Take the Limits Off

We had a great in class discussion on Wednesday. One of the hottest topics discussed was the struggle between doing what you love and doing what makes money.

Ferenc Mate says in his book A Reasonable Life says, “We began working for someone else. We had jobs. We worked interminable hours cramped in inhuman places without sun or air, and although the work was easier on our backs than tilling soil, it left a crushing load upon the soul” (Mate 7).

Despite what Walt Disney says, when I wish upon a star my dreams don’t always come true. Unfortunately, no matter foreign opinions, we do not live in a place where everyone’s got the golden ticket. Not everyone will live there dream, make millions, and have the perfect family.

It is great to be able to do something you love, but that should not determine happiness. I believe that we should not define ourselves and our success by job titles. We need to reeducate ourselves and future generations so that we stop measuring quality of life by our “stuff” and not our happiness. It’s crazy how parents think that if only they could give their kids more they would be better parents. Not realizing that children need their parents and parents need their children.

Amanda Halevan asked in her blog, “How can people be happy if they do not have anything in the future to look forward to?” I say, there should be more to look forward to than making money and having a “fulfilling” career. I say do what you love even if you don’t do it as often as you like or even if you don’t get paid to do it. I say, meaningful relationships fill up places in your life that no job could ever fill; not that people shouldn’t pursue their dreams.

It is important that we teach our children it is OK to break the mold and that it is OK to dream. We should expose them to as much as possible and encourage them to be creative because who knows what solutions they might have for our present mysteries.

Here is a great powerful poem by Peter Nevland. I hope you watch it and in seeing this we will all take the limits off of our lives….

Life

Today in class we had a long discussion on why people chase money rather than happiness. Students major in things such as biology or accounting to make top dollar even if they can’t stand it and that should be worrisome when it comes to a society. What will become of all of us if we are stuck in numbing jobs that only provide us with expensive material things that none of really need. The only reason we want these shiny gadgets is because it makes us feel we are getting something out of all this bothersome work that it shows that we have succeeded in some way. How has it become this way? A father and mother will work 12 hours a day to give their child everything that they “need” and in the end are too tired to actual devote themselves to being parents. This has ultimately lead to our need for possession of nice things because it is a symbol of a parents love or more so an replacement of their love because they have to go back to work the next day. Coming back to our discussion in class we say that school is just herding us all in the same direction and what are we as a society doing about this, nothing. To tell kids that money is the ultimate goal and then push them in to something such as biology to become a doctor is just abnormal! What if that kid did not care about money that he/she wanted to be a graphic design artist? The argument goes that there are no jobs in this field because in a recession people do not need graphic designers they need doctors. So when did dreams get traded in for “realistic” jobs.
Another thing that I have noticed personally is how much a persons family economic standing influences their goals in life, and by goals I mean what they ultimately have to do to survive in this world. When I was younger my mom married a wealthy man, we had nice cars, a huge house, 100 acres of land, and even a man made pond in the shape of a heart. I knew early on that obviously money and things do not bring happiness that although we had everything there was so much stress in that house it was hardly worth it. Anyways despite of the unhappiness it was clear that whatever my brother and I decided to do with our lives it didn’t matter because we never had to worry about money, I didn’t need to be a doctor I could be an actress if I really felt like it. After the divorce we downsized 10 fold and my goals in life took an ultimate turn, I wanted to take biology because I knew a lot of jobs pay good money to have this knowledge. I do enjoy my major but at times I wish I could have done something different. I feel that both my brother and I are pretty clueless on what we want to do in our lives but yet still go to college every semester hoping we are closer to some sort of end where there is a job lined up.
It is upsetting to think how much money matters in this world, a small piece of paper determines our future and I feel there should be more out of life then this. A guy in class said people are getting more depressed then ever, well I am seeing how that can be possible with all that has been said above. How can people be happy if they do not have anything in the future to look forward to? This is why Americans need to change how we live our lives everyday, why do we risk our happiness in attempts to have that cushy American lifestyle we always dreamed of? Can’t anyone see where we have gone wrong!? We’ve traded in family for a PS3, traded a day playing baseball for a day playing on the laptop, and we traded a life we always dreamed of to a life that pays the bills. When will we decide to strive for happiness and make something out of our lives rather then play in to materialistic hand that has ultimately destroyed our planet. It really makes me angry at people.

Condoms and Population Control

In response to Maria Cheng’s essay, “Fight Global Warming: Wear a Condom,” although I believe her theory makes sense, I also believe that it is not enough to have a profound effect. I believe only a more extreme form of population control will be suitable for our current situation. “The world's population will likely rise from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050, with most of the growth in less developed regions, according to a 2006 report by the United Nations” (Cheng). This can arguably be due to the fact that those in developing countries are not as well off economically thus, spending money on
condoms is not a priority, thus an increase in perhaps unwanted children and accidental pregnancies is a given. Thus making condoms free and more available to everyone could definitely help. However another interesting question one may ask is “If the most population growth is being witnessed in developing countries, why are we giving them such a hard time when the developed countries are responsible for the most CO2 output. If only they made a condom that prevented unwanted CO2 from coming out of the tailpipes of motor vehicles.

