although it felt like persecution, in one sense it ensured the majority of the townspeople their status quo. Their lives were pleasant enough because they were not being challenged and they did not want to be. However, when technology is involved, the rights that an individual has to his privacy could be over-ridden. This is the case where constant monitoring becomes unacceptable.
The protagonist of Brave New World refuses to conform to social norms in a society where the population is controlled by their own choice, believing they are happiest with the status quo. They do not desire the books or different lifestyles that have been withheld. They chose to obey. The disturbing effect of this kind of society is a loss of innovation, a loss that I believe is too detrimental to accept. Don't accept entertainment as you soma (drug). Chose freedom.
I spent yesterday afternoon in my sunny backyard trying to make it look like decent people lived there. Since it's a rented house, I'm not going to go all out and replace the sagging fence or anything, but I can try to keep the vegetation under control. I don't know if I'll manage to accomplish this since it's in pretty bad shape to start with, but I'll certainly try.
When I moved in, I was told that the guy downstairs takes care of the yard work. To date, I think he's mowed the lawn once. Granted, it was September when I moved in, but the grass doesn't just stop growing because the school season has started. I hope he's not getting some kind of break in the rent. The only snow he shoveled in the winter was a path leading to his entrance.
The lawn mower in the garage is a small electric contraption that does the job, at least. It has no bag, so after cutting the grass (which must have been a foot high in places), I had to rake up the clippings. Some time last week, a rake appeared in the garage, so at least I didn't have to go out and buy anything. The lawn mower and the rake are the only two yard tools that we have, as far as I know. I've decided that it's time to invest in some gloves, at the very least, so that my hands don't get blistered next time like they are today.
Well, I've finally done something meaningful with my domain. It's just a begining. And it's not acutally the main site. It's a blog for sharing opinions, reviewing and/or analyzing books, movies, music and media in general. It's Crazy/Fou Reviews I've got a few things to say on those subjects. Things have been reasonably quiet around here recently, because I've been planning, waiting for today to arrive.
Check it out! It's already got 2 members! If you'd like to get in on this unique opportunity, drop me an email. Or just send me email anyway. I like mail!
I recently got new orthotics for my shoes. I've got extremely flat (oops, almost wrote fat! hahaha!) feet, so I need the arch support. My last pair is so old, I can't remember exactly when I got them, although I do know it was in Saskatchewan. The old ones were designed from a contraption known as the Foot Maxx, which is a gait analysis tool. Really neat technology, but unfortunately, it didn't do the job quite right.
My new orthotics were molded from a cast of my feet. The arch is built up at least twice as high as my old ones, plus there's a cup for the heel which will prevent my feet from moving around laterally inside the shoe while I walk. This benefits me in a way I've just discovered: it will get rid of the heel spurs I've developed over the last few years and it will also prevent them from coming back. In fact, I think I see an improvement already!
At first, walking on the monstrous new arch felt like walking on a rolling pin! After a couple of days it was more like curling irons and now, less than a week since picking them up, I almost regret taking them off when I get home.
My feet are my foundation, and now that I'm not like the leaning tower of Piza I can enjoy being on them!
It's been about a decade since that campaign, and fortunately, in the past ten years the level of awareness and involvement of both the general public and organizations have improved. Recycling has become easier - just drop off a blue bag with the garbage and it's taken care of. Bottle depots will give you money for beverage containers. Blue bins for paper can be found in most offices and schools. Reusing is a little more difficult, but some small things are easy enough like using both sides of a sheet of paper, refilling a pop or water bottle with tap water, or giving clothes to charities or second-hand stores. There are countless places where objects that were designed for a one-time use can serve another purpose; sometimes it takes a little creativity. Reducing has basically been forgotten, a discovery I made recently when unfolding my pizza box so it would fit in my blue bag.
