Back in 1983 For a Day

I've always wondered what it would be like to live in the 80's. No cell phones, no texting, no Internet…I'm so spoiled by the world we live in today that it's almost unthinkable to go without these things. But for one day, I made an honest effort to deny myself these simple pleasures. Unfortunately, in a time when everything needs to be instant and I constantly need to be connected to people, turning off the cellphone is a lot harder than you would think.

I chose to do this assignment on Saturday because I had a concert to play and lots of work to do, and I figured it would be the day when I wouldn't need to be in contact with everyone all at once. I was wrong. I never knew that working alone could involve so many other people, people who I probably wouldn't have been able to talk to any other way. To get my project for Margaret's class done on time, I needed to be in constant communication with my partner. What I did do, however, was forgo using my laptop or watching TV. The only electronic I used was my cellphone, and that was simply to confirm the time and location of said concert, as well as keep in touch with my senior project partner.

It's not really that difficult for me to give up certain electronics because some days I go without them completely without even really thinking about it. But it was kind of difficult to tell myself "no" when I actually did have some down time, however brief it may have been. Instead, I drew pictures for my senior project and spent time with my family, soon to be broken up by the military. I also went to bed early and caught up on my sleep. It definitely felt slow, but I managed.

The day was kind of strange because when I woke up I didn't just immediately turn on the radio, although I suppose that would have been acceptable. I knew the whole week that Saturday would probably be my day to do this because there was a lot going on that didn't involve electronics. Of course I used my car, but I didn't play my Zune while driving. Like I said, I used my cellphone, but sparingly and only when I needed to talk to someone really badly.

All in all I think the day was pretty much the same as any other day I spent over break. I didn't get on Facebook, something I don't even do every day anyway. I didn't play video games, something I don't really have time to do anymore. I didn't watch TV but that's nothing new. I didn't listen to my Zune which meant enduring the music and commercials the radio was spewing. My cellphone was just the most difficult thing because of how much I needed to contact people, and I tried to curb my use. It just goes to show that not everything can be turned off for even a day in this high-speed world of ours.

4 Readings

World Hunger Crisis

(I don't have the packet in front of me, but I remember the topic)

It's interesting that America spends so much of it's time worrying about big businesses who don't care about actual humans instead of spending it's time on those actual humans. Instead of going for what gets money faster, why wouldn't government officials try to appease the citizens? Citizens are supposed to run everything, yet these huge corporations are allowed to have complete and absolute control over the nation.

Cheap Food Workers Pay the Price

This goes along with what I was saying above. Because America isn't willing to go the extra mile for the small people on the bottom, they put them in dangerous conditions for almost nothing in return. These people are forced to eat unhealthy food because they can't afford the more expensive organic stuff. How is this justice?

Financial Crisis

These companies aren't going through a financial depression, but our country is? What kind of garbage is that? People can't even afford to feed their families and the big corporations want to just sit back and line their pockets. It's disgusting and appalling.

The Scope of World Hunger

In my opinion, I don't think America is entitled to feeding other countries. We have our own problems, yet we use resources on these other countries, and for what? Why not tackle our own hunger problems before sending our food away?

Study Guide Questions

Water Study Guide 21:

Ships are a huge source of ocean pollution, and so is runoff. Runoff comes from nearby factories or hospitals that carelessly dump nasty things into neighboring rivers. Because rivers are made of water, and water tend to be affected by gravity, the rivers carry all of those nasty things into the oceans, where they will fester forever and eventually kill everyone.

Food/Ag Study Guide 11:

Overharvesting of aquatic animals for food isn't good, because eventually humans will become so populous that feeding all of the fat people in the world will require species of fish to become completely wiped out. Then the entire food chain as we know it will collapse and Earth will cave in on itself and disappear from the universe forever.