I watched Fast Food Nation today. I gotta say, I'm glad that I haven't had beef in two years, and at this point I doubt I ever will again. I'm generally not interested in eating mammals as it is, but even though I know the movie is fictionalized to some degree, I'm still pretty disgusted by the process of beef production. While I'm OK with the whole circle of life thing, it just such an inefficient way to make food.
Great movie, by the way. Pretty huge cast with a lot of big names. How funny that the little girl from the TV show Growing Pains is in it. Also didn't expect Bruce Willis, Avril Lavigne, Ethan Hawke, and others.
When I was in college, I used to be really passionate about a lot of things. At the time, AIDS awareness was high on the list. (For the record, in terms of sheer numbers, it's low on the list of horrible things here in the US, but still catastrophic in Africa.) Being a tree hugger was something I always did to some degree, and I'm feeling more intense about it again. I used to speak out about racism, and that's sadly coming back, only now it's hate toward people from the Middle East.
I read an article somewhere recently about the stages of life one goes through in terms of how they live and what they feel, focusing on professionals that do well financially. While I'm not there yet in the financial part (though I'm pleased about the general direction), it said that the truly well-adjusted people enter a new period of philanthropy and activism in their late 40's. Well I think I'm entering that period of time in my early 30's, and I like how it feels.
I'd like to think that if I am getting that itch again, that at least this time I get the world at least a little more. If I were to go back and read my college newspaper columns, they were ridiculously idealistic, to say the least. I don't think that's bad, but I know my approach was confrontational, which certainly doesn't sway anyone to your way of thinking.
I dunno, I just remember how good it felt to really, really care about something. I have a new sense of vigor about having some kind of impact on the world. It's a feeling I just let get lost in so many other things. I don't want that to happen again.
When I was in high school it was all about ecology, the environment and the first annual Earth Day.
I feel badly that since college, I've only done a few "activist" things regarding the ecology, especially when I think about how active I was many years ago.
I'm still big into recycling and fuel efficiency (I remember the gas shortage of the 70's when we'd sit in long lines to get gas and is one reason I still drive a fuel efficient car), but I don't actively particpate in the annual Earth Day and Arbor Day activities anymore.