5 things to be happy about

1- autumnal weather, good for the lungs

2- the winds of change

3- the clever crab

4- a pretty great dog

5- day dreams to get me through the hard stuff

Most people are on the world, not in it

That is what John Muir said and I tend to agree.

Animal planet has been airing commercials for a documentary called The Grizzly Man Diaries about a man who lives in the wild with grizzly bears for 10 or so years to document their existence much as Jane Goodall and the chimps. The difference here is that this man was killed by the grizzles he had lived along side for so long. That is the nature of working with any wild animal. They are never your friend or pet. I think this man must have understood this and been willing to make this trade with the bears if necessary.

Contrast this with an History Channel program about grizzly hunters who become the hunted. Given that there are interviews with the 'survivors' we can assume that the ending of their story is the opposite of the Grizzly Man's. These hunters do not see themselves as part of nature but that nature is there for their amusement alone. The bears serve merely as objects for sport, entertainment, and product. They are without personality, without rights and unworthy of respect.

This illustrates my issue with being a vegetarian. All things equal - that is, if we did not have to factor in the brutality of factory farming - I would have no problem eating the flesh of animals because I have no problem with them eating me. I don't see myself as being at the top of the food chain and don't see the need to take that spot hostage for the benefit of myself. I try to be in the world as an equally functioning component and not on the world searching for a way to set myself as its puppeteer.

A Sad State

I am 26 years old. I haven't had health insurance, earned a degree, had a career, owned anything of significant value, and I have been in debt for the past 8 years.

I don't think that these things are unique to me, sadly, they are far too common in this country. Why is it that so many Americans are in this boat with me? What is it that makes the States so much different than the rest of the developed world?

Most (perhaps all, you do the checking) of the 3rd world provides free health care. Just as in this country the fire department will attend to your needs free of charge, you can receive quality medical care at no (or sometimes very, very little) cost in many other nations which the Unites States deems inferior. How can it be that the same prescription costs over 100$ here and is just a few pennies if you take one step over an imaginary border line?

I have 6 pen pal sisters across the world - Nigeria, Rwanda, Kosova, Bosnia, Afghanistan & DRC. They write to me about many things in their lives but a common theme is how they struggle to afford sending their children to school. Education for all children is something we think of as a civil rights issue when it happens in other counties but the truth is that it happens here too. Sure, schooling up to high school is covered by the state but no farther than that. I'm sure at one time this would have been sufficient but now many leave 12th grade with an 8th grade reading level and little more than a basic understanding of fundamental mathematics. It's a sad state indeed.

I have been in college for 8 years and have still not completed a 4 year degree. I will admit that some of the time off (about a year) was my own choice, time to consider my life I suppose, and another semester was because of a nasty car accident. But the major portion of that time has been because of finances.

I have been ambitious in my choice of schools so I've taken on higher tuition costs but I felt that the trade for a more prestigious degree was worth it. Wrong. I also thought that whatever I needed to borrow to pay the tuition would all be worth it in the end; education is an investment, you can't put a price on it. Wrong. There is a price assigned to it and so there is a worth assigned to each person based on their education.

I am not a fantastic student by any means, but I am hard working and do have an inherent intelligence or certain concepts. I have even been on the Dean's list multiple times, but this is not even reason enough for The American University to keep me around. "Congratulation on being awarded to Dean's list but I'm afraid we don't give any scholarships for academic achievement."

Debt in America is rampant. We buy things with money we don't have and spend years paying double, triple, or even more of it's price back in interest. To add insult to injury, the things we buy will have broken, worn out, or be replaced for frivolous reasons long before they have been paid for. Americans like nice things (fancy houses, fast cars, glittery jewels, picture perfect home theaters, et cetera) but we are not the only ones in the world who do. We are not even the only ones who live outside our means. We are, however, the only country who puts such a high importance on these things and leaves the basics of quality food, safe homes, thriving minds and strong bodies last in the line of what ought to be as common place as our want of disposable goods.

These are complex issue that form a labyrinthine problem which I am not prepared to suggest a remedy for. I will simply offer a thought for consideration: with all the good people in this country and all the great work done here, we are still lacking and have been since this nation was just a fledgling. There is something in the foundations that prevents us from coming completely together. We are in a competition with one another to see who has the fastest, largest, smallest, rarest, best of the best widget out there and we loose interest as soon as someone else get one too.

This sense of competition with one another is what keeps us in individualistic mindsets instead of the communal frame of reference that so many others around the world have. Instead of asking 'what is best for me,' I would rather we ask 'what is best for us' - and don't just assume you know what is best, actually ask your neighbor.

5 Things to be Happy About

Sorry it's been so long. I really don't have much new to say but I'll try to get some commentary up soon.

1- Clean apartment

2- A Scottish fascination

3- New inspiration

4- 2 great mums

5- A buddy to keep me yoga-ing