During a fairly brief period twenty to thirty years ago…or thereabouts…residential trash compactors were much more popular than they are today. I am unaware that anyone I know uses—much less owns—a trash compactor today. But I checked. The machines are still manufactured and marketed, albeit not as aggressively as during their heyday. According to various online sources, the appeal of those kitchen appliances declined in the face of the sustained surge of recycling. Others assert their loss of popularity is due to the fact (or assertion) that the demand for the products was created artificially…and when the marketing that created the demand waned, so did the demand itself. There are other explanations for the creeping disappearance of the machines in modern kitchens. I suspect that many of the suggested reasons played a part. Personally, I do not think there was ever much of a “need” for trash compactors in the home. But that’s true of so many things scattered around our houses and our lives. “Need,” though, is seldom the justification for purchases for the home; “want” is the culprit that more frequently drives our purchase decisions. Yet we avoid recognizing the close relationship between want and greed; we tend to equate want with need. I am among the throngs of those who are guilty of using those facts to justify purchases that are otherwise indefensible. Without unnecessary spending, we’re told, the global economy would collapse into rubble and societies and cultures soon would follow. In other words, greed provides the fuel necessary to power the world’s economic engine. But is that true? Might meeting simple demand (and filling that “need”), be enough to keep a more sustainable form of economy alive, absent such heavy reliance on “want”?
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Yesterday, one of my brothers sent me an email pointing out Joseph Priestley’s role in the Unitarian religion. That message prompted me to refresh my memory of Priestley’s several contributions to our understanding, today, of the world around us. For example, I had forgotten (if I had ever really known) that Priestley discovered oxygen (which he initially called “dephlogisticated air”). And he discovered a method of producing carbonated water. I was familiar, to a limited extent, with his role in the evolution of Unitarianism (belief in a single, unified God, versus the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Once I began searching for more details about Priestley and his contributions to philosophy, science, and religion, I found it hard to extract myself from the rabbit hole I entered. An endless series of tunnels filled with bits and pieces of information about an historical figure I has spent almost no time learning about…until then. Such a small nudge, yet enough to send me on an hours-long expedition into a subject that had been of relatively little interest in the past. Intriguing how the mind works.
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In a way similar to how the military addressed the “Indian problem” in the 19th century and Sherman’s scorched earth policy in his March to the Sea during the Civil War served his intentions, today’s powers-that-be could address the “undocumented migrant problem.” In the 19th century, the military killed buffaloes as a means of starving native peoples into submission. That was Sherman’s plan, as well; to burn crops and destroy civilian and industrial property to force surrender. Today’s forces of evil could follow the same concept; torch the fields the migrants (and the rest of us) depend on for income and food on the table. If it worked, the migrant field-workers would flee and, unfortunately, much of this country’s population might starve. What’s one sad side-effect when such an unconscionable act could quickly achieve such a brutal, inhuman objective? Our ancestors and current administration leaders seem to share almost unthinkable depths of immorality and unadulterated depravity. I almost feel guilty for wishing the perpetrators of today’s heinous cruelty could be used…oh, never mind.
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My appointment for today’s chemo was moved from the morning to the afternoon; delivery of the necessary chemotherapy drugs has been delayed until just before noon. I hope this round of treatment will include steroids that will keep me from feeling the effects of chemo for a day or two (or more…?). My oncologist will no doubt want to hear details of my derailed treatment at M.D. Anderson; I would rather simply give her direct access to my medical records at MDA…I think I may be able to do just that. We shall see.
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There is so much on my mind this morning…I could spend days transferring all of it to the screen, but that would be a largely pointless endeavor. I would rather simply erase the more unpleasant thoughts and replace them with more appealing ideas. One day, that capability will be available to humans. If the species lasts that long. I would be happy, though, with a Cliff Notes version of the Encyclopedia of Troublesome Thoughts.
