Hi,
I'm still here living on this planet. I haven't blogged in a while, but I've been thinking a lot about it. It's almost Christmas, and I haven't bought any presents...
I did not want to go to a big retail chain store and buy some products that were produced overseas. I am becoming more and more aware of the conditions in factories overseas. Corporations say they outsourced production because wages were lower, but that is just not it. You see, in other countries they can expose workers to chemicals that are harmful and they won't get sued. Research the documentary "Trade Secrets" if you want to see how they've treated production workers in the U.S. in the past and got caught. Move the jobs overseas and it is easier to poison people and get away with keeping all your money.
They sent the jobs overseas because they can work their "employees" longer hours (more than 12 hours a day) and not have to compensate them. If you want to know more, research Suicide Rates at Apple Factory.
They sent the jobs overseas because the environmental regulations are more lax. Who cares if they pollute the world for profit and destroy the planet so future generations are fucked? You get a new iPhone or boots or some other frivolous thing you don't need. If you want to know more, read about the pollution in China where they are making all our needless consumer items. It will make you realize the real price of the stupid item you were thinking of buying. I'm just gonna read the Lorax, because I'm already sad enough.
So, now I don't know what to do for Christmas. I thought about printing photos to send as gifts, but then I realized I do not even know where the ink and paper are produced and under what conditions and whose life exploited and what ultimate price really paid.
I used to buy all natural lotions and body care products that were made in the U.S. to send as gifts... but then I realized... I do not know where the bottles... the plastic bottles and containers are made. And, who is working in unsafe, poisonous, awful conditions to make those? And how much pollution?
And, how much of this crap that we buy do we even need? And, how much will end up in a landfill?
I just started watching a documentary... it comes in segments roughly about 15 minutes long. I only watched the first one, but it was talking about all this stuff I've been thinking about, so I thought I'd throw it on here.... Here's the link:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/exposing-noble-lie/
Its called the noble lie
The things in life of real value are love, family, friendship, kindness, wisdom and virtue.
Thomas Malthus was one of the early proponents of population control. He was afraid that if too many people had children, the world would be destroyed. It is the same sort of thinking that was behind Eugenics which is a fancy word for prettying up the fact that our government used to sterilize masses of the population. The same sort of thinking was a catalyst for the holocaust.
Ester Boserup was an economist who offered a decent antithesis to Malthus's beliefs. She felt that as the population grew we would continue to engineer and improve and come up with better, more efficient ways of doing things so that we could accommodate.
These theories work better when the population is educated. In the U.S. though we are really lacking in education. The problem is not the population. The problem is that the population is ignorant, uneducated and misguided. They are taught to value material goods and wealth. The money is not real, and the material goods are worthless.
The answer to all ignorance is enlightenment. If we want to improve as a society, we must work toward education and enlightenment. This is how we will find peace and happiness.
Wishing you everything that is wonderful in the world.
Life's a garden; dig it.
