Seven Generational Ruminations

For most of 2009 I was unemployed (like many people) and (unlike many people) attempting to make a living using this blog. Recently I rejoined the workforce to have a job (and more stable income) and being employed again has given me perspective on the role of working for a living. What I want to write about today is a comment by a co-worker that represents a typical intrusion of the corporate needs into personal life. I've never liked how our corporate masters feel they can require any obeisance including neglect of our personal lives in order that the corporation flourish.

iPods are cool. The iPod Touch lets you experience the wonders of the iPhone without the monthly data charge to AT&T. But both have a stupid problem that is a sustainability nightmare. The irreplaceable battery makes it more likely that a perfectly working gadget will be thrown away just because the battery no longer holds a charge.

On TWiE Episode 13. Engineering a miracle my fellow electric vehicle online journalist (Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield) had an interesting thing she said. That simply by existing humans are destroying the environment. No matter what we do to minimize our impact on the environment, no matter how green we are, we're destroying the planet.

An ad showed up on my gmail account that was intriguing: "Yes on Proposition 16. - www.taxpayersrighttovote.com - Protect Taxpayers Right to Vote. Voting is Our Right!" Since I believe in the right to vote I was curious what this is about. For example why is "Tax Payer" connected with concern over the "Right to Vote"? In America any citizen is eligible to vote regardless of whether they're paying taxes or not (except -- in many states convicted felons are not allowed to vote even after they've served their time).