On the Floor

A Personal Recollection of Recent International and Personal News

Earlier this month a young person on a bus, speaking to a friend, commented on the sad state of humanity. "People," she said, "especially North Americans, are just spectators, who sit watching on TV as crisis after crisis devastates our planet." 

In many ways she's absolutely right. I did not write a letter to Stephen Harper protesting the use of a billion tax dollars to turn downtown Toronto into a fortress for the G20. I did not help clean up the Gulf of Mexico after the oil spill. I did not fundraise to get Greece out of debt. I did not spend any time planning Middle East peace. Nor did I, in any way, help stop the violence in Kyrgystan.

Here is my personal account of recent news:

On April 20, 2010, an oil rig called Deepwater Horizon exploded, spewing a constant flow of oil thousands of feet underwater. Also on April 20, I had a group presentation worth 100% of the mark in one of my classes. When I finished that presentation I raced home to finish another project for the following day, so I could get to a printshop before it closed. I found out about the oil spill five days later. 

May 5, 2010 was the date of the general strike in Greece and the country was paralyzed. Greek unions decided to strike in reaction to a huge aid package from other Euro nations that would inevitably have to be repaid by the Greek people. On May 5, I left Hamilton first thing in the morning for a portfolio review in Toronto, at a design firm I was considering working for.

I later stopped at a second location, to drop off a portfolio and introduce myself. Both interviews went well. On my return home I found that I had several voice mails from two clients and four urgent business emails.

On May 25, 2010, the Canadian Government announced that it was going to spend $930 million dollars on security at the G8 and G20 summits starting June 25. Also on May 25, I had an interview at factor[e] for an internship position. I was completely oblivious to political decisions being made hundreds of kilometers away.

In Kyrgystan, on June 7, 2010, a crime boss named Aibek Mirsidikov was assassinated. He had earlier attempted to seize control of the city of Jalal-Abad. Intense and prolonged violence in this city and others was driving this city into anarchy. June 7 was also the first day of my internship at factor[e].

Today, hundreds of other conflicts, political schemes and criminal activities are taking place everywhere. Meanwhile, I'm eating lunch and writing this factor[e] blog post in the fourth week of my internship at this organization.

Here is my personal prediction for the future:

There are going to be a bunch of wars and ecological disasters, corruption and crime will continue, people will be born and people will die. Meanwhile, many individuals and organizations will plan for the future, artists will make art and authors will write books and countless numbers of people will go about their day-to-day lives.

This afternoon I am going to work on a website or two and edit this blog post, but first, I'm going to get a coffee.