resisting destruction
As an American male, having been raised in the pseudo-Southern culture, having a childhood of video games involving fighting or death, having the subliminal messages of female inferiority sent to me from numerous outlets, and with a mind to realize what environment I’ve truly been raised to encourage and support, the fascination with destruction is hard to resist. Even when it masked under the pretense of “engineering discovery”, destruction encourages a strange, testosterone-linked high which has cultural ramifications.
Though I would have been complacent with taking apart an electronic device when I was a kid, just to see what was inside, in recent years the act is not complete until I can reassemble the pieces into a working whole. That may sound rather insignificant, but consider the subversive indoctrination, from childbirth, that American males receive regarding the wonders of explosions and tearing things apart and it may be clear that I am now casting off the instinctive mode for destruction and am pursuing something more enlightening.
And what an intro that was. Taking all of the components off of a bike is amazing; but, it remains a mess until you get it all back on and Newton-metered correctly. Then, you need to make sure nothing - absolutely nothing - is amiss, otherwise you’re in for an unsafe ride. The task of rebuilding is more complicated in other areas of our lives, but it is worth the effort. Allowing nuts & bolts and cogs & gears to sit in a heap is prime for dust to collect and good intentions to turn sour.
American has a few rebuilding projects to get moving: New Orleans; a new presidency, to name just two. Having the capacity to create is something that most bureaucracies are lacking. Creation and production happens on smaller scales - decision-making is not effectively accomplished by the mob or by large-organized endeavors which naturally tow around vested interests. Those that can magnify the plans that work well on small scales, or for individual users, into the realm of the people are a scarce bunch. Technology companies seem to have the greatest success of turning small-scale ideas, concepts that work well for a few people, and resulting in production that benefits most everyone. A congressional group has little hope; they’re likely to tear apart the bike in hopes of finding the cure, throw away the bike, and tax citizens for a new and better one.
The TED Talks this week that have absolutely blown me away are both about building. Tearing apart is dated, our society has reached the point where consumption is no longer viable, and clever production and ideas are required for any sort of sustainability. Not only are these 2 TED Talks great, but they are in my personal top 3 favorites. Watch & Learn.
January 27th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
“…our society has reached the point where consumption is no longer viable, and clever production and ideas are required for any sort of sustainability.”
The sad part of that statement is that consumption has been the basis of our economy for at least the last 40 years. This country has abandoned the idea of self-sufficiency and we import just about everything relying on cheap foreign labor and low fuel prices. Ours is essentially an economy of middlemen. I suppose through the 80’s the Cold war always kept the idea that disaster could occur any day in the back of everyone’s heads but since then we as a nation grew complacent, and even 911 only seemed to faze people for a short time (add that to the list of yet unfinished rebuilding tasks). Energy is our Achilles heel and I wonder if oil supplies were disrupted or if a catastrophe affected a substantial portion of our power grid if we as a nation would even be able to feed ourselves.
Sticking with the bike anaogies we’ve turned into a track bike. No gears, and no brakes, and not so good off road where things get rough… Were at VO2 max and the best the government can come up with is to pedal harder.
I’ll have to check out those two presentations tomorrow, sounds interesting!
January 28th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
that’s a metaphor worthy of an award.
although, i’m far more partial to track bikes and the simplicity they offer - even though it’s incredibly unsafe as a commuter, i have this deep respect for people who ride tracks around here with finesse.
but, great metaphor.