You Know What? No, It’s Not OK to Can’t Right Now.

Just a lazy Sunday afternoon scrolling through Facebook. It shouldn't be lazy, but that's a post for another time. I came across one of those dewy-eyed I'm-OK-You're-OK "let's all be gentle with ourselves" posts with one of those "SO MUCH THIS!" enthusiasm slathered over it. It was posted by a loved one, so I didn't snark on it. I'm a dick, but not that much of one. But I read it. Of course, I did. I want to understand how those who are forced out of work at present are doing. Any time I complain about having to go to work during The Days of COVID, I get the backlash of "Be glad you can!!!" and "We want to be working, we'd rather be working!" Any time I see yet another post about running out of shows to binge and being SO BORED and going insane with nothing to do anymore, I know I cannot say anything about being envious because of the inevitable chorus of "OMG CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY!!!" that follows. Um, I don't, but that's a post for another time.

So, yeah, the dewy-eyed post. The blogger seems like a nice enough person. A little first-world-problem for me, but whatever. I mean, oh, whaaa, my home office is such a cushy place to read other people's news from and I'm still in my pj's at 3 pm... I'm SO crushed for you and your little privileged-enough life. She really seems to be suffering. I didn't bother to read much more than the post that brought me there, because blah. 

In this post, bless her lil' heart, she talks about how it's OK to come undone and not be able to do anything and that you *can't right now.* That if you are merely surviving, "that is enough right now."

Let's go with that. She mentions being 6 or 7 weeks into this whole not-being-able-to-go-out thing, but she can't really tell because it has all blended together. Great. So... how many weeks are we allowed to *can't right now*? Shouldn't we *can* at some point during this?

It's very simple. Yes, this is overwhelming at times. Hello? The rest of us are out there having to keep our shit together and *have to right now* extra. And we don't see an end in sight. When you all get off your couches after all your *can't,* we keep right on going. And hello? If you *can't right now,* when can you? When, exactly, can we count on you? Because we need all hands on deck, and if you *can't right now,* can you when we need you to? I can give ya the first few days, even weeks, of this. At some point, however, you pull yourself up out of it and DO something. Again, I’m the dick for saying this because I can't possibly know what it's like to have to lay on my couch for weeks on end not knowing what's going to happen and where the money will come from if this goes on and oh-my-god I have to cook again. I get the money thing, that is indeed worrisome, so how exactly does laying on your couch *can't-ing* help that? Hmmm? At some point, you better decide you CAN. Just. Decide. You. Can. Because otherwise, we all get the red handmaid outfit or the grey Martha get-up.*** And it will be because YOU COULDN'T.

If you *can't right now,* when exactly may we count on you to *can*? We are out here and we have to *can,* we have no choice, and it's harder than ever on us too. But we're getting shit done. The least you can do is try to put on your big girl panties and DO something. What? I don't know. I don't care. I'm busy out here getting the aforementioned shit done. Figure it out.

Read a damn book. Read a few damn books. Write something yourself. Journal this whole thing going on. Make long-term plans for the summer. Plan your garden. Plant your garden. Plant your neighbor’s garden because they are elderly or working. Do all those things you have always said you never have time to do. Learn about the 5 Gyres. Learn about methane clathrate and negative feedback loops. Read up on palm oil. Find out that a cracker plant being considered along the Ohio River Valley isn’t a place where elves work. Start that blog. Find your cause for activism. You always wanted time off, you grumbled about having to work, now you have this time forced upon you and you can’t get off your couch? Weak tea, dude.

We’re coming to the end of this. Maybe. For the first time? Is there a second round ahead? How much longer is this time?

Decide that you can.


***The Handmaid’s Tale, a 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, and a series on Hulu

How About Some Logic?

Population certainly is a fascinating topic to research. The camps are very clearly divided, and the yawning chasm between them seems unbridgeable.

One of the things I hear the most from those who pooh-pooh at the thought that we need to slow down the growth is that there's plenty of room. "We can fit the whole world's population in a space the size of Texas!" "There's TONS of room, we haven't come close to running out of space!"

