Pensions for your Thoughts

Somewhere between Arab Spring and feminist tween blogging sensations, Canada became almost unrecognizable. It is much easier to pass off any critiques of social media and the internet as the older generations’ melodramatic inability to understand than anything of any value. In fact, it’s just as easy as implying a huge shift to more conservative government has anything to do with a party or a person. Both are cop outs. As someone who owns too many iThings and who has blogged since the dawn of my sixteen year old self owning laptop, I spend my time explaining the virtues of being constantly connected to people who still think dial up is a “thing.” I feel like a globalization crusader as I shatter fear mongering news’ myths that your browser is a drug that makes girls send stupid sexual pictures by mentioning tweeting the Revolution! We were all Troy Davis! You don’t have to buy that whole CD! Kony was good until it wasn’t! & man, anyone can write a dissertation referencing Descartes because there’s Wikipedia pages on both. But then I see Tumblr heroes reblogging a Times article critiquing the new female ideals while referencing eight great works of literature (at least one Plath or it doesn’t count) who can barely tell me the name of the riding they live in and I start to think something happened wrong.

For all of our trending topics to quash homophobia overseas & rubber bracelets buying generic drugs for countries that I have to look up to make sure I’m pronouncing their names correctly (I swear I knew it! I just wanted to make sure... I swear!) I can’t help but feel like none of us have any clue what what what is happening beneath our feet. Sure, we hear about big things like ABORTION and MONEYS? and someone’s rights are being violated somewhere. But then it doesn’t make sense that certain people at the airport are on strike and others aren’t. What do Members of Parliament actually do besides stand and vote but what’s the point if there’s a majority government? The economy hasn’t rebounded yet, which is probably bad, but in the mean time we’ll all buy our reusable bags at small businesses and hopefully everything will be okay eventually kind of maybe for sure.

Almost nothing at home is getting better. In fact, it is getting much worse. No one is debating that I will not have all of the programs, opportunities, and wealth that my parents had. I support those who strike while being fully aware that unionised jobs will likely not be available for me. My fate is decided by voters four times my age who will likely die before I have kids that I won’t be able to access affordable, quality childcare for because it’s easier for  us to get wrapped up in small moral debates than big questions about what the heck is happening right now. And somehow we think society has become more democratic.

I was able to watch leadership conventions and budgets on a television that cost one tenth of what my grandparents paid for theirs in 1990 but is at least four times bigger and infinitely higher quality. During said events, I knew all of the hash tags to get my voice heard, to contribute to a bigger conversation, to feel like I was part of a community. Uncensored, I shrieked happily and snarked angrily at any given minute in an attempt to amplify my ideas that I was just so so certain would change the world. As a planet, we shared our messages for progress. Democracy? Then why does the future feel so abysmal? And why doesn’t anyone vote? Forty people liked my status about justice and nothing happened.

Our progress is products. We are sold the idea of democracy in the same way that we are sold the same gadgets as celebrities. We are having a conversation that many politicians are ‘engaging in’, but not really listening to. Is this a glitch caused by a generational gap or a facade of free speech? My social media remains intact for the moment, but I still can't help but feel like my country just traded my rights for a phone that won't be cool next year to espouse opinions that won't bring our generation to action. I gained the ability to tell everyone why I think my pension should be protected, but no one can protect my pension.

Everything’s just so fast, and not in the charming cigarettes on motocycles with boys in leather of the 50s. National press and the internet acted as a road block to politicians telling different lies on different coasts, but now it seems half of the vast expanse of the country believes them instead. News stories expand and collapse in a day; there are too many details to ever know all of them. Keeping up is difficult when somewhere in Africa is always hungry. Somehow, faraway lands with crippling multidimensional problems almost seem easier. A lot of us have enough to eat, so we know it can be done. But what of our dying manufacturing sector and the inequality of provincially funded education? Too much for now. Too big and close that it’s so small.

I do see a refocusing on community, even as the definition of the word changes. I benefit from regularly having the principles I hold in my heart challenged by uncaring strangers. Whether I’ll vote will never be a question for me, but how will we vote in the future? And will it even matter if we are content to complain about what is happening around us?        

Self expression has become both the most important right but also the biggest luxury. Although our conversations need to be heard, yelling them into a dead line is certainly not effective. I am still the person who started this post; indeed, look at the medium I choose. Still agreeing with Ms. Mead, I will never cease to believe that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world, but I think we need to take a little more time to try to decide what change means. 

