Feb 9, 2023·edited Feb 9, 2023Liked by Bridget Phetasy
This is so hard. I try to do my part by not upgrading every single time there is a new phone or computer but electronics companies got wise. They realized people would use things until they broke down so they now build things so they are incompatible with previous things, so billions of people have to upgrade to stay connected. Add in things like government removing pay phones (because everyone has a cellphone now) and now you have to have a cellphone as there are no emergency landlines. and this is just one example. So yeah, do what you can on a personal level, but realize that companies and governments are what we need to rein in to truly affect those at the base of the supply chain.
Myself is the “something” I take for granted (it has to be, given my ego’s scream into the void right now as I write this). It’s true, though, because I’m acutely aware of my insatiable and unsatisfied-with-current-state-of _____. I hate this about myself, when will I ever feel like the basics are under control? But that same feeling drives me, makes me work so fucking hard, or so I say to myself. I take for granted that I am building a life for myself, by myself, and even though that’s not what I ever imagined, it’s a damn interesting story. My internal dialogue flips that on its head and makes it an untruth I have to untangle constantly. If I take myself for granted, how could anything along the way not be cast away, unacknowledged, shoved aside? All of these feelings start and end with the same constant: me. Perhaps I ought to consider making that a daily awareness, like I’m doing right now, to remind myself that I’m worthy of gratitude, and provide the reasons why. Take the time instead of wasting the time thinking about “why” and “trying to figure it out” externally. I want to say “I did that” or “I tried doing that and learned this instead” instead of this sentence I’m writing, which is just more of the same longing.
This prompt took so many different turns, but I’m glad I pushed back on my initial answers. It’s my first time doing this challenge and boy, are these wheels a little rusty. I’m excited to write about myself and my experiences, something that I’ve also never done, or at least quit doing when I was in middle school (long story). I am excited to reclaim my old self that I have been trying to obliterate since I can remember. Thank you for the opportunity to get my wheels greased, thank you for being an accountabilibuddy.
I think a part of growing up is learning to appreciate the little things we take for granted. I have this memory of watching a documentary many years ago where the narrator explained the miracle of indoor plumbing in our society and compared it back to most of human history when everyone had to relieve themselves in chamber pots. Emptying your chamber pot was a daily chore and often people would just toss their sewage out the window into the street. If you think 21st century San Francisco has a problem, just think about medieval Europe!
This realization kicked off a phase where I learned to really think about what life was like pre-industrial age and how tough it must have been living in the age of chamber pots. In the 21st century, we can flush many of our problems away without a second thought. But in the old world, even the most advanced societies like Ancient Rome could only offer community bathhouses serviced by aqueducts, with toilets that had zero privacy and were basically an open room with holes to do your business in as you chatted with neighbors. Instead of toilet paper, there was a “communal sponge” passed around for cleaning down there. This is really true, look it up! Or actually on second thought, no don’t.
I definitely don't take my cell phone for granted. It took me until 2019 to get an iPhone. The implications of exploitation were just too much and I don't consider myself a very political animal. Using kids as slaves is a hard line for me, though.
I've only had this one iPhone for the last 5 years. Before that I had an Evergreen, which, at the time, was the most "Green" phone you could get, being made of something like 70% plants. I really did like that phone.
I don't think I have a "heart of darkness," but I can get way too comfortable sometimes and lose sight of why I get to just wander around my house all day every day pretending to be a writer.
But as soon as I become aware of things, I do whatever I can to at least not participate in the ecosystem that creates them. I haven't bought anything made by Nike in over 10 years, for example. I have only ever had one iPhone.
I would prefer our Congress to start passing laws that American companies cannot do business with slavers. I suppose the best place to start with changing things is:
1.) making more people aware of them
and
2.) start systematically bankrupting companies that take advantage of these practices in other countries
If we can place sanctions on other countries, which we do all the time, then we can start placing sanctions on American companies, too. It's abhorrent that we ourselves have laws against slavery, but we keep making Trillions off of slavery through loopholes in other countries.
At this point, if I see someone wearing Nike, I know they are a bad person. Wearing Nike should be the social equivalent of wearing a swastika out in public. It's harder to say that about people who have iPhones, because you can't even call 9-1-1 these days without a cell phone, but just know that if you've had, like, 5 new iPhones throughout the course of your life because you think you're an "influencer" who needs the newest and best camera... I'm judging you.
Thank you so much for writing this. I listened to the episode a few weeks ago and was absolutely mortified, disgusted, ashamed and felt helplessness that was so big I had nowhere to put it. I sent the link to a bunch of my friends to watch and discussed at length with some close family members. I also don’t know how to help or what would help at the individual level. I get torn between gratitude for my life being as privileged as it is , and then feeling that’s such a spoiled way to see it, and if I’m not doing something then I’m complicit. But then, have no idea what to do, it just feels so huge, and crushing. Where do we go from here?
