an excerpt from james's email

so this isn't an original thought of mine, but it sure captures my own opinion:

"I've read that one person's waste is another's riches. Being here reminds me again that my richness likely results from another's wasting away in hunger and malnutrition, that I cannot be lucky without the misfortune of another, that my privileged status is built upon the disadvantage of others.

SHIT! What do I do? Work for progress, I tell myself. This cannot be solved overnight, nor by me alone, but I can certainly spend less, live more modestly, and ensure that I have more to share."


this echoes the realization i had while living at holden a few years ago. i suddenly realized that we're operating in a closed system. we've only got a certain amount of energy to work with-- and if we spend it all on selfish endeavors, some other part of our world will be left to whither away. i think it's a matter of balance and modesty, "live simply so that others may simply life."