I get what they are saying. There are lots of open spaces around me where I live. I've lived in jammed big cities, and I've lived in rural areas where you can go a day without seeing a person. Their argument does not hold for me. Let's think about it, let's apply some LOGIC to it....

Let's all imagine a group of people in a high school gymnasium. It is furnished and they have open access to the bathrooms, of course, and they have their meals there and watch TV there and get on their computers, etc. It's pretty much their whole world, they don't need to leave very often. Most everything they need is in there. Their water source is in there and it is plentiful for their needs - showering, flushing, washing clothes etc. There are four of them. They have lots of room, and they pick up after themselves, so it stays pretty clean. They live this way for, say, a month. Then, their numbers double. Suddenly, there are 8 of them. No big deal, it's still a pretty big space. But their numbers are going to double every month. 16 of them aren't so bad, and even at 32, people have room. By 64, it's getting a little crowded. The bathrooms are not as neat as they once were, because many more people are using them. Food is going more quickly. Hot water does not last as long, and it's getting harder to get a good shower in. Their allotted amount of water isn't going as far as it used to, and what there is, is getting a little gross. Not everyone can agree on what to watch on TV, either. There's a lot more trash around and less space to put it. By Month 6, it's 128 people. That's becoming quite crowded, uncomfortable, smelly, *inconvenient.* Imagine the numbers in a year.

Yeah, I based that all the way down to the most simplistic of examples. These people were in a finite system. Then again, so are we. Earth is a finite system, just a really really big one. There cannot be infinite growth in a finite system.

So when people say we have plenty of room, they are not taking into account areas that cannot support human life. They aren't taking into account the extremely tiny amount of fresh potable water available (which gets smaller all the time thanks to all the polluting practice more and more people have.). In fact,m there are SO many things that are not taken into account that it is hard for me to find a logical standpoint with which to debate. I can't debate with logic where logic refuses to exist.

Is it me?

No, I am not an expert here. I'm merely an observer. Sittin' here. Observing.

The Mama Bear Myth

The Urban Dictionary defines “Mama Bear” as a mom who can be cuddly and lovable but also has a ferocious side when it's necessary to protect her cubs, and suggests “a tough, aggressive, and protective mother, often going to extreme lengths to protect her child, usually her son, and herself.”

There are a number of memes and blogs saying things like, “If you mess with my child, I will unleash my fury and destroy your world” or “I may seem quiet and reserved, but if you mess with my children, I will break out a level of crazy that will make your nightmares seem like a happy place.” And a favorite: “You ain’t seen crazy yet … but you will if you attack my children physically or verbally. Hugs! Love, Mama Bear.”

Yes. All well and good. Sounds bold and protective. Except you don’t really mean it. I don’t believe you. When asked this question, “Is working to try to prevent environmental damage for the future really a part of being a good parent?” ninety-three percent of the public (men and women) agreed in an anthropological poll and study by MIT investigators. Yet, where are you? Where have you been on the great threats of our day?

You will overreact to some perceived slight and call it being Mama Bear. You will get all Mama Bear on those of us who might cast a glance aside if your child is having a public tantrum and we have the nerve to let a touch of annoyance cross our face, as though your child can act up anywhere but we are not allowed to have any feelings about it. Because you’re a Mama Bear. “Don’t mess with my cubs.”

Here is why this doesn’t ring true. You aren’t fighting the most important fights for your children. You are busy insisting you can breastfeed wherever you wish, and your children are allowed to run amuck in a restaurant and we have to tolerate it because they are kids and tough nuts to anyone else in the vicinity. You cheer on a mother who punched another woman for daring to speak about a tantrum the child was having. While you are doing these things, your kid’s real and actual future is in trouble. Your kids and your kids’ kids are in profound trouble, but somehow, this doesn’t bring out the Mama Bear in you. Why is that? Why are there so many moms claiming to be mama bears sitting back and doing nothing when climate catastrophe can be seen on the horizon, or when the chemical industry teams up with bioengineers to alter your children’s food supplies in dangerous ways?

