Gluttony

Dim sum stacked sky high. My colleagues have a voracious appetite...
The eye drops after surgery.
From my boyfriend for vday : D
These are made out of soy powder. It's supposed to be 'healthy', but I doubt it... it's filling and tastes good though.
Cover of the packaging.
For my colleague, who flew off, and is now preparing to get married in India.
Gave this one to my boss.
More vday presents ^o^

Vday was very rainy and kind of cold, so our prior plans to spending the day walking around in the flower garden outside of disneyland was abandoned for spending the day at ocean park. It was on a whim. I don't see the logic in it either. However, it was fun and romantic, which is what's important.

As many of you know, I paid the pretty cheap fee to take tai chi lessons during lunch hour at my workplace, and have been attending since November last year.

One seemingly innocuous afternoon, after downing a sandwich in 10 minutes flat, I headed to my tai chi class a little late. As I scanned the room for a place to stand, I saw my colleague who face-vaulted, super shocked to see me (ie look like this o_O??!) and behind her, saw my boss, who made the exact same expression (O__o?!?!?!!). I felt like this (*o* whyyyyy!!!!?!!?) but looked like this ^_^ as I found a spot to do soothing breathing exercises, a bit haggardly.

That was last week.

Today, I have a headache. I also do not want to see boss. Today also happens to be tai chi day. And he joined into MY class, in the middle of it, just RANDOMLY (and said 'they should have lessons for beginners!').

As such, I have decided to hide out in the library to read CS Lewis' Screwtape Letters. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. In addition to being highly amusing and easy to digest (each letter is short and to the point, with the most eloquent writing style), it really makes you think of how the devil slowly and obscurely leads people to hate each other, to engage in seemingly innocent little sins, be 'comfortably' away from those who need help, to be lost in the 'realities' of life that we lose sight of what's really important.

Today I reflect on yet another sin (well, in the 'catholic' sense that there are 7 deadly sins), 'gluttony'.

Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or intoxicants to the point of waste.

Thank you wikipedia. When I read this, I first think of the high obesity rate in the world. I think of high fructose corn syrup and other really nasty things the industry comes up with. I think of the high rates of heart attacks and strokes in developed countries.

After awhile I think of immaturity. I wonder why we like to consume so much (or expensive luxurious food-also a form of gluttony)? I think it's biological to want to eat more or eat luxuriously (store up more fat = more energy = better survival), and we just lack self control to control ourselves or think of others. Eating is a good and normal activity of life, but like with all pleasures, if we abuse and pervert it, it becomes detrimental to ourselves and to others around us.

I took a brain test, and I'm frontal right! What does that mean? "harmonizing, rhythmical, supportive, sentimental, sympathetic" okay perhaps... but also apparently can't communicate well with numbers or words and instead resorts to linear abstractions. ?_?

Greed

I'm doing a series about the 7 sins of humanity. The first part was lust. Next is greed : )

a week ago, I read an article for school regarding sustainable development. it was a recount, going pages and pages of the wretchedness of capitalism. how humans, in their fruitless pursuit to satisfy their greed, have ravaged and raped not just nature, but those less developed than they are. make no mistake about it. it is capitalism, the invisible hand, the free economy...etc. that is to blame for why there are no drugs for poor men diseases, why for something as simple as clean water is not accessible to the poor. and it is frustrating.

Here are excerpts from my essay written about the issue:

According to World Vision, “over the last two years, the number of hungry people has increased by 115 million” and more than 1 billion people experience hunger daily (World Vision). Hunger predisposes people to infectious diseases, including water-related ones. Half the population in developing countries who are suffering from a health problem are related to lack of clean water (Global issues). At the same time, world income has been increasing, with the rich becoming richer, and the wealth gap growing larger (Fernando). 20% of the population receives 85% of the world income, but accounts for 80% of the consumption, producing 2/3 of the world’s greenhouse gases (Fernando). In short, these are resource allocation issues; some members of humanity are consuming more than their fair share. Take Hong Kong, a capitalistic country, as a local microcosm. World Wildlife Federation Hong Kong states that our ecological footprint is twice the global average, and thus we would need an area 25 times greater than the size of our country to produce what we consume and absorb our wastes (WWFHK). This kind of human activity is directly impacting the Earth.

The World Wildlife Federation’s “Living Planet 2010” report stated that biodiversity is down 30% in 40 years due to habitat loss. Human beings are triggering the 6^th mass extinction (Barron, 2009). This not only means that we have lost precious sources of pharmaceuticals, useful natural materials, and antibiotics; it also implies that the planet’s ability to assimilate pollution has been weakened. Natural ecologies are becoming less resilient because decreased biodiversity means reduced ecosystem stability (Barron, 2009). A weak biosphere can be felt in terms of increased incidents of natural disasters due to climate change.

The problem is only aggravated by the fact that world population is increasing (human population is expected to reach 9 billion in 2050). There is a mentality that a developed internationally competitive, economically healthy country should have a strong GDP (or in other words, a lot of output in terms of goods and services, which draw on biological resources and services). When the United States’ economy faltered, the government’s first response is to introduce ‘stimulus’ packages to encourage people to consume and jumpstart production. Developing and newly industrialized countries such as China, are striving for the same kind of affluence of developed nations (and will thus demand more resources and produce more waste). WWF states that natural resources are being consumed faster than they are being replenished.

Finally, sustainable development is not a national or individual priority. People living in an affluent society of wealthy nations are sheltered from the solemn realities of this world. They can choose to avoid seeing poverty, disease, hunger, and war. They are far removed from those who produce their merchandise. Moreover, humans have a short and narrow perspective that does not extend into the future, or beyond family and friends (Sarkar, 1999).

The above story presents a global, pervasive, yet incredibly complex problem that will result in increased mass human suffering if not addressed. Why should we care? From a moral and ethical standpoint, there is no excuse to be complacent. From a basic biological perspective, humanity should take every effort to ensure their survival. Every species is evolutionarily inclined to propagate their genes into future generations. The end of the human race does not bode well for anyone.

The problem of sustainability has long been recognized (for example, Limits to Growth was published in 1972), but it has been pushed to the forefront in recent years, because we are finally forced to reckon with it when we find the fish supply dwindling, and are shocked that polar bears are drowning.

While it is overwhelming, the importance of sustainable development is why scientists and experts in different fields and places have convened in its name. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and generated Agenda 21, which is now an outdated document. The 2002 Johannesburg Summit resulted in a disappointment, and no concrete action plan on any government’s part. This is because national goals will always trump global ones. Since these conferences did not accomplish much (and just generated a lot of paper, killing many trees), someone can point to them and say that we should give up, because sustainable development is unrealistic.

However, we should not be pessimistic or give up. If no attention has been paid to sustainable development, if it was deemed meaningless from the start, the world situation may have been even been worse. For example, conservation efforts from the Endangered Species Act, the World Wildlife Fund, and protected land, have kept biodiversity from declining another 20% (Time.)

At any given moment, humans will not have all the information or knowledge or wisdom at hand. We need to acknowledge that, as well as adopt the paradigm that humans do not have domination and control over nature. Not knowing how to define “sustainable development” is not a reason to state that it is meaningless to make it our goal. Despite the lack of understanding around it, it is fact that people are suffering. It is fact that biodiversity is decreasing. If current trends keep up, humanity will meet its demise in a slow, painful drawn out death.