Ramblings
Half marathon here I come…I have made myself a crazy 42 week training calendar for the half marathon in January. I have scheduled four runs four per week of varying lengths which will gradually increase until D-day. The long runs are all on Saturdays, so if we visit anywhere for a weekend, expect us to have a mapmyrun.com map handy.
The whole thing reminds me of getting a syllabus on the first day of class and thinking, “There’s no way I’m ever going to get all of this done!” But broken down into smaller chunks it seems semi-manageable. The runs for the next five weeks are pretty short, which is good because my body still needs to get used to the idea that I’m going to make it run at all.
Can’t I just change over to compact fluorescent bulbs and not get so dirty?
Yesterday I helped a couple of people from my office clean up the section of the urban trail system that we had adopted. At first I thought it was nice to be outside, but usually these clean-ups just end up with me wanting to punch out anyone who litters. It’s not the uplifting, feel-good kind of community service.
On my walk I found:
• About a million cigarette butts
• Partially empty cans/bottles of very cheap beer
• Two half-smoked joints
• A Keystone can that had been made into a bong
• Half a condom (?)
• A slightly bloody band-aid
It was gross.
Political/Comic musings
So lately I’ve been thinking about why I believe what I believe politically, specifically why I can’t be one of those “take care of your own” kind of people. I understand that if everyone in the global community had equal access to resources, taking care of your own family or micro-community may be the way to go. But we in the United States dominate more than our share of global resources, which is why we are one of the most powerful countries in the world.
And that made me think of Spider-Man, and the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing. In fact, pretty much every super-hero or protagonist in any of our stories, myths, and legends learns that whatever power he/she has must be used for the greater good (please excuse my Joseph Cambpell moment). So why would this principle, which has been passed down through the ages, not be applied to the country as well as to the individual? We have the power to change the world for the better, to protect those who cannot protect themselves and provide for those who cannot provide for themselves. And by joining together as group, rather than individuals, we increase our power.
The most frustrating thing to me is that we only apply this principle to war. We know that we have the greatest power with a governmentally-organized military. After terrorists strike, you would never hear one of our conservative leaders say, “Well, try take care of your own family, because we don’t support big government. If you want to go after these terrorists, buy a gun and a plane ticket and do what you will.”
But when it comes to protecting the global community in other ways – health care, economic support, education, etc. – it suddenly becomes an individual issue. “You need to figure out how to get health care for your own family, and if you can’t, it’s probably because you’re lazy and don’t have a good job.” Or, “If you want to help out people dying around the world because they don’t have access to clean water, that would have to be done through a private donation.”
It may sound hokey, but why can’t we use this power that we have been given responsibly? Why can’t we band together for peace, open-mindedness, preservation of our planet, elimination of poverty and disease, education and learning, and community? Why can’t we invest in countries to support their own sustainability, which would lead to a better quality of life for their people?
One person can make a difference, but 250 million strong could do much more.
posted by Rachel at
11:01 AM
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