I guess I'm really only thinking about one variety of human greed, which makes that title a bit of a misnomer, but what the heck, it's my blog. I was thinking about this while blow drying my hair just now.

So, it's starts with the idea of the nitty gritty of everyday life. Described variously by authors throughout our history as the machine, the weary procession of the mundane, the dirty details, and so forth, it's really what drags us all down; that procession of bills, housing, the need for subsistence, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning ourselves and our surroundings, turning hard bought food into a meal then into waste, bureaucracy, taxes, health care, auto maintenance - all those things none of us would mention when asked what we do, even though they absorb the bulk of our material and ephemeral resources.

The point: we all (gross generalization, but what do you want? maybe some of us really just want bunnies instead. that's okay.) want to be free of these things. This, we think, would enable us to devote ourselves wholly to our 'true passions,' 'callings,' destinies,' and whatever other lofty bullshit we'd like to claim. Hence, greed.

How does that work? Because if we only had just a bit (slash boatload) more money, then we wouldn't have to spend so much time worrying about these things. We could eat out, hire someone, buy the perfect product to deal with whatever - if only we had a bit more... The real problem here I reckon, is how this can twist even generally non-materially oriented people into greed. Read: I want to save the world! If only I didn't have to work to pay my hydro bill, I could finally (feed starving orphans, reform the WTO, end the arms race, save fluffy seals, whatev.) Well, I guess that means I need more money... Sad, really.

Personally, I say no. It's not that I think I begrudge the muck of daily life any less than anyone else, but I have come to think that there is something noble in paper work, bowels, chopping vegetables. These are the collective human experience. They are what a human life is really composed of and what we as people do! To strive beyond the confines of one's life is surely human, but to actually be able to do so is a luxury. Repeat LUXURY. To think of it otherwise cheapens the fragile nobility of the day-to-day existence of us wee Homo Sapiens.

Strive for art, but don't overlook the joy of a meal cooked with love (or chillies). Aim to elevate the discourse, but don't forget the beauty of just being able to speak. Life is what we do.

...back to attacking the soggy hair.

So here is the latest on the whole career-building front: it actually seems to be working. Starting at the end of next month, I will have an actual course - English 11, at one of the biggest schools in the system. It's a nine week version of what would usually be a much longer course (a year in high school or 4 yo 6 months in adult ed.) so it is a lot of hours a week and will be a bit crazy, but hey, it'll be mine! And English 11 is a great course to teach too - senior level academic sans the dreaded provincial exam.

happy happy happy happy....

Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'll make it more obvious that I care about global warming, since I know that's what we're all supposed to be passionately invested in at the moment. And I truly am concerned about global warming, deeply concerned. It's just that I'm not deluded about it.

We are, without question, changing earth's climate. Some places are about to get pretty toasty while others confuse those on the knowledge periphery by actually getting a heck of a lot colder. Ocean ice is melting en masse, which will result in rising sea levels - a major issue for a species that has, throughout history, done it's best to build all major settlements right around sea level (that'd be us). But see, there's the issue. I am concerned about global warming, but my concern contains not a single grain of world-saving complex. Yes, we do need to do our best to mitigate the already alarming impact we have had on the environment, but not because this indifferent planet really gives a shit.

Ultimately, my environmentalism is a direct result of my humanism. What I care about is not hoisting needless suffering upon my fellow man, and thus I seek to minimize my footprint, to live lightly on this earth. If there's one thing I don't doubt, it's that global warming could lead to incredible human suffering as we drown, starve, freeze, and suffer all kinds of worse fates we haven't even imagined yet. The earth, on the other hand, will be fine. That's what mechanisms like global warming are for - causing a massive global shift so that any established damaging patterns (or really particularly nasty one-offs) are disrupted and the planet can slowly creep back towards equilibrium. If we humans push things too far, this little blue marble will pretty much rub us off its skin and go on. Once most of us are wiped out by flooding and associated catastrophes and the few who remain have no choice but to devote their every waking minute to subsistence, humans will essentially stop being a threat and the earth will do just as it has after countless ice ages, warming periods, meteor impacts, eruptions, and nameless other massive disruptions: slowly return to normal.

In short, I say f*ck this world saving crap. The world isn't particularly interested in being saved by the likes of us - a mere species - anyways. Our job, our most important and noble job, is as it has always been: to save ourselves. Let us re instill with honour the notion of saving ourselves and our fellows. As a species, that ought to be our most consuming concern, what we strive to do with each waking hour. Save the humans, and toil not in the service of this indifferent little earth, for surely it will shake us off like so many water droplets from a wet hound should the need arise. If you ask me, environmentalism is the ultimate humanitarian project, as it strives to prevent great calamities from befalling this peculiar species of squishy hairless apes. And the calamities brought on by global warming my be the greatest challenge to human survival yet.

Okay, now you can start disagreeing.