To the Activists who "Never Made a Difference",

You've heard more than enough about Kony 2012, but have you?

This is a shout out from that suburban kid who used her new laptop to make organize a walk to raise awareness in Darfur. You could call me a hyper hypocrite, living in luxury and using activism as an activity, but I honestly believed that I was making a difference, and I still do. Is that okay?


We can go post post post modern modern on this and look at white kids thinking they can change Africa through any degree of gaze, but we learned this at our universities that admit those who have the cash to pay. Inequality is everywhere, & although the idea that a bake sale can drastically effect political situations is laughably naive, a critical analysis should not be turned off when convenient.


There are no ethical electronics. The iPad that I use was put together by people who are fighting for such basic freedoms as not having their fingers brutally mangled by chemicals & I can assure you whatever device you are using is no better. The food we eat is trademarked & at the expense of others. The fair trade coffee you buy is expensive mostly because of the branding surrounding it, and there are hungry people outside the cafe that you ignore. Although body wash made in foreign countries supports disadvantaged women, there is nothing ethical about the level of consumption we're driven to.


There are critics. Everyone has links insisting they're right. But honestly, most of us can't prove Uganda even exists. We can point at a map, but maps are paper. If everyone knows everything then we all know nothing. If we can all negate each other then we don't deserve the knowledge we're given; then a map is just paper. How many of our feet have touched Uganda's soil? At what point is this not about Uganda anymore?


White & privileged & living in Canada, at seventeen  I never meant to patronize anyone with my passion. I just care so much. So much. I care so much, okay? In my country, as children, we are told we can do anything, yet the same shame us when we try. To be critical you do not have to criticize. Arrogance is certainly not a virtue, but it cannot be disestablished with more. We can do anything if we put our mind to it. We can do anything if we put our mind to it. There are enough veterans standing on street corners to denounce this beautiful lie, but you can't blame my generation for believing it for a while. Some choose to take this lie to business where they hope to make fortunes & usually fail, but society is harshest on the suburban idiots who dare to think that they can make a difference in the world while wearing American Apparel.

Asking politicians to come to my silly little walk taught me how to demand what I wanted of grown ups. And someday I will change the world.

You want to know where rape is being used as a weapon? Everywhere. In every goddamn country on this planet rape is happening, and to pretend that it can ever be anything other than a weapon is ignorant. No out of date videos, no political tie ins, no worrying about different cultures. In an effort to be progressive, we "see both sides" of the debate and sympathize those who victimize others. Calling someone a slut is okay if it's political. We can say women are equal because they don't have to cook all of the meals. Rape is being used as a weapon everywhere, and we accept it as inevitable.

That's what should be criticized.

Please note: I am not speaking out in favour or against Kony 2012. I think many valid critiques have been made of Invisible Children. This post is not meant to support them. I just think we all need a swift kick to the heart sometimes. Happy International Women's Day.

Renata Salecl on choice.
An organization I regard highly.

Broke as a Joke: & Eating well anyway

Somewhere between minimum wage and the inordinate price of text books we will barely use for some semester we find the time to care about making life beautiful. I’ve received more e-mails than you would expect about trying to find a blazer that fits in at the office without that awful soul sucking feeling, or that delightful first apartment with a slight mould problem, or how to get accepted to dream school in Europe and eating croissants while falling in love! (swoon) ... while on a budget.

The Internet is dream world, and after all of the sponsored posts and blogger gifts and photoshop it can be hard to tell if anyone online is actually real.  Although I’m very fortunate in many ways, I’ve been through some pretty lean times. I managed to learn a thing or two about making the most of your last five dollar bill, whether it’s on food or eventually furnishing a house or joining a gym. I hope this series will make staring at a wall of prices a little less daunting, & I promise I won’ t just spout off “DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS THING CALLED VINTAGE?” before recommending a two hundred dollar antique coffee table. But hey, we can dream about that two hundred dollar antique coffee table. & that’s what this is all about.

***

Listen, it’s okay. I used to eat like crap too.

