Back to school. Mixed emotions on that count.

You’ll be able to tell that I’m back at school because of this post. It’s a continuation of something I was marinating on over the break after a conversation with someone who will remain nameless to protect his honor. We were talking about what we were going to do after school, and I asked him if he still wanted to pursue the field he’d mentioned previously. This field had to do with illegal immigration. I’ve been hoping he’d come around, stop listening to Rush Limbaugh, and join the sane, but no. He came back with “that’s where I’m still conservative!” and proceeded to talk about how illegal immigrants “take advantage” of this country because they don’t pay taxes blah, blah, blah.

And, you see, when people start talking like this I lapse back into this problem. Mainly, I become so confused by their thought process that I cannot form sentences that make any sense further than, “I can’t believe you!” My thought process about this issue goes something like this: How can you possibly accuse a community of taking advantage of the system when they are the most vulnerable and precarious population in the nation? They are the most exploited, and you are accusing them of exploiting you? Are you kidding me right now? Of all the people you could be pissed at, all of the groups you could blame, you pick them. The ones without rights. Seriously? And what completely baffles me is that these same people who say that illegal immigrants are taking advantage of the United States by not paying taxes or whatever are the exact people who don’t want to tax the most wealthy Americans. Really? Are you kidding me? You want to take out all of your anger and fear on this population, you want to build a wall?

As you can see, I lose all capacity to have a conversation and devolve into accusing them of being stupid/ignorant/unfeeling/soulless. This doesn’t accomplish anything, because I know this dude personally and I know he isn’t stupid/ignorant/unfeeling/soulless. We’re actually pretty good friends. So here’s where I realize that I can’t even understand their thought processes, because where I operate from a sense of social justice and human rights and almost always come down on the side of those who have the least and are the most exploited, other people think about things like taxes. Granted, their thoughts on taxes are (most likely) baseless, I mean look at their source, but still, their arguments are based on things like economics instead of basic human dignity. So I’m starting to realize that, if I ever want to change any minds, I have to change my own. If I can’t communicate in a language they understand, we’ll just sit and yell at each other forever while real, valid, living people are being overlooked in a political battle that directly effects them.

This brings me to class today. We’re talking about poverty and inequality, and I’m really excited because my teacher is an economist. She’s basically a badass. Yes, she actually is. She connects economics and human rights/social justice/grassroots activism all the time. It’s her job! I am pretty positive that if anyone can help me understand how to have the economics conversation, it’s her. Then we watch this documentary that everyone should see called Life and Debt. It’s about Jamaica, the IMF, the World Bank, and the living conditions of the people on the island. It also implicates tourists who come to the island and ignore the devastation, just like I’ve done on cruises to Mexico. Then, I had one of those moments.

By “those moments” I mean that second where… well, you know that saying “you can’t see the forest for the trees”? Well, its like you’ve been looking, staring, really concentrating on this one tree, or this one patch of trees, or whatever, and then suddenly you zoom back. Not just to the forest, but to the whole region. The entire living planet ecosystem. Just zoom straight out. And from far away, you can see all of the different forests. You know, the Forest of Poverty, the Forest of Climate Change, all of those forests. And suddenly from your zoomed out position, you channel The Doctor. Well, on a small scale. One of The Doctor’s things is that he’s aware of all of time happening at once. So here you are, staring at all of the forests, but you can also see forward and backward in history. So, now, you have the Forest of Climate Change, the Forest of Poverty, etc, and all around them, acting on them, you see things like Colonlialism and Racism and Capitalism and Greed. And suddenly you’re like, whoa, I thought all of these were separate forests and forces, but really they’re all here. I’m just saying, I had a moment in class where my brain zoomed back. The farmers in Jamaica can’t sell their produce in local grocery stores, because they can’t compete with the prices of the imported goods from all of the countries they previously had trade barriers against until the IMF told them to take down the barriers and integrate. Of course, the taking down of trade barriers only applied to this poor country, and not the other countries with so much money they can subsidize their goods down to such a low price even with the cost of exporting it to Jamaica. And then you think about how much fuel and pollution comes from taking food from one place, processing it, packaging it, and shipping it from one country to another all around the world. And now you think, today, when we’re all so concerned about climate change and pollution and global warming and green industry, firms from rich countries are competing to export goods across the world?

