spring break

I just got back from an overnight escape in Olympic National Park. For a whole 24 hours I had no wireless networks to connect to and could not get cell coverage. There weren't even any clocks at the resort. It was nice to get out of the city and into nature. We fell asleep to the sound of the Sol Duc River, we soaked in sulfur hot springs, and saw lots of deer and birds. It was the perfect backdrop to do some free reading. And what do I read when I am not reading law books? A non-fiction discussion of environmental, sociological, and historical sources of American dissatisfaction titled Affluenza. The basic summary is that by placing consumption of consumer goods above leisure, health, and family, our environment, minds, and families are getting destroyed. There is a lot of good facts in the book, and it is a good read for anyone interested in why so many Americans seem to be just not quite completely satisfied with their lives despite an abundance of goods and vacations.

When I got back, I took a quick (less than five minute) test that calculated my ecological footprint. http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp This is a pretty rudimentary test, but I learned that scientists believe that it takes 4.5 acres per person for the earth to remain biologically productive, and my footprint requires 18. Now, I guess I can feel good that my footprint is 6 acres lower than the American average of 24, but it hardly felt sufficient considering I hardly eat meat, I don't own a car, and I live in an apartment. I guess just living in America puts us on a certain level where we expect large quantities of food, the freedom to fly around the country several times a year, and credit (how do you think I am paying for law school--I am going to have to participate in our destructive and consumptive economy just to pay back my loans)

Another interesting point in the book is that more and more people are not communicating with family and friends in person, but rather everyone is living in isolation and communicating through computers, cell phones, watching movies, etc., and well, this is true, but until the world is structured in a different way, it seems to me that blogging for example is a way of reconnecting people. Even though the only people who read this are my girlfriend and my parents (hello) before I started blogging, I may not have brought this topics up. Now, there is something to be said about people sitting around the table and sharing their ideas, but as I said, until we all have the free time and live in the same place, this will have to do. Blogging has been in the press a lot lately, and I have to say that the emphasis on privacy and miscommunication seem to be a bit misplaced. I don't ever put anything on here that I wouldn't want someone to read. If people are afraid of too much of their personal life being discussed online, then they shouldn't do it. On the other hand, while blogging seems to be mostly a one-ways street, I don't think this is necessarily so. I read many blogs where the comments section is longer and more interesting than the original post. One of the great aspects about blogging is the variety of perspectives that are brought together in one forum through the process. So, feel free to leave a comment on this or any other post. I read them. I respond to them, and I certainly feel that going to law school is not a process that one undertakes alone, so the recording of it does not have to be a hermenetically sealed monologue.