One of our Founding Fathers, (and I can't remember whom at the moment) was once quoted as saying that he feared the American capitalistic society would become so wealthy and successful that the citizens would become weak.
Weak, as in unable to do the physically taxing activities one may need in order to survive. Some things he may have thought of: haul water, walk twelve miles, chop firewood, farm...
Now if only he would see many of the average citizens of today. Obese, inactive, stuck at the mall with a soda in one hand, cell phone in the other. Whining about the thread count of their bed sheets and that there are only 99 stations on the big screen TV.... (It is interesting to note that many citizens are so fixated on the luxury of the automobile that we have allowed whole cities to be built without considering for public transportation or bike and walking paths..)
But I regress. To the fear of the citizens becoming too weak to care for themselves, I wanted to add my own observation--they become unable to amuse themselves as well!!
The luxury of having a brand new house, new car, clothes galore, heat on demand, dishwashers and clothes dryers, riding mowers and a leaf blower, leaves many U.S. citizens scratching their inactive little heads wondering what to do with all this free time. (of course they don't admit it, and claim they are busy, busy--but the truth is TV viewing time is up, up, up..)
I have known those that admit they are "bored" all weekend. And I do all I can to refrain from strangling them. Let them lament about all the movie rentals, channel surfing and senseless cell phone calls they make all day. Or look at the teens and tweens and inbetweens. Roaming the materialistic malls, with a phone in one ear, ipod in the other...miserable in their own boredom.
Too bad nobody recognizes this. That if they just replaced the leaf blower with a rake, parked the car and walked, tried to sew their own dress, or grow a vegetable-instantly the boredom and even some of weakness would disappear!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
"Outside is Boring"
I recently hosted an outdoors children's event along our river bank. The kids could explore, pick rocks, play in puddles and sand. Many of the little Alaskan tykes literally dug right in and enjoyed themselves immensely.
What concerns me though are the ones that did not. A few of the children (even in Alaska!) had trouble walking on uneven non-paved surfaces or complained about the elements. But worst of all was the comment I heard from one little girl: "outside is boring". She was looking for toys and video games.
One obvious solution is to expose the kids to more outdoor play (a huge societal problem to say the least) so they become more comfortable. But the less obvious problem is living with material excess. The little girl who found rocks and sand boring, actually has an 'outdoorsy' mother, but also a house packed to the brim with more toys and video games than Toy r' Us.
I read a quote somewhere that too many toys hamper a child's creativity and makes them into boring children. How true that rings. Having to figure out how to amuse oneself without the help of 65 items from China takes more thought and imagination! Yet, in the end a much better result and an appreciation for nature to boot. The next generation of children will never enjoy being outdoors if they haven't developed the attention span to appreciate it. So I challenge parents everywhere--stop buying so many crappy toys and tell your kids to create their own experiences instead!!! It's not as dangerous as you may think....
What concerns me though are the ones that did not. A few of the children (even in Alaska!) had trouble walking on uneven non-paved surfaces or complained about the elements. But worst of all was the comment I heard from one little girl: "outside is boring". She was looking for toys and video games.
One obvious solution is to expose the kids to more outdoor play (a huge societal problem to say the least) so they become more comfortable. But the less obvious problem is living with material excess. The little girl who found rocks and sand boring, actually has an 'outdoorsy' mother, but also a house packed to the brim with more toys and video games than Toy r' Us.
I read a quote somewhere that too many toys hamper a child's creativity and makes them into boring children. How true that rings. Having to figure out how to amuse oneself without the help of 65 items from China takes more thought and imagination! Yet, in the end a much better result and an appreciation for nature to boot. The next generation of children will never enjoy being outdoors if they haven't developed the attention span to appreciate it. So I challenge parents everywhere--stop buying so many crappy toys and tell your kids to create their own experiences instead!!! It's not as dangerous as you may think....
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Perks of High Fuel Costs
First of all, my family is not in a favorable financial position. Secondly, we also require to commute by car for work. --On that note, I feel entitled to continue with my positive take on higher fuel costs...
From my experience, the United States has actually been spoiled for many years, because whenever you travel to anywhere else, for example Canada--the prices of gasoline are shockingly high. And what do these higher prices bring?? They bring innovation. Realistic public transportation and more consideration to pedestrian & bicycle friendly urban planning.
Here in Alaska an unintended perk of the high fuel costs has been less recreational snowmachine and ATV traffic. Amazing! The wilderness has gotten a bit of a break, because folks can't afford the gas to tear it up....
It's no secret that people are planning their travels more, car pooling, looking for smaller cars (even hybrids) considering alternative energy, all good stuff!
Of course the cost of importing goods has increased--but again, what's wrong with fishing around for more ways to buy local & boosting the local farmer or craftsman?? Our over-reliance on cheap imported goods hasn't made us a better nation.
