Apathetic August, butterflies with bullet wings.

     There is much going on in the world in the name of international politics. Domestically August is a slow month for U.S politics, which is a relief in the sense it feels good to detox from all of the mud slinging our news cycles have become. I find myself, not necessarily uncaring when it comes to international politics, but somewhat helpless. This helpless feeling in recent years has made me shy away a little bit from avidly studying nuanced foreign affairs.

     In my opinion the most turbulent international news is the situation in Egypt. In terms of the coup/revolution, violence, injustice, military conflict, I have no say from my home in California. That being said if we examine what started the unrest in that part of the world, it really boils down to grain prices. How can I affect grain prices, when some of the world is starving, while other parts of the world are trying to develop (inefficient, still affect climate change) ethanol based fuels?

    That question brings me to my personal lifestyle. What can I do in my personal lifestyle to show I am empathetic to the changing worlds and to those who have nothing to put on their meal table? I choose to reduce my livestock consumption. Livestock in the U.S consume up to eighty percent of our total domestic corn crop (http://www.nebraskacorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/unit6.pdf). The fact of the matter here is that everyday consumption of livestock is wasteful.

    Whoa hold your horses there I am not saying anyone has to give up there beloved beef, turkey, pork or chicken out right. I am simply saying that by cutting back, we could solve some of the social ills that have been presented in recent years. I realize that much of the grain shortage that occurred in 2011 was due to drought, but if there was a larger surplus prices would not have skyrocketed like they continue to do.

    I hear in my head the words of my step dad "I didn't claw my way to the top of the food chain just to give it up for your politically correct bullsnit." Go up to Alaska and tell a grizzly face to face you are top of the food chain. All living species on this earth have faced instances (over the course of that species evolution) where it was change habits and evolve or perish. This could be that time.

    Another massive consumer of grain is our drinks, soda, beer, iced tea etc. Cutting back on these are also simple measures we can take. These are my easiest answers to combat my apathy. I can affect global change on a minute level. “You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.”  - Bukowski

    Imagine being able to change the world for good, simply by adjusting some wasteful habits. "You may call me a dreamer, I'm not the only one I hope someday you will join us." - Lennon