Feb 10, 2023·edited Feb 10, 2023Liked by Bridget Phetasy
HELP.
This is my first day here.
Do I read the title and then write 'here' for 5 minutes OR Do I read everything Bridget wrote first and then write? What's the process? AND... is the prompt on this "Spoiled" or "Do I have a heart of darkness"?
I could write about needing help for 5 minutes if that counts?
Following instructions can be a challenge sometimes.
And one other question. My grammar and spelling and everything totally sucks. I'm assuming you won't judge me for that.
Many of us in the Western world could be accused of taking our lives for granted. Several generations ago, England had similarly horrific living conditions for the poor - little kids being sent up chimneys and down mines. Unthinkable. I agree with Rebek's comment on trying to delay upgrades. Something I noticed in Japan was that many people had items that were older models but very well taken care of. Our consumerism is out of hand – new phones, cars, 'fast fashion'.
Likewise, using countries like China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh as the factories of the world, we aid the poor air quality that many have to live with. That doesn't absolve their governments of their responsibility, but we do play a part. Having spent time in some of the world's most polluted places, when I returned to the West – that first hit of clean air hitting my lungs made me light-headed. Each breath felt like a sip of the purest water. Many children play outside in air conditions that allow for painful breathing. My hometown generally has an AQI of around 30. In Hanoi, it wasn't uncommon to have days of 300. In northern China, I experienced days of 900 AQI (although the daily norm was closer to 250/300 at the time). In central China, the air quality allowed for continually hazy days – the locals referred to it as 'fog', and the sun was a purple orb (this was around 2012/13, I can't speak to it now). Forget about being able to see the stars! As a Westerner, I could leave these places, but for most, there is no opportunity to do so. So, I guess what I take for granted is access to clean air, and also… and two strong passports.
(I just checked the AQI of several places of a personal note, in the UK and the US, and was surprised. 63 here in northern MN, and over 100 in London!)
Bridget, stop thinking about such things. There is NOTHING you can do about it. The authority of the United States extends exactly 12 miles out into the Atlantic (including the Gulf of Mexico) and Pacific Oceans. We have no authority over other countries (except asking how they spend money the US government sends them - without Constitutional authority.) Africa is and always has been a disaster and it got much worse when colonialism came to an end and the Europeans who kept things in check for a while left. The Congo is the worst. Decades ago, Congolese Marxists took all the whites in the regions they controlled captive and the US and Belgium mounted a rescue operation. When the communists took over Stanleyville, now Kisanagani, they cut the mayor's heart and liver out and began eating it in front of him as he died. Those people are savages.
This is so hard. I try to do my part by not upgrading every single time there is a new phone or computer but electronics companies got wise. They realized people would use things until they broke down so they now build things so they are incompatible with previous things, so billions of people have to upgrade to stay connected. Add in things like government removing pay phones (because everyone has a cellphone now) and now you have to have a cellphone as there are no emergency landlines. and this is just one example. So yeah, do what you can on a personal level, but realize that companies and governments are what we need to rein in to truly affect those at the base of the supply chain.
Myself is the “something” I take for granted (it has to be, given my ego’s scream into the void right now as I write this). It’s true, though, because I’m acutely aware of my insatiable and unsatisfied-with-current-state-of _____. I hate this about myself, when will I ever feel like the basics are under control? But that same feeling drives me, makes me work so fucking hard, or so I say to myself. I take for granted that I am building a life for myself, by myself, and even though that’s not what I ever imagined, it’s a damn interesting story. My internal dialogue flips that on its head and makes it an untruth I have to untangle constantly. If I take myself for granted, how could anything along the way not be cast away, unacknowledged, shoved aside? All of these feelings start and end with the same constant: me. Perhaps I ought to consider making that a daily awareness, like I’m doing right now, to remind myself that I’m worthy of gratitude, and provide the reasons why. Take the time instead of wasting the time thinking about “why” and “trying to figure it out” externally. I want to say “I did that” or “I tried doing that and learned this instead” instead of this sentence I’m writing, which is just more of the same longing.
This prompt took so many different turns, but I’m glad I pushed back on my initial answers. It’s my first time doing this challenge and boy, are these wheels a little rusty. I’m excited to write about myself and my experiences, something that I’ve also never done, or at least quit doing when I was in middle school (long story). I am excited to reclaim my old self that I have been trying to obliterate since I can remember. Thank you for the opportunity to get my wheels greased, thank you for being an accountabilibuddy.
Indoor plumbing
I think a part of growing up is learning to appreciate the little things we take for granted. I have this memory of watching a documentary many years ago where the narrator explained the miracle of indoor plumbing in our society and compared it back to most of human history when everyone had to relieve themselves in chamber pots. Emptying your chamber pot was a daily chore and often people would just toss their sewage out the window into the street. If you think 21st century San Francisco has a problem, just think about medieval Europe!
