What We Have Become

In a very cleaver picture essay, this artist demonstrates with quick wit what we have become.  Attached to all things electronic!  

A few days ago I did a presentation to a 3rd grade class on forestry and what foresters do.  Of course, like anyone in this field, I got into forestry because I loved being outside, but I finished my photo presentation with a picture of my desk, because, like everyone else, that is where I spend most of my time.

We have become complicated by the cables.

All those lines of wire are symbolic, of course, of the fact that we really are no longer an economy or culture that actually produces something tangible.  We produce ideas, concepts, but nothing that we can stick into a container and ship overseas, load onto a truck, or even sell at the local market (as much as we talk local produce, really, most local is miles away from where you are shopping with your chic canvas bag).

Yesterday I heard, again, the number that just sends chills through me.  Over 80% of our economy is based on consumer spending.  Much if not all of what we spend money on is not produced here in the United States.

When I was talking to the 3rd graders I realized that very few of them knew paper came from forests.  They didn't mention logging when I asked them what happened in forests.  It's simply not "politically correct" to talk about manufacturing or producing anything other than locally grown lettuce.  Growing lettuce at a scale of selling it at the local Sunday market can not sustain a family.  We simply must figure out how to create middle class jobs with healthy wages.  This will and must include manufacturing things.  Using our resources.  Learning to live simply.

Unwinding this mess will be as tricky and frustrating as untangling all the cables underneath my desk.