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| I've been hearing a lot about globalization lately, complaining from aware or psuedo-aware peers about Western corporations and free trade and sweatshops and all that "evil" stuff, and it scares me that so many look at these modern anti-globalization advocates with indifference or worse, sympathy. I personally look at them with genuine fear. "In 1993, child workeres in Bangladesh were found to be producing clothing for Wal-Mart and Senator Tom Harkin proposed legislation banning imports from countries employing underage workeres. The direct result was that Bangladeshi textile factories stopped employing children. But did the children go back to school? Did they return to happy homes? Not according to Oxfam, which found that the displaced child workers ended up in even worse jobs, or on the streets - and that a significant number were forced into prostitution." Freedom from the almighty dollar is slavery to the almighty gun. I know I've made my thoughts on this quite clear - but this news clip is just so eloquent I needed to point it out. Good premises. | | |
| Lots of good things are happening. | | |
| As someone who really has two brothers from another mother, I find the phrase offensive.
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| I just had an exciting idea. The next time I cut my hair (which I always let grow very long for six months before buzzing it and repeating) I am going to dress up in camouflage. I am going to stand at a particular spot, in a book store downtown with a huge window that has an amazing view of Toronto's skyline behind it. I'm going to stand there, with a book in my hand like one would hold a rifle, and have a friend take pictures at a few angels. I'm then going to use my favorite as my profile picture on several websites.
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| Humor is no proper crutch. I don't allow myself to evade emotional turmoil via laughter. However, as a reward for withstanding it afterwards, to celebrate your hard-earned lightheartedness, it is fantastic. But that is the complex, controversial subject matter of a future essay, so for now entertain yourself with an excerpt of one my recent celebrations.
"Oh, dear brother, did the light from my laptop wake you from your sleep in the living room? At this late hour? I apologize; that is most unfortunate. If only there were some sort of room designed specifically for sleeping and being, if necessary, alone, where you could escape such problems. A sort of room with a bed, centered around that bed specifically, a 'room of bed' if you will. If only you had such a place, you would not need to experience my inconsiderate laptop usage."
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Blog number two.
I think people today tend to be too ready to evaluate eachother's apperance. There is a lot of philosphy behind that, substitute the perceptual for the conceptual, superficial tribalism, etc. but I don't want to demonstrate all that so much as provide food for thought, and give this food a special twist. I don't think this only applies to criticism. I think people tend to compliment the apperance of others too readily as well. It's as though commentary about the apperance of others is no longer about their apperance, but instead a substitute for what you really think about them personally, which you're unable to justify or explain. I was the shortest kid in my class for several years through elementary school, and I'm not exactly traumatized, but the issue of height is familiar to me. I'm 5 - 9.5 now, exactly, no shoes; I looked it up and that is precisely average for a fully developed North American male, to the decimal point (I've written about this before, yeah, it's on my mind). I know this because my past height issues made me want to confirm I no longer have anything to worry about. It also put me in a position where I have been called short and tall by someone else looking at me. Yes, in the past year or so, interchangably, I have been called tall AND short by people casually describing me. What the hell does that say other than people are describing eachother based on what they want them to be. No, it wasn't always to gush or to be malicious, but something non-sensical is surely going on. (Er, remember I don't mean people have called me both. I mean different people have called me one or the other, each roughly the same number of times.)
Oh, I'm writing long philosophy essays again. Coming soon to a different site near you. And maybe I'll write about my personal life on here again sometime. See yah.
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