I am sure plenty of poorer countries are even more substantially affected by fuel costs than us. Often with grave consequences. There too, I can only hope that this period of economic turmoil will help boost innovation and self-sufficiency!!
From my experience, the United States has actually been spoiled for many years, because whenever you travel to anywhere else, for example Canada--the prices of gasoline are shockingly high. And what do these higher prices bring?? They bring innovation. Realistic public transportation and more consideration to pedestrian & bicycle friendly urban planning.
Here in Alaska an unintended perk of the high fuel costs has been less recreational snowmachine and ATV traffic. Amazing! The wilderness has gotten a bit of a break, because folks can't afford the gas to tear it up....
It's no secret that people are planning their travels more, car pooling, looking for smaller cars (even hybrids) considering alternative energy, all good stuff!
Of course the cost of importing goods has increased--but again, what's wrong with fishing around for more ways to buy local & boosting the local farmer or craftsman?? Our over-reliance on cheap imported goods hasn't made us a better nation.
I am sure plenty of poorer countries are even more substantially affected by fuel costs than us. Often with grave consequences. There too, I can only hope that this period of economic turmoil will help boost innovation and self-sufficiency!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Alaskans Waste Not
Our local Borough is in the process of widening the main road. Alas, quite a few trees have perished in the process and left dead by the roadside. What is unique is how quickly my local Alaskans discovered this "waste" and went to work securing the valuable resource.
Almost a day later the pick-up trucks began arriving. Chainsaw yielding ladies and girls on ATV's with trailers are all busy loading up the valuable firewood left behind.
Even some artisans seem to be at work, slicing up beautiful, fat, old cottonwood for some sort of interesting purpose. Needless to say, Alaskans always see value in securing free resources.
As urbanites all over the Nation discuss how to save energy and be thrifty, they only need to look at the ingenuity of their Northern neighbors!
Almost a day later the pick-up trucks began arriving. Chainsaw yielding ladies and girls on ATV's with trailers are all busy loading up the valuable firewood left behind.
Even some artisans seem to be at work, slicing up beautiful, fat, old cottonwood for some sort of interesting purpose. Needless to say, Alaskans always see value in securing free resources.
As urbanites all over the Nation discuss how to save energy and be thrifty, they only need to look at the ingenuity of their Northern neighbors!
Monday, April 14, 2008
School Vandalism
Once again there has been an incident of school vandalism in Southcentral Alaska. A pair of pre-teen boys claim they were "bored", so they destroyed $150,000 worth of school property, by smashing computers & breaking windows.
Now comes the name calling, where the conservatives blame the liberals, some blame the parents and many blame the kids. I have a different perspective on this situation, because unfortunately this is not the first time I have seen Alaskan kids vandalize a school.
My perspective comes from the simple little fact that schools back East don't get ripped apart by local kids--especially kids that know the school!!! Schools still enjoy some respect by the community and the families that are linked to them.
Yet, in Alaska, certain neighborhoods and parental types seem to think education is a joke. There is quite a bit of mockery regarding higher education, and a large drop out rate. Meanwhile the more affluent families bitch and moan that their taxes should never be raised in order to increase school funding.
This anti-school attitude is pretty easy in a state where the best occupations require little or no education. Nevertheless, even if you have no use for an education, I assume respecting property should come from somewhere.
That is certainly a harder nut to crack, as I have seen all kinds of kids commit vandalism--the rich kids who have no idea that replacing stuff really hurts, and poor angry kids who just like to smash shit. I guess my dog likes to dig a giant hole for no reason at all as well.....
Now comes the name calling, where the conservatives blame the liberals, some blame the parents and many blame the kids. I have a different perspective on this situation, because unfortunately this is not the first time I have seen Alaskan kids vandalize a school.
My perspective comes from the simple little fact that schools back East don't get ripped apart by local kids--especially kids that know the school!!! Schools still enjoy some respect by the community and the families that are linked to them.
Yet, in Alaska, certain neighborhoods and parental types seem to think education is a joke. There is quite a bit of mockery regarding higher education, and a large drop out rate. Meanwhile the more affluent families bitch and moan that their taxes should never be raised in order to increase school funding.
This anti-school attitude is pretty easy in a state where the best occupations require little or no education. Nevertheless, even if you have no use for an education, I assume respecting property should come from somewhere.
That is certainly a harder nut to crack, as I have seen all kinds of kids commit vandalism--the rich kids who have no idea that replacing stuff really hurts, and poor angry kids who just like to smash shit. I guess my dog likes to dig a giant hole for no reason at all as well.....
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Law of Unintended Consequences
I have been reading about a very depressing topic, namely biofuels. Here's something that should be a happy solution to our energy needs, proposed by green minded individuals, yet the whole thing has spiraled out of control.
