currently thinking about

Okay, not to sound like a total crazy and constantly talk about pets.... But let's get real. Take one look at my Instagram and it clearly looks like all I like is bunnies, cats, and wine. Occasionally the mountains and my family too. However, my thoughts right now are on the nature of pets. We love them, they're our companions, and we treat them like family. My roommate and I recently rescued a stray (with the kind, kind help and heart of Kim) and he is the prettiest kitty. According to neighbours who helped feed the little guy, at one point he had owners, had a healthy coat etc. until one day they noticed him looking scraggly and realized that he had been abandoned. That just breaks my heart. How can somebody just leave their pet?! All our pets have been adopted--Sheldon, from the Ottawa Humane Society; Waffles, from a classmate who was moving (and had another owner before her); and now our newest addition, Wilbur. I understand that there are reasons in which you aren't able to care for your pet anymore—fine. But please have the heart to try and re-home them, or at a last resort, take them to a shelter. Don't just leave them to fend for themselves. I always loved the saying that we aren't pet owners, but pet guardians. They're not disposable items—they're living, breathing, eating, cuddle machines. I could go on and on, but I won't.

The creator of Maddie On Things is currently doing a project called Why We Rescue, and I love it. It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy inside.

Welcome home Wilbur!

-g

My degree is a combination of economics, political science and public policy. It’s a relatively general degree in the realm of public policy, as opposed to a program at other institutions such as Kwantlen or UBC. I chose this program over the one at Kwantlen in part because of my finances, and also because the generality of my program at MRU will (hopefully) allow me some variation in work post-degree. Part of the program at MRU is taking upwards of 30% (I believe) of your degree in what is called “general education.” I roll my eyes at this on an almost daily basis, because these courses have absolutely nothing to do with what I’m studying, but I get it. That’s the point—to give students a breadth of knowledge other than solely their degree focus. One of these gen ed courses that I’m enrolled in takes a good hard look at the issues that our society is facing with emphasis on the economic system. I find it partially laughable that I start my day sitting in economics and finish it in this critique class. Not only that, but it’s slightly uncomfortable to know that I’m essentially doing my degree in something that is seen as so inherently bad. We talk a lot about the system and how it is something fictitious that we are more or less slaves to. The thing: the market system. The institutions, the government policies, the class system, and the great inequalities that have risen from this very thing that is supposed to allow us equal opportunity. Is the current system something that needs to be debunked? As class inequalities grow and we all become more in debt, is restarting the system even a possibility? Can we, this generation of young people, do anything?

The last question goes back to the topic of Millennials thinking that they are special and entitled, because hell, we grew up being told that we are special. In a personal perspective, what I want to do is make some sort of an impact on policies regarding food and agriculture. Do I think that I am single-handedly going to change the system? Will I even make a dent into it? Hell no. Probably not. There is so much systemically wrong with those sectors that actually changing them would mean entirely changing the way that the system works.

The UN recently released their 2013 publication on Trade and Environmental Review, and I have been giving a slow read-through. My thoughts are that it does not provide drastic enough solutions to problems pertaining to agriculture. It seems to be a lot of what we already know: Big Food and Big Ag are fucking up the Global North and the Global South due to soil depletion, obesity, climate change, wrongful allocation of resources, hunger, poverty, job loss, trade agreements, and so on. It makes me sad to say, but I don’t see an end to these issues on a systemic level. There is so much for countries such as the United States to give up—so much to lose—that unless the system were in fact debunked, it’s hard to imagine a food system that is just to the land and the people.

What do we do about this then? I like to think that every little bit does count, at least in a personal way. There is a rise in consumer interest in organic, local, sustainably produced products. Of course, only a select wealthier portion of the population can actually afford these types of goods. These are the sorts of issues that I think about on the daily. I’m thankful for my gen ed class, because it enforces the reality that yeah, the system kind of sucks, so what are we gonna do about it? For now, I’ll continue to be critical in my studies and hope that somewhere in there, there is a glimmer of hope for our society.

- s

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