The Exclusivity of Space
consider the object
consider the space
consider the objects
excluded from the space
ask the question:
is the object occupying the space
worthy of the space
or is the object
a waste of space?
consider the material
forming the space
journey to its origins
in a plantation somewhere
British Columbia, perhaps,
or Brazil
see the tree felled,
shorn of its branches,
loaded on a flatbed truck
with its passive companions
follow the truck
to a paper mill
the size of a small city
see the tree chipped, pulped, processed
see the gases escaping to atmosphere
hear the outfall roar into the river
ask the questions:
are we here to consume?
can we be consumed by consumption?
see the worker arriving home from the mill
to food on the table
a roof above his head
ask the question:
is there only one answer to a question?
return to the space
consider the object.
Taking part in open link over at earthweal
Stopdraggingthepanda 
‘can we be consumed by consumption?’ I think the answer to this one is becoming unavoidably obvious.
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Well said! Sad to say, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a roll of duct tape packed in a box that size.
~Ornery Owl~
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We definitely need a new economic model. (K)
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Yes indeed!
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“Can we be consumed by consumption?” Excellent question. In fact, I think we are being consumed……..To Cara’s comment, once I received a CALENDAR from Amazon, a gift from someone and it came in a huge BOX. I couldnt get over it. Apparently workers have something like thirty seconds in which to wrap an item. Sigh.
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What a good read early on a sunday morning. I love the inversion of perspective from consumer to producer towards the end. It is immensely complicated trying to unravel a system that has us so entangled – even one as blatantly toxic as our current model is. thanks for the questions.
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Thank you, Lindi!
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An enjoyable read, Jim, Amazon and the Amazônia. I have no answers, but I learned a few things on the other side of the page. Here, I won’t accept junk mail in the letterbox, and no-one is allowed to clean my windscreen at the traffic lights. In Brazil, I came to understand differently: give me that flyer, throw it through the car window, wash the windscreen, roadside produce, street food, street music, yes please. Coins tinkling. Everyone does it because everyone has to live.
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Thanks Steve! I’ve been to Brazil twice, once to Curtiba and a pulp mill, and once to Sao Paulo. My hosts invited me to play soccer with them in Curtiba, I have to say they are pretty good at it!!
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My pleasure, Jim. I can imagine. Yeah I remember Curitiba. I lived in a few places in São Paulo and then in São José dos Campos. In terms of who I am, America Latina had a massive influence. My half-Chilean kids for starters. 😸
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