You can blame "agribusiness" or the commodities market or even just the law of unintended consequences, but the result is the same--terrible. Instead of recycling used oils or grain waste, whole rain forests are being eliminated to plant soy for biofuel. Palm oil, traditionally used for cooking has spiked to such high prices (to be used as motor fuel), that the poor can no longer afford it. Mexico is having tortilla protests due to the prices of corn, Indonesia & Brazil is plowing rain forests, the list just goes on and on.........
Meanwhile governments really can't stop this crazy biofuels snowball--because they are the ones who just pushed it over the cliff in the first place!!!!!!!! (i.e. ethanol mandates )
So here I am, depressed again as the wilderness disappears in the name of progress. As I read one quote "the rain forests are just junk to many people". In other words: money talks and bullshit walks. So as we continue to provide energy to more and more earths inhabitants, we loose our wild places. Will there be anything left? Where is a nature lover supposed to live?? Am I on the right earth? Is there another one??
You can blame "agribusiness" or the commodities market or even just the law of unintended consequences, but the result is the same--terrible. Instead of recycling used oils or grain waste, whole rain forests are being eliminated to plant soy for biofuel. Palm oil, traditionally used for cooking has spiked to such high prices (to be used as motor fuel), that the poor can no longer afford it. Mexico is having tortilla protests due to the prices of corn, Indonesia & Brazil is plowing rain forests, the list just goes on and on.........
Meanwhile governments really can't stop this crazy biofuels snowball--because they are the ones who just pushed it over the cliff in the first place!!!!!!!! (i.e. ethanol mandates )
So here I am, depressed again as the wilderness disappears in the name of progress. As I read one quote "the rain forests are just junk to many people". In other words: money talks and bullshit walks. So as we continue to provide energy to more and more earths inhabitants, we loose our wild places. Will there be anything left? Where is a nature lover supposed to live?? Am I on the right earth? Is there another one??
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Wolf Politics
I have received news that there will be a protest against "predator control" a.k.a. aerial wolf hunting in downtown Anchorage on April 7th. It is certainly a commendable cause and it is always good to rouse support and awareness, yet I fear the Alaska Fish & Game Dept. will just continue their tricks.
As aerial wolf hunting enters the public eye, the Alaska Fish and Game folks (practically a pro-hunting lobby) does two predictable things.
#1--they blame "outside influences" for bringing about the pro-wolf movement. As they like to claim that "real Alaskans know that wolves are not cuddly dogs". This of course is a really insulting assumption, not only for those in the lower-48 who probably know that wolves hunt and dogs eat dog food. But also to thousands of Alaskans who actually vote against these hunts and sign petitions for this cause.
#2--the new trick is to simply change the hunting and trapping laws. So in anticipation to a public backlash against aerial wolf control, they have already boosted the hunting and trapping limits for wolves. And regular leg-hold traps and what have you, are actually much crueler to wolf family units than the winged gunmen.
I actually really do support looking out for our Bush communities and Native inhabitants and their right to a proper harvest of game meat. Yet, there is a vocal and strong group of urban and suburban Alaskans claiming the same rights. In effect: that predator control is needed to ensure their own successful hunts. In my opinion, these more wealthy Alaskans could easily support some Valley farmers and purchase excellent natural grass fed beef, or even raise their own Angus. If it's a thrill kill they seek, then raise and strangle your own chickens. You can chase them around the yard and woods too, to really get the whole hunting experience!
As aerial wolf hunting enters the public eye, the Alaska Fish and Game folks (practically a pro-hunting lobby) does two predictable things.
#1--they blame "outside influences" for bringing about the pro-wolf movement. As they like to claim that "real Alaskans know that wolves are not cuddly dogs". This of course is a really insulting assumption, not only for those in the lower-48 who probably know that wolves hunt and dogs eat dog food. But also to thousands of Alaskans who actually vote against these hunts and sign petitions for this cause.
#2--the new trick is to simply change the hunting and trapping laws. So in anticipation to a public backlash against aerial wolf control, they have already boosted the hunting and trapping limits for wolves. And regular leg-hold traps and what have you, are actually much crueler to wolf family units than the winged gunmen.
I actually really do support looking out for our Bush communities and Native inhabitants and their right to a proper harvest of game meat. Yet, there is a vocal and strong group of urban and suburban Alaskans claiming the same rights. In effect: that predator control is needed to ensure their own successful hunts. In my opinion, these more wealthy Alaskans could easily support some Valley farmers and purchase excellent natural grass fed beef, or even raise their own Angus. If it's a thrill kill they seek, then raise and strangle your own chickens. You can chase them around the yard and woods too, to really get the whole hunting experience!
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