Do you see what I mean? And then I feel like I’m just this little leaf, or something, floating on a current in the middle of all of this shit. It existed before I was a leaf, and all of the forces acting on me are so, so huge. I’m just being pulled along by this epically intricate and massive system of currents. And it’s just a little overwhelming.

But at least I’ve got The Doctor to keep me warm! He’s the best humanist ever. And sometimes you just need someone, even a fictional character, to tell you humans are good.

SOTP: “Chances Are” by Garrett Hedlund

In sisterhood and solidarity,

me

The UN, Veganism, and trippy movies you thought you liked as a kid.

Why, hello.

[insert come hither stare.]

Yesterday when I promised to explain how the UN and veganism were connected I had this totally unrealistic expectation that I would have had time to read my new book by now. False. I’m currently reading The Kind Diet . A friend of mine mentioned that she read it and decided to go vegan, and because I really want to guilt myself into not being able to eat smothered pork chops or baked brie I asked if I could borrow it. But seriously. If you read any reports, including this one from the UN, (or a summed up version from the guardian) you will find that the way we eat is really, really bad for us. Huge disclaimer: though I think little fluffy chicks and bunnies are cute, I still think they are delicious and do not really associate any guilt with that deliciousness. However, I’m pretty down for reducing my carbon footprint through a lower consumption of meat and dairy. Did you know that a full fifth of the carbon emissions the US produces come from the meat industry? Isn’t that insane? I learned this tidbit from Mark Bittman, who wrote Food Matters. Also in Food Matters, I learned that the original food pyramid was basically bull shit that was paid for by big food industry lobbyists. I don’t know about you, but that kind of stuff makes activist me incredibly pissed off. When I decided to try to go one day without meat and realized I had no idea how to make lunch or dinner without it, I felt brainwashed. Since then, I’ve been flirting with a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle and I think this book is just another step in that direction. It is hard, though, to imagine my life as a veggie anything. Thanksgiving? Christmas? Easter? Birthdays? Fourth of July? Mother’s Day? Father’s Day? Memorial Day? Saturday? Being a southerner, I find it hard to picture myself still belonging to my family and not being an omnivore. We shall see, though. There are all kinds of options for incorporating these ideas into any diet. I will also keep you posted on The Kind Diet and how it is as a book in general.

In other news, do you remember this really freaking creepy movie that you probably watched as a child and thought “Holy shitballs, what the hell are they doing with that crystal?!” Yes. I am talking about The Dark Crystal. Probably one of the scariest and creepiest children’s films ever made (why thank you, Jim Henson, for my complete fear of…everything.) If you need a refresher, check out this scene on youtube.  Or, if you’re pretty sure that scared feeling in your stomach is from repressed memories of this damn movie and you want to check without upsetting your inner child, the trailer is a nice, misleadingly un-horrific way to jog your memory.  If you are sitting there reading this and wondering, why is she doing this? Why are we going here? It’s because today I had this urge to watch some harry potter (since I couldn’t bring my set of books with me when I moved) and found that none of the movies are streaming on netflix. Neither, I might add, is The Pebble and The Penguin, which was my second choice. I then started browsing the children’s movies sections, because by that point I was just in the mood for something happy that I could count on. That is when it happened. I saw The Dark Crystal right next to Labyrinth under the heading “Children-Adventures.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t think any child needs to see Bowie’s package so up close. Labyrinth is, of course, no Dark Crystal, but it still begged the question, what is up with all of these really creepy children’s movies? Think about it. How many children’s movies have you seen recently and thought “How could I possibly have a positive memory from this movie?” and then there are the movies that, even as a child, you knew were just plain wrong. Consider James and the Giant Peach. If you are like me, you will just remember some fun claymation insects and glowing worms. I somehow managed to block that viscious shark of death and the two masochistic aunts. I guess in some ways those kinds of kids movies are preferable to the sugary-sweet children’s movies of today. Those movies at least acknowledge that even as children we have an awareness that life isn’t all sunshine and daisies, and creepy children’s movies like the ones mentioned above respect the morbid in children. But still. I could have gone my whole life without that Dark Crystal, but then I wouldn’t have understood all the awesome jokes in the Robot Chicken parody, Dark Cristal.

I’m going to go sit around and hum.

Make that money, don’t let that money make you.

-me