We have the very real threat of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the chemicals they can tolerate on our dinner tables. You can’t be bothered. With all the studies pointing to danger, we ask you to use your mother bear might and vast numbers to help fight, but apparently it’s too much trouble. Your daughter’s reproductive rights are at risk, but you won’t go vote because you can’t or won’t make the time. BPA bleeding from plastics are affecting your kids’ long-term health, reproductive health, your unborn kids’ health and development, but you haven’t taken the time to even know what BPAs are. The research is everywhere, but you don’t know and do not care to educate yourself. Climate Change is here and it is causing widespread disruption to the point where your kid’s future is going to be very tough - full of droughts, famine, intolerable heat and dangerous cold, diseases, shortages. Scientists just warned that the oceans will be completely destroyed by 2048. Where’s Mama Bear on this urgent warning? Too distracted? Too tired?

You are not a Mama Bear. You fall for every convenience out there because you are so busy. You give your kids fast food and chemical-laden plastic-wrapped processed crap, because being a mom is tough and you are tired and don’t have time or energy. You are putting your kids in very real danger. No, it’s not the immediate and very real danger of a bully or a snarky comment in a store. It’s the slow, deadly danger of cancer. Or sterility. Or developmental difficulties. Where is your fury and your crazy here? Where is the Mama Bear now?

This is where I get a lot of “You aren’t a mom, you don’t know.” What I do know is that people like me who don’t have their own kids are fighting for your children. We are fighting on a pretty grand scale, as a matter of fact. We’re trying to make sure your kids have a future here on this planet. We are thinking ahead. I know we’re in trouble here, and I know you brought your kid into this world, but you aren’t really thinking about their kids with your Mama Bear claims. I am. I’m thinking about your kids and their kids and all the kids, everywhere, while you are busy growling about your kid getting a behavior correction from a store employee.

So before you get all Mama Bear and smack me down with a giant paw, why don’t you listen for a moment, and take the time to realize that I am on your side. I’m on your kids’ side. While you are all riled up in the moment, I’m in it for the long haul. Yes, there are some super-awesome moms out there. There are moms out there fighting the big fight, there are some really good Mama Bears out there. They see the whole picture, and this little piece is not aimed at them.

Think about this: actual mama bears raise their cubs then never have anything to do with them after about their second spring. Is short-term parenting what you are modelling for your children? I doubt it. Let’s drop the bear myth and end the misplaced ferocity, or better yet redirect your focus and anger to the real threats by fighting for your children’s future.  Let’s work together for the long-term future of children everywhere.

7 Rebuttals to 7 Reasons - We are Actually Screwed.

There was a very hopeful article in the Huffington Post entitled "7 Reasons the World Isn't Totally Screwed Right Now." That's so cute. I can refute everything in the article and conclude that 1) these things are nothing in the larger scheme of things and 2) yes, we are screwed, now and the foreseeable future, in which we likely go away for good. Let's have at, shall we? My comments are in red bold italics. A fun romp will be had by all.

7 Reasons The World Isn't Totally Screwed Right Now

The Huffington Post  |  By Carina KolodnyPosted: 08/06/2014 7:19 am EDT  |  Updated: 08/07/2014 12:59 am EDT

If you've turned on the news lately, you may have gotten the sense that the world is falling apart. From rising body counts in Gaza and Israel to a plane getting shot down in Ukraine to increasing violence in Nigeria and Syria, it can often seem like a never-ending stream of grim realities. Um, BECAUSE it is a never-ending stream of grim realities, once you get past what non-celeb celeb has a baby bump or punched someone in an elevator. 

But although bad news is dominating the headlines, it doesn't mean those are the only stories out there. The sky isn't falling -- and the proof isn't hard to find.

Amazing Advances In Medicine Are Happening Daily

• Every day in Africa, more than 1,500 children die of malaria -- but that might not be the case for long. A pharmaceutical company is awaiting regulatory approval on a new drug that could be the world's first malaria vaccine. According to Time magazine, it may be available to the public in one year's time.  Mosquito nets can save many of these children. But Big Pharma doesn't make scads of money on mosquito nets. Shareholders need their money. Available vaccine? Let's see how much they sell it for and who gets it. Nope, we're still screwed because we cannot employ an existing $5 solution. Also, what happens to population? NOT A REASON.