I still do sometimes. I will not pretend that plate overflowing with garlic fingers in meal hall yesterday wasn’t mine, but sometimes is the key. So many students take their average waistline as a sign that they can starve then cheeseburger, then starve again. It’s easy to give up and attribute student living to eating Kraft Dinner for the sixth day in a row. But it seems to be just another excuse. I’ve been seeing people with full time jobs and full time fast food addictions and I’m calling an intervention. A bucket of chicken is okay sometimes, but if I hear “It doesn’t even taste good, it’s just easy” one more time I just might start hucking drumsticks at people.

It’s not bad that family dynamics are changing, but it presents a new set of problems. With mothers at work, the people you might typically pick up a cooking tip or two from are just a little less present. On the bright side, chores like making dinner are defying gender boundaries, but we’re all just SOOO busy! We think.

I didn’t really know how to cook. I made butter chicken every night. I hated most vegetables. There is time to change! & it’s absolutely not more expensive, so stop using that as an excuse. With a 70$ budget for two people, my amateur chef boyfriend has been able to completely transform our eating habits. I’m not flush with cash and pushing expensive rare berries, nor am I a twig with a ponytail insisting your life isn’t complete without special juice & yoga. Nope, I’m just a guilt tripping twenty one with old with a mothering complex & a less than stellar bod who’s questioned why toilet paper is so damn expensive too. Yea. So let’s begin, shall we?

-Don’t base your groceries around carb based products. We’re talking less, not none. I’m not some Atkins devotee! Bread and other staples are fine, but they can get expensive for the amount that they fill you. Chances are if you are out & picking something up quickly, it will be a bagel or other carbs, so you’ll get your food group recommended amount of grains incidentally. 

-You can’t buy the same food every week because the same food isn’t on sale every week. There are three things I get every week: milk, bananas, & a special yogurt. Everything else depends entirely on mark downs. Something from every section will be on sale so you can always, always rely on fliers.

-If something’s marked down, check similar products. Salmon went down to 3$ a serving the other day, but that meant that the already prepared salmon in the next case was even cheaper.

-Vegetables are cheap, and I’m tired of hearing they aren’t. Put things into perspective: an average sized green pepper is about 1.35$, and that’s one of the most expensive veggies that I get every week. Your coffee costs more, and you’ll get multiple meals out of a green pepper unless you eat them raw & whole (...like I do. What?! Yea.)

-It’s not a sale if you don’t like it/won’t eat it. Cheap bologna that will never appeal to you will just sit in your cupboard and mould. Or maybe it won’t. ...Scary.

 -Take advantage of bulk bins to get smaller portions. I get one dollar’s worth of basmati rice every other week.

-If you think you need a lot of dairy, grains, or meat to feel full, it’s just your body adapting to what you’ve given it. I eat all of these things, but usually only every other day. Partly because it’s healthier, but also partly because they are all sooooo expensive for what they give you. Legumes, on the other hand, make you feel like you could kick ass all day & then some.

-Extras aren’t always extra: If it takes a 2$ bag of brown sugar to make sprinkle on a 15 cent portion of oatmeal every morning, so be it!

-Fresh ginger, garlic, onions, and lemons are all perfect bases for just about any meat (yes, I’ve made lemony steak before) or stir-fry and offer so much more depth of flavour than their dried out/powdery alternative. When you get really good, you can even mix them! Besides, all together they add up to less than 4$.

-Spending 70$ at the checkout may sting, but the average fast food meal costs 10$ with taxes & everything included. 70$ can feed two people for a week. 1/7^th of that on fast food will feed one person one meal. How’s that for some perspective?

-Anything bagged and boxed will not be as good as what you pick out yourself. Bags of apples usually hide less savory looking ones inside, pre-made chicken is usually twice the price for something frozen & sprinkled with “Mediterranean” powder (what the heck?), and who really needs to eat crackers anyways? Seriously? What are crackers? Useless. USELESS.

-Farmer’s markets are not always more expensive, but can require a bit more planning. Just make a morning date out of it and get there early.

 -Read. Seriously. It’s so easy. Between cookbooks and websites and apps, there is no shortage of easy to understand recipes. Cooking can be challenging, but does become enjoyable once you know what you are doing. Falling off your bicycle was no treat at the beginning either, but .. well... I’m terrified to ride my bicycle in the city, but I imagine it’s rewarding? You can’t make too many mistakes, and that’s okay. Don’t be afraid to look up terms; no one is looking at your browser history and will judge you for not knowing what “mince” means.*

*(Except Vic Toews. Hi!)