Monday, October 6, 2008

Mom thinks I have diabetes

Diabetes? How on earth will I bake and then consume an entire batch of treats if I have diabetes? I think it's anemia. But last time I had my blood tested they told me I didn't. So who knows. I probably just need a break. I need one week of someone else calling the shots and me being completely content with it. Hiking? Camping? Sitting on someones porch or driving around? I don't care. I just want to relax.

My friend is writing a paper for college about young people reverting back to simplified living. She does not however, want to focus on the fact that it is so obviously a trend. She asked me why I think people currently crave less technology. Honestly I don't think people do. It's one more thing to buy and sit on a coffee table looking neat.
So here is what I think happened. A long time ago people lived in a really basic way. They had what they needed and not much more. This is because we didn't actually have the technology to become so consumed by consuming. So we started to advance in science and medicine and machines. Some people continued to hold onto their roots. They understood that they didn't need a bunch of stuff. These people, like farmers and the Amish and native Americans, passed on their values to their children.
We reach a little bit more modern day lifestyle and we have some hardcore environmentalists and some real animal lovers etc and they pick up on the idea that moderation is really best. They practice this where ever they live. Subcultures like "anarchists" etc. pick up on these ideas of staying in touch with nature, taking only what you need and giving back, making, with your own hands, what you need.. they take these values and twist them to meet their own needs. Business men see this happening. Business men see room for growth, room for profit and gradually create a trend. All of a sudden people miraculously realize that this earth can not sustain human life, and most likely no life, at the rate of destruction we are at. "green" becomes the biggest buzz word to hit this nation. People start buying. With all of this good for the earth minimalist ingredients i am simple marketing comes the hipster. Business men know to target young people with their trends. it works. So now we have a wave sweeping over the nation and kids are buying typewriters and buying handmade silk screened tee shirts with pictures of cassette tapes on them. They are buying fixed gear bicycles and loft apartments with hardly anything in them. Owning things that exemplify simplicity does not make you an earth conscious person. does not make you aware. does not mean you know minimization. Most people these days don't understand why minimal technology is important. plus, they use technology to buy their Henry David Thoreau books and their organic cotton bedsheets. I sit here using a computer(mind you I walked to the library to use it.). I have a cell phone in my bag. I understand that our advancement in technology is destroying this planet, and destroying us. It's a trend. That's all you can do to explain it. Sorry friend.

1 comment:

Jessica said...

that's what i said the other day! i think your mom is right due to your feet falling asleep. get it checked. there are ways you can still bake!