• An experimental drug for hepatitis C got rid of the disease in more than 95 percent of patients during trials. It's currently awaiting FDA approval, and could be a cheaper way to treat the disease than medication currently on the market.  Could be? Could not be, just as easily. NOT A REASON.

• A 19-year-old from Chicago might be well on his way to discovering a cure for colon cancer. His experimental vaccine has been 100 percent effective in ridding young mice of malignant tumors. Might be? And when he and his cure disappear because Big Pharma loves how much money cancer raises, what then? This isn't in the news now. Where did it go? NOT A REASON.

Huge Strides Are Being Made For LGBT Equality

• On Aug. 1, Uganda struck down its draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act, which made some homosexual acts punishable by life in prison. Awesome step, but rather limited in its scope of the entire rest of the world. I'm all for striking it down, but really that isn't helping gay men and women in, say, Georgia. Therefore...  NOT A REASON.

• The United Nations announced last month that it will recognize same-sex marriage of all employees, regardless of whether their home country outlaws it. Again, great. Necessary. Helpful. Is the couple still going to get killed in their home country? A step in the right direction, but ... NOT A REASON.

• In the past 10 years, 21 states and the District of Columbia have recognized same-sex marriage. A GREAT step in the right direction. 110% behind all 50 states getting there. LGBT is suffering blows left and right under Republican governors, making one step forward and 10 steps back. NOT A REASON. Not even close. Yes, it's great. Then it's horrible as other bad laws come around and are celebrated by masses.

Programs To End Poverty Are Working

• Using the World Bank's classification of low-income countries, philanthropist and billionaire Bill Gates wrote in his foundation's annual newsletter that "by 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world." This is almost too pathetic to argue. But here goes. 1) Reclassifying what constitutes poverty doesn't make it go away, just makes it seem OK. 2) Wealth will never be evenly distributed. 3) Countries don't mean people. The US is not a poor country but look how many people are POOR. 4) And really read this one: by 2030, things will BE so screwed that this will have been a long-gone joke. Is Mr. Gates taking anything climate-related, population related, into account? Doubt it. NOT A REASON.

• The U.S. food stamp program isn't just working -- it's helping millions. According to a recent article in the New Republic, "program benefits improve the long-term health outcomes of children" and "reduce the number of households with children in the U.S. living in extreme poverty by about half." Wow, these really are some pollyanna blatherings. Does it bring them out of poverty, or just "extreme" poverty? Is it doing anything to help curb population? Another good thing that helps, but - say it with me - NOT A REASON.

Protecting The Environment Is Increasingly Popular

This one's really funny.

• The Philippines is hopping on the electric vehicle bandwagon -- or in this case, the electric taxi tricycle. In an effort to reduce urban pollution, the country has invested in 100,000 electric-powered tricycles that will be rolled out in 2016, according to Fast Company. Great. By 2016, how much irreparable damage will have been done by the CO2 spewing in the meantime? Answer: lots, here we are. Still heating. Where are they getting the power for the electric tricycles? Fossil or solar? NOT A REASON.

• If you haven't heard of Tesla yet, it's time to get up to speed. The electric car company is proving that a green business isn't just possible, it's hugely profitable and has the potential to disrupt and transform the gas-guzzling auto industry. Tesla's great. Elon Musk is the best. They are rolling out less expensive cars really soon. In the meantime, all those of us who can go get that $80,000 car ... "Has the potential." How much damage until that's a reality? How many people are using fossil fuels to power their electric cars? NOT A REASON. Good stuff, but not a reason. 

• Indigenous farmers in Peru are banding together to fight climate change and diversify their agricultural output by saving and exchanging seeds. Their hope is that by collaborating, they can identify the strongest and most resilient crop varieties and encourage biodiversity throughout the country. Good. Seeds. In Peru. A hope. That'll show Monsanto. Oh wait, no it won't. NOT A REASON.

Women's Rights Are Improving

• As of July 2014, Saudi Arabian women can vote and run in municipal elections. This means they'll be able to vote in the upcoming elections in 2015. Uh huh, but are they allowed to drive yet, or ride a bicycle, or walk alone, or talk to a man without being stoned? No? That will come now? When? How many die first? Nothing has really changed. NOT A REASON.

