There has been a lot in the news lately that has gotten my goat, as it were. I listen to NPR for my national and world news since I don't really trust the television or newspaper medias to tell me the facts without giving it their own political slant. One of those topics was the speech given by leaders of Germany and France to the European Union about the financial responsibility that needs to be put into effect by member nations. The other topic was the meeting on climate change held in Duban, Africa.
Does anyone else find it disturbing that our nation's finances are subject to how stock traders "feel" about world events? That they could be encouraged by the news out of the European Union and thus spur financial growth, or depressed by poor job growth reports, thereby causing the numbers to fall? I read about the riots occurring in Greece over unpopular austerity measures the government is trying to put into place and I shake my head because of course if their country is that badly in debt why don't they tighten their belts and work their way out of it? Why are they complaining?? But then I think, how spoiled we in America must be that we are dealing with a similar financial crisis and yet except for Republicans wanting to slash social programs that actually help people
there isn't any talk about the American public having to cut back in any way! Is anyone else disturbed that instead of encouraging that American public to be frugal and save their money for hard times, that all we are getting out of the media is "spend more!" and "tax the rich less!" Yeah, because those tactics have worked so well in the past!
The climate meeting that took place in South Africa today brought up another facet of American society that frustrates the cr@p out of me; we are the biggest polluters, the biggest consumers, yet we seem incapable of taking responsibility for the damages we do to our planet. On today's Diane Rehm show, one of the guest speakers on the one hand denied that humans were the cause of climate change, then on the other said that it wasn't a question of whether humans were having an effect,
but to what degree. So it's a matter of degree? So if we are only a little wrong, a little destructive that somehow that makes it all better? That we don't have to look for better, cleaner energies because we are only inflicting a little damage on the planet? Wow, all those scientists must be really stupid. And this speaker must have friends in our government because that argument gets trotted out every time someone brings up words like "clean energy" and "the environment". It's too expensive! It's too much to ask us to change! And we won't do anything unless China does it too!! Is anyone getting a mental picture of a whiny kid being asked to clean up their rooms?
I am tired of simply being a consumer, a statistic in the economics that drive Wall Street. I'm not saying that I'm such a big spender either; a barrista's paycheck only stretches so far. I shop at thrift stores on a regular basis. I bike or take the bus instead of paying for a gas guzzling car. I cook at home far more often than I eat out. But I admit to eating out a lot, not to mention going out for drinks with friends and buying stuff simply because I *want* it, not because I necessarily need it. And I've been pretty green too. Other than the bike and thrift stores and stuff, I donate my unwanted items as much as possible, my TP is 100% recycled (why, oh why, would anyone feel that trees need to be cut down just so you can wipe your rear??) and I honestly try to go to the farmers markets for my food instead of the big box stores. And
none of this is meant to make it sound like I'm holier-than-thou. I'm not. But there's a lot more I can do and goddammit, I know it!
During the Great Depression, folks did what they had to to survive. They grew their own vegetables, canned their harvests, sewed and mended their own clothes, made their own candles and soap, raised their own animals which they used for milk and meat and wool which would be spun and turned into yarn then knitted into warm clothes. They had countless home remedies and skills that were not only economic and cheap but were also friendly to the environment! When WWII was on, shortages prompted the government to encourage Victory Gardens, so families would be able to grow their own food. And while I don't currently live on a farm, there are still some things that I can do that my great-grandparents did. I can make my own household cleaners out of baking soda and vinegar. I can make my own facial cleansers out of ground up oats. My resident librarian just sent me a recipe to make my own shaving soap so I can kiss my aerosol can goodbye for good! I can bake my own bread, sew my own clothes, knit myself some warm scarves or mittens, re-use glass jars for leftovers. In the spring I plan on putting some planters in front of my apartment to at least grow some of my herbs for cooking and teas. As soon as possible I want to move to somewhere with some room to put in a garden and maybe a chicken coop! What skills I don't have I can learn and while it will both save me money and is good for the environment, it hardly seems like a hardship. If anything I feel like being a modern, urban homesteader would vastly increase the quality of my life while reducing a lot of the stress of the rat race.
So since I can't get my country to act smart about all this, the sovereign nation of Cassandra has decided to enact some austerity measures and to make some positive progress on environmental policies! And American economic models be damned!
