The next two chapters begin to get at the center of what ails our culture and Industrial society as a whole.
Things to think about when reading these chapters are, how did our culture become what it is? Why did this happen? Why is it maintained in this way? Who benefits from this? Who does not benefit? Do you personally truly benefit? Is this helping our planet?
Choices
The fact that we in the U.S. can choose the food we buy, different foods for different meals, is a thing taken for granted by our society.
The fact that we can choose so much of what we buy means we have a responsibility tied to those choices. We are responsible for the consequences created by those choices. We are ultimately responsible for the actions of a company our dollars are supporting. It is too easy to say, “ I don’t run that company. I’m not responsible.” If our money goes to a company, then our money is funding its activities. We have a choice and a say as to where our money goes. The problem is that in this heavily corporate society, it is very difficult and sometimes impossible to spend our money where it can actually do good. Sometimes, our choices are so restricted that we have no choice. The idea that if a corporation provides your food you have more choices
is a myth.
What drives your choices? We need to research what we buy, becoming our own experts. If we find something really good, we need to talk to people about it. Talk to people about what is made nearby and spread the word. Clue people into what isn’t made nearby. What things are made by the most egregious companies and to not buy those things. If small businesses such as manufacturers, food producers and food distributors don’t get support they will close. It takes a lot of work to reinvent those small businesses once they’re gone. Corporate run business would love to fill those voids and take your money for the benefit of their share holders.
The choice is yours.
When We Want It
We in the United States of America are a comfortable people. We are not used to lines, inconvenience or hardship. The vast majority of us have not lived through a depression, war rationing or poverty.
Doing without.
The vast majority of us have grown up having choices as to what to eat for each meal. Our diets are varied and full of foods that normally would not be available to us. We burn jet fuel to have foods that are completely out of season to us. We have stopped waiting and started moving food from long distances just to have it
when we want it.
By the time Europeans first came in contact with the Americas, there had been people living here for thousands of years. Most living within the rhythms of their environment, some not. Only several hundred years later this land is reduced to a former shell of its old self due to the philosophies, systems of power and world view brought here by the conquerors. These ideals still guide our system of governance, our corporations and other institutions within our culture. Now, the land cannot sustain the population without great intervention. This is the legacy we must wipe away.
Thoughts on Choices
ReplyDeleteMany cultures rely on a staple food, such as rice or legumes, to make up a substantial part of their diets. The choice of what to eat for your up coming meal is often a basic selection revolving around the staple. Many times the meal is the staple food and nothing else. In an infrastructure wealthy nation state such as the US, foods can be moved around en mass. This moving requires resources in abundance. To grow and eat mainly a staple food requires less resources and provides a greater degree of sustainability for localized populations.
Thoughts on When We Want It
When we want something and what we want can actually determine our level of sustainability as a society. A new mind set in these realms could have a dramatic impact on the infrastructure and resource usage that goes with them. A new mindset in these realms could actually bring our society closer to sustainability than any other action we take as a collective whole. The, When We Want It, mindset applies to more than food. It applies to every facet of our culture and our existence within it. At least that's the way it is spun to us. We can ignore the spin and change our ways. But that is such an easy sentence to write. The doing is much much harder.