Microwaves: Not Intended as Flotation Devices

I seem to keep having the same conversation with people. It goes something like this:

• I complain about work.

• They complain about work.

• I say that western civilization is evil.

• They ignore me and say "I wish there was some other way to survive".

• I tell them that people used to live in a way where they could survive without paying rent, going to the grocery store, and working a wage-slave job.

• They look at me for a second and then say "you are saying you want to live like a Native American?"

• I say: "essentially yes"

• They look aghast and say something like: "You would give up all of the modern conveniences just to avoid a 40 hour a week job?"

• I nod, and say "To avoid the job, yes, and because it might actually save life on the planet if we all did it."

• This is when they look worried, about me. They start rambling on and on about modern conveniences, microwaves, air conditioning, etc. etc.

• I tend to walk away at that point.

People need to stop holding onto their microwaves as if they were flotation devices. It is amazing to me how worried people get when I mention getting rid of aspects of the typical American lifestyle that are neither necessary nor healthy to use. I have linked a few friends to my other blog, The Plastics Project, to show them how I am working to eliminate plastics from my daily life. When they ask why on earth I would do such a thing I mention the environmental impact as well as the horrible (and often cancerous) effects plastics can have on humans (I mention humans separately from the environment because typically the person I am talking to considers things this way). I have only had one friend that actually wants to know more about the horrible things plastics do. The rest of them told me not to tell them, that "everything causes cancer".

Okay, let's tackle that one for a minute. "Everything causes cancer".

Well--No. Obviously everything does not cause cancer. The fact that this statement has become cliché in Western Society should be a clue as to what the society breeds--acceptance of avoidable diseases. Everything does not cause cancer, outputs of CIVILIZATION cause cancer. Let me repeat that a different way: CIVILIZATION CAUSES CANCER. While living in civilization having a river-side home could result in leukemia, lymphoma, and any number of other horrible health problems. Civilization has made the simple act of eating a piece of fruit risky. "Be sure to wash your fruit with soap and water in order to get the pesticides and waxes off". Umm, why does no one worry about these things? Plants aren't waterproof, external additives (pesticides, etc) leech into them…and we think soap and water will solve the problem?

Everything does not cause cancer. EVERYDAY ITEMS IN WESTERN SOCIETY CAUSE CANCER. Plastic wrap anyone? These cancer causing items are so normalized in our society that it seems that everything causes cancer. Somehow I think there are many things around (or used to be) that didn't cause cancer. Examples?

Well things western society has made disposable (or made profits from) work as good examples:

-I'm sure coral reefs never caused cancer before they had to start trying to survive in a polluted ocean.

-Mercury poisoning from fish never used to be an issue before western civilization took hold.

-Did you know that the chances of miscarriage go up by a large percentage when a woman watches 15 hours or more of television a week? I'm pretty sure that that wasn't the case if she were to watch a camp fire each night, or her community members as they broke into song and dance.

-WATER BOTTLES…everyone was horrified when the neon colored Nalgenes turned out to have BPA in them. I'm pretty sure animal hide canteens didn't have the same effects; gourds were probably pretty safe too.

I recently read a report that said not to be in the same ROOM as a microwave oven while it is running. Why do we fill our homes with such dangers? So many people do not want to hear it when I tell them these things. Why wouldn't you want to know of a danger so close to home? Is happiness so closely tied to Easy Mac that you are willing to risk cancer for it? …Apparently it is.

Everything doesn't cause cancer. However, soon enough if civilization keeps going the way it has been, everything THAT IS LEFT will.

Let go of the flotation devices this society tells you that you need and watch the cancer rates plummet.