My question is although providing a bunch of free condoms to people may decrease population growth, still how much CO2 is pumped into our environment just to produce them. Maybe the real answer is self-control or possibly more extreme forms of population control, that can be witnessed in other countries. For example, “Indira Gandhi, was the Prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, a total of fifteen years. She was India's first and, to date, only female Prime Minister” (Indira). “To abolish slavery, which was her campaign slogan, Indira forced sterilization on males of lower socioeconomic status to limit their population growth and subsequently eliminate the poor.” (Heitzman) Alright maybe this is a bit extreme and prejudice against those unfortunate to be placed in that position by means not in their will nor power however perhaps China is a better example.

China one of the only nations taking measures to decrease the number of their population, and doing so successfully under something called the one-child policy. “It officially restricts the number of children married urban couples can have to one” (One-child). “The Chinese government introduced the policy in 1979 to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China, and authorities claim that the policy has prevented more than 250 million births from its implementation to 2000” (One-child). Although these policies are very controversial, perhaps this is what people need, a kick in the butt by their governments. Cuba’s communist government took the initiative to kind of throw its people into the water, when faced with their energy crisis. In order to make, the people of Cuba needed to learn to swim, they needed to adapt and take drastic measures working together to survive the energy crisis. It worked for them.

Yes, these kinds of ideas may be thought of as very extreme however in an extreme situation as this, perhaps we need to take more extreme measures. People will argue that their freedoms are being taking away, but perhaps what gave us these freedoms in the first place is what also dug us this hole we are now trapped in and are flailing to get out, yet still too stubborn to leave behind things we can’t take with us in order to get out.

Perhaps we need to learn from these extremes, we are greedy, and taking what we have for granted not thinking twice about the implications our lifestyles have on the environment. Society’s norms create a vicious cycle placing money and consuming as a priority and raising kids to think the same way. Did you ever here the phrase our children are the future, if this is truly the case, without teaching kids how to live a better life better for our environment, how do we expect our future to get any better? A quote from Ishmael, “The world is not going to survive for very much longer as humanity’s captive” (Quinn 26).


Resources

Heitzman, James, and Robert L. Worden, eds. "Indira Gandhi." India: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1995. Print.


"Indira Gandhi." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2 Dec 2009, 05:58 UTC. 3 Dec 2009 . <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IndiraGandhi&oldid=329193838>.


"One-child policy." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Nov 2009, 02:32 UTC. 3 Dec 2009 . <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=One-childpolicy&oldid=327042949>.

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http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/files/articles/condom_contraception_carbon_climate.jpg

Banana Boat Sinks!

Ahhh summer! Hanging out at the beach, playing out in the yard and just enjoying our time out in the sun. Our mothers always said “remember to put sunscreen on before you go out in the sun.” Skin cancer has become a huge health concern in recent years. Our means of protection was sunscreen. By applying sunscreen, we can prevent our skins exposure to harmful UV rays and prevent carcinoma. But new studies now suggest that these products are not as reliable and safe as we think they are.

Take for an example Banana Boat. GoodGuide.com has a complete review on this product. The first major concern I have with the company is that they have one of the lowest rates on labor and human rights. Goodguide.com also states that “compared to other companies, this company is one of the lowest rated on commitment to its local community!” And the bad ratings don't end here. This same company also has the lowest rates on working conditions. Out of a total of ten possible points, Banana Boat scored 0.6 for its working conditions! Knowing these facts, this product would have to be the BEST and SAFEST product on the market in order for me to even consider purchasing products from this company.

I would like to believe that with all the bad ratings that Banana Boat receives, that they would at least have a safe and reliable product. But studies now suggest that what we are putting on our skin to prevent us from getting skin cancer may be giving us just another form of cancer and not protecting us at all. Both Octinoxate and Oxybenzone are ingredients listed on a bottle of Banana Boat lotion. Both of these have been tested and are now considered possible carcinogens. So here we are, putting a possible cancer causing lotion on our bodies to prevent us from getting cancer. Huh!? Does anyone else see a problem with this? We can make smart choices when it comes to finding a safe and reliable sunscreen. Thanks to GoodGuide.com, I now have these resources available to me and I am now committed to finding new and safer products for my family.

