Two Hundred Eighty-Five

Posted on October 12, 2015 by John Swinburn

We could do worse than live our lives as scavengers, seekers of the used and discarded. By giving new life to the the too-early-abandoned outcasts deemed by others wrung of practical value, we enrich our lives and give the planet on which we live time to breathe. I rarely buy new clothes any more; not because I can’t, but because I find distasteful the idea of feeding the greed of the clothing and fashion industries.  The fact that I am denying those same greed-mongers the opportunity to sell me something produced by people paid immorally low wages is icing on the proverbial cake. Thinking of scavenging and immorality harkens me back to a book I read a few years ago, Beyond the Beautiful Forevers. It was a painful but beautifully told novel, a story of a young man who lived in a slum in the shadows of Mumbai airport; he survived by recycling the discards of people far more wealthy than he. I hold such people in high regard; people who laugh at and heap scorn on such people are beneath dignity. My “scavenging” is nothing compared to people who must do it or die. We should all be more like those people.

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes
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2 Responses to Two Hundred Eighty-Five

  1. I think. I write. I wish. I wander. says:
    October 13, 2015 at 6:28 am

    I checked into this film; it looks like it tells the story of an economy gone off the rails, guided by bastards who deserve to be victimized by their own self-satisfied greed. I wouldn’t call them scavengers, though; I’d call them swindlers and thieves.

  2. jserolf says:
    October 12, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    Check out Bahrani’s “99 Homes,” but then maybe not. The first 30 minutes of the film caused me real anxiety over people being thrown out of their foreclosed homes — all taking place in Orlando, Florida, but then, this is Bahrani who I’ve been watching since his films “Man Pushcart” and “Goodbye Solo.”

    “99 Homes” is like Stone’s “Wall Street,” another morality story, complete with some memorable lines similar to “Greed is good.” Michael Shannon is awesome.

    Greed seems to be fashion for films these days. Unlike “Wolf of Wallstreet,” this movie strikes close to home, as it involves the victimization of common folk.

    Lots of different scavengers, good and bad.

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