• Egypt criminalized sexual harassment last month with a law that can send offenders to jail for up to five years. And just last week, a group of dozens of civilians took to the streets to raise awareness about street harassment and violence against women. Band-aid. A small help that would take a long time to help anything. A step, but NOT A REASON.

• On Aug. 1, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees held the first international convention to address gender-based persecution. Women can now seek asylum due to gender-based violence. Yes, because of course these women have recourse to flee. Seconds before they are killed. Asylum's great after you have been raped and beaten to death. This will really help. One country's violence is another country's social norm. Stretch, and definitely NOT A REASON.

Biggest not-a-reason? Look at the attacks on women's health happening right now in many states, clinics closing, still no equal pay. We're actually going backwards. 

New Technologies Are Enhancing People's Lives

• War victims in Sudan are getting help from a Los Angeles company that is using 3-D printers to create low-cost prosthetic limbs. But the war will still go on, and people will still suffer, and we don't have prosthetic lives. NOT A REASON.

• People in Zambia who have cellphones but no Internet connection will now be able to access health and education services online, thanks to an app recently rolled out by Facebook. The company says it plans to expand the program into other countries as well. Um. They'll still be subject to drought, starvation, war, etc, but darn it they'll have an app. NOT A REASON.

• Researchers at the MIT Media Lab are working on a device called the "FingerReader," which scans written text for the visually impaired and reads it aloud. According to its creators, the device "could help the visually impaired read everything from books to restaurant menus to important forms at doctor’s offices, and thus increase a visually impaired person’s self-sufficiency." Now that's really cool. Not quite sure how it keeps us from being screwed, though. Stretch! NOT A REASON.

Everyday People Are Coming Up With Innovative Solutions To Complicated Problems

• Four MBA students from McGill University in Canada might have come up with an unexpected cure for world hunger: insect farming. The students are testing their concept in a pilot program in Ghana, where they're teaching rural farmers how to breed tiny bugs called palm weevils. That's great, until palm weevils kill all the real food around because they weren't supposed to be there. And looking for little fixes that might not even work is simply hitting symptoms while not curing the disease - NOT A REASON.

• An Indian man named Mansukh Prajapati has designed a new fridge that stays cool without electricity. The fridge costs about $50 and could be a game-changer for the environment and communities lacking electricity. Do these communities even have enough food? Water? Hm. Let's give them solar powered microwaves too so they can re-heat their leftovers. That they don't have. Because they have no food. Or water. NOT A REASON.

• In Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has been called "the rape capital of the world," one group of women is taking their lives into their own hands. They've trained as mechanics and started an auto body shop -- lifting themselves out of poverty and empowering themselves along the way. Now this is promising. I like this one. Women taking over is a cool thing. I looked up Goma. Goma is pretty farkin' screwed. This would be great if it can spread to other regions, but Goma is threatened daily by war, volcanoes, earthquakes, and deadly lakes that are erupting methane. Are we discussing that? Gomo is referred to as "The Rape Capital of the World." It would take one visit from the Boko Haram and they would all be gone. Don't even try to float this one. NOT A REASON.

Now, I may seem harshly and unjustly cynical with this whole thing. Good things happen all the time, and even though they are small, they all help, right? Sure. Except all these little things cannot possibly be stacked up against what is happening with the climate. What good are electric tricycles if the island is swallowed by rising ocean waters? What part of this addresses drought? Flooding? Antibiotic-resistant superbugs? Disappearing bees? No part addresses that. Yes, good things are happening here and there, but let's not get all shiny and happy. Not to mention so many of these little blurbs are filled with "might" and "could" and "hope." Way too many for my taste. Very few realities here. The reality is, we are pretty screwed, and we better figure that out pretty damn fast. We're running out of time. I am not the only one sounding this alarm, but then again, they don't write shiny happy articles about that. Wake up. These are great occurrences, but they are not reasons why we are not screwed. We're still screwed. Enjoy and spread fun news items, but do not claim that everything's fine. Sorry, Carina, the sky is falling, and the world is falling apart. Thanks for trying, though.