This realization kicked off a phase where I learned to really think about what life was like pre-industrial age and how tough it must have been living in the age of chamber pots. In the 21st century, we can flush many of our problems away without a second thought. But in the old world, even the most advanced societies like Ancient Rome could only offer community bathhouses serviced by aqueducts, with toilets that had zero privacy and were basically an open room with holes to do your business in as you chatted with neighbors. Instead of toilet paper, there was a “communal sponge” passed around for cleaning down there. This is really true, look it up! Or actually on second thought, no don’t.
I definitely don't take my cell phone for granted. It took me until 2019 to get an iPhone. The implications of exploitation were just too much and I don't consider myself a very political animal. Using kids as slaves is a hard line for me, though.
I've only had this one iPhone for the last 5 years. Before that I had an Evergreen, which, at the time, was the most "Green" phone you could get, being made of something like 70% plants. I really did like that phone.
I don't think I have a "heart of darkness," but I can get way too comfortable sometimes and lose sight of why I get to just wander around my house all day every day pretending to be a writer.
But as soon as I become aware of things, I do whatever I can to at least not participate in the ecosystem that creates them. I haven't bought anything made by Nike in over 10 years, for example. I have only ever had one iPhone.
I would prefer our Congress to start passing laws that American companies cannot do business with slavers. I suppose the best place to start with changing things is:
1.) making more people aware of them
and
2.) start systematically bankrupting companies that take advantage of these practices in other countries
If we can place sanctions on other countries, which we do all the time, then we can start placing sanctions on American companies, too. It's abhorrent that we ourselves have laws against slavery, but we keep making Trillions off of slavery through loopholes in other countries.
At this point, if I see someone wearing Nike, I know they are a bad person. Wearing Nike should be the social equivalent of wearing a swastika out in public. It's harder to say that about people who have iPhones, because you can't even call 9-1-1 these days without a cell phone, but just know that if you've had, like, 5 new iPhones throughout the course of your life because you think you're an "influencer" who needs the newest and best camera... I'm judging you.
I'm judging you SO HARD.
Thank you so much for writing this. I listened to the episode a few weeks ago and was absolutely mortified, disgusted, ashamed and felt helplessness that was so big I had nowhere to put it. I sent the link to a bunch of my friends to watch and discussed at length with some close family members. I also don’t know how to help or what would help at the individual level. I get torn between gratitude for my life being as privileged as it is , and then feeling that’s such a spoiled way to see it, and if I’m not doing something then I’m complicit. But then, have no idea what to do, it just feels so huge, and crushing. Where do we go from here?
HELP.
This is my first day here.
Do I read the title and then write 'here' for 5 minutes OR Do I read everything Bridget wrote first and then write? What's the process? AND... is the prompt on this "Spoiled" or "Do I have a heart of darkness"?
I could write about needing help for 5 minutes if that counts?
Following instructions can be a challenge sometimes.
And one other question. My grammar and spelling and everything totally sucks. I'm assuming you won't judge me for that.
Many of us in the Western world could be accused of taking our lives for granted. Several generations ago, England had similarly horrific living conditions for the poor - little kids being sent up chimneys and down mines. Unthinkable. I agree with Rebek's comment on trying to delay upgrades. Something I noticed in Japan was that many people had items that were older models but very well taken care of. Our consumerism is out of hand – new phones, cars, 'fast fashion'.
Likewise, using countries like China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh as the factories of the world, we aid the poor air quality that many have to live with. That doesn't absolve their governments of their responsibility, but we do play a part. Having spent time in some of the world's most polluted places, when I returned to the West – that first hit of clean air hitting my lungs made me light-headed. Each breath felt like a sip of the purest water. Many children play outside in air conditions that allow for painful breathing. My hometown generally has an AQI of around 30. In Hanoi, it wasn't uncommon to have days of 300. In northern China, I experienced days of 900 AQI (although the daily norm was closer to 250/300 at the time). In central China, the air quality allowed for continually hazy days – the locals referred to it as 'fog', and the sun was a purple orb (this was around 2012/13, I can't speak to it now). Forget about being able to see the stars! As a Westerner, I could leave these places, but for most, there is no opportunity to do so. So, I guess what I take for granted is access to clean air, and also… and two strong passports.
(I just checked the AQI of several places of a personal note, in the UK and the US, and was surprised. 63 here in northern MN, and over 100 in London!)
Bridget, stop thinking about such things. There is NOTHING you can do about it. The authority of the United States extends exactly 12 miles out into the Atlantic (including the Gulf of Mexico) and Pacific Oceans. We have no authority over other countries (except asking how they spend money the US government sends them - without Constitutional authority.) Africa is and always has been a disaster and it got much worse when colonialism came to an end and the Europeans who kept things in check for a while left. The Congo is the worst. Decades ago, Congolese Marxists took all the whites in the regions they controlled captive and the US and Belgium mounted a rescue operation. When the communists took over Stanleyville, now Kisanagani, they cut the mayor's heart and liver out and began eating it in front of him as he died. Those people are savages.