A Reasonable Life

A Reasonable Life by Ferenc Mate is an insight in to a personal point of view of how we should be living comparatively to how we are living now. This concept is greatly similar to my blog on Michelle Obama yet Mate had a different spin on how to achieve this way of life. Michelle Obama put pressure on the education system being able to aid in recovering what has been compromised. Mate puts more emphasis on changing yourself through looking at the times before us.
In the older days humans worked with nature; returning what was taken, respecting nature, ect. Today as Mate puts it is now Human vs. Nature where we tear down our forests which are essentially the air we breath, so he puts it that we would rather have nice things rather than preserve our oxygen. How it came to be where we have all became so materialistic is beyond me, I would actually prefer to have a life similar to the simplest times in history. A comparison that Mate described was when he used to go out and play baseball as an child. It was the best of times to be with friends and laugh in a rugged field that did not have distinct bases. He looks at today’s baseball games and he sees angry frustrated children being pressured from their families and coaches to win. He also sees that the players all have nice uniforms and steal bats which was unheard of in his time. This shows that all though the material things have gotten “better” the values have decreased with it showing that happiness can not be bought as we all seem to think is possible. I have been victim to this as well, I often spend too much money on things that I really don’t need yet feel it will make me happier if I have it. How sick is that?
Also in Mate’s book he goes deeply in the profound expenditure of the place we all home. It becomes an endless cycle of having a strenuous job to afford a big house in a nice neighborhood with an garage and if you really stop and think it just seems so unnecessary. I think there should be more to life then slaving away at a job to pay the bills on a gas guzzling car, a mortgage that will take a lifetime to pay off, all those kitchen gadgets that no one needs, and everything else in our materialistic world. Should there not be a more rewarding part of life rather than just the ability to pay for stuff? Not to mention that most of us have houses that are designed to keep to ourselves, a place to eat a meal alone, a place to watch TV till your brain rots, and a kitchen that has so much gizmos that you don’t need help making dinner. Mate tells of a story that in Italy all these places are combined in to one area called the Casa and even if they irritate the crap out of you, you constantly run in to your family there and your neighbors. It brings everyone together and in a lot of households togetherness is actual an issue.
The last way to return our values back to normal is gardening. By making a home garden you not only are making use out of your days you are actually providing the natural taste of tomatoes and the like. When I was younger my family had a farm and I would help and I always had fun helping out and picking the plants when they were ready. Gardening is a great tool to create joy in your life and it cuts down on your food bill. If everyone made use of their otherwise useless lawns pollution via food transportation and production would be greatly reduced. With all these pros I do not understand why it is so hard for Americans to adapt to such lifestyles. How many times will we ignore the fact that we can no longer live in a materialistic world, we have to take it in to our own hands and return to those values before the industrial revolution.

Resource
A Reasonable Life- Ferenc Mate

Our Food is NOT Safe!

Eating was impossible and attemping to swallow water would bring me to tears. The pain was unimaginable. Even something as simple as breathing would cause me to be in excruciating pain. I was hospitalized for a night, put on a few medications to kill the pain and ease the swelling in my throat. I remember the doctor coming over to me and asking to describe the pain on a one to ten scale. I lifted up both my hands and held up ten fingers, the swelling prevented me form even speaking. I was one of the thousands of people that have gotten ill due to the foods we purchase and consume. OUR FOOD IS NOT SAFE.

After my experience at the hospital two years ago, I started looking in to organic, natural and locally made food. I was determined to change my way of eating. I made a point to visit the local farm market that came to my hometown and explore new organic products. Now that I am a college student in the Albany area, I had to research new places where I could purchase organic or locally grown food. I wanted to share with you some places I found in the Albany area:

Empire State Plaza Farmers Market

Altamont Farmers Market

Its Only Natural LLC in Stuyvesant Plaza

Paradise Natural Food on Western Ave

Deans Natural Foods

And more and more supermarkets are carrying organic, natural or locally grown products.

Sustainable Shopping?

My classmate Nicolas Urgante has already mentioned the evils of holiday shopping in his blog “Black Friday… A Prime Example of What America’s Priorities Are” He mentions the poor attitudes, the tragedies, and the unnecessary spending and consuming. While we are in strenuous economic times, this unofficial holiday is giving our economy a much needed boost, support for local businesses, as well as give shoppers the opportunity to benefit from the discounts. I don’t think anyone would really consider frugality the solution for a recession.

To me, buying presents during the holidays is not me selling myself to corporate America. It doesn’t mean I care any less about the planet either. It’s a really great opportunity to give to my loved ones (not that that shouldn’t be done year round). If you choose to participate, shop sustainably! There are some great gifts and prices out there for “green” products. I find that people really like them too.

Here are a few sustainable holiday shopping tips:

• Buy and suggest gifts with high ratings on goodguide.com!
• Buy local or buy gift certificates to Earth-friendly stores
• Buy services like haircuts, spa trips, massages, and meals. Buy tickets to the movies local art shows, plays, or concerts.
• If you are buying electronics, buy rechargeable batteries to go with it. There are also green electronics like this $40 MP3 player!
• Always buy items with minimal packaging

For these and other sustainable shopping gifts and tips comment me or check out

http://earth911.com/blog/2008/11/11/20-tips-for-a-sustainable-holiday/

http://yalesustainability.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/the-story-of-stuff/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/11/holiday_gifts_f.php