A Language Older Than Words Ch. 20, 21, 22

The following chapter from A Language Older Than Words, 20 - 22, are powerful as always. They reiterate the ideas about how change is painful and at times impossible. Regardless, Jensen intends to provide insight that will hopefully spark a positive and effective revolution.

Chapter 20, "A Turning Over", opens with a story about Jensen's discontent friend. He works three jobs, his wife works one, and their marriage is falling apart. Consequently, he sees no escape from the miserable cycle of a failing marriage. Jensen uses this as a springboard into a discussion about how apparent change is usually just the same old injustice masked by new leadership. The reason we are able to adapt to such injustice is the "major reason revolutions fail." Because as it is, "Amnesia, that most adaptable of all forms of adaptation" causes humans to live with atrocities: they work hard to forget instead of working hard for change. The most powerful example he brings up is of Jews in the courtyard of a Warsaw stadium. They sat in silence as they watched their brother-en machine gunned to death in front of their eyes. The ultimate problem is that we can't expect much different from the same society.

A life of my own is short and sweet, and so is this summary. Jensen talks about how liberating and experience it was to be a bee-keeper. He loved working for himself and he loved bees; accordingly it was the best of both worlds. Everything about the time he spent with the bees living out of his car was rewarding, enlightening and positive especially the dog that was truly impacted his life: "I can't imagine a better teacher."

Interconnection is a complex chapter, and in order to simplify things I will reference one story that sums it all up from chapter 22. Jensen talks about his Vietnamese dinner with George. The two of them went out to dinner and ordered lemon grass chicken, chile, and steamed vegetables. It seems simple enough, but here is where the interconnection comes in. Chicken that spans 5 states, oil that spans 5 countries, vegetables fused with ingredients from all over the world, and 10,000 chemicals. The ultimate conclusion that Jensen, and consequently the readers draw, is that there is something not right about "the complexity of the modern economy's web but also its destructiveness." In other words, this interconnection is not only amazing but also troubling.

The emotion these chapters instill in me is sorrow. Sorrow over the fact that our revolutions seem trivial, that the complexity of the world economy is a big problem, and all the while...we just need a job we love and a wise dog to keep us happy. I think that Jensen includes the short 21st chapter as a break from all of the heavy stuff he has been hitting us with and intends to continue to hit us with. The chapter preceding it discusses the murder of Jews while there peers remain silent, and the following chapter shows that even the simplest and genuine of meals contains disgusting combinations of unnatural ingredients. Its refreshing to hear that contentment is achievable if we remove ourselves from complex webs and fight troubling injustice. With that being said, the other two chapter were eye opening. The fact that revolutions may never have a significant impact because they are simply recycled means that we need to come up with a new form of change. Will that be possible though with the interconnectedness of the world economy?

The best intra-class connection to be made is from chapter 22, "Interconnection", and the article "Going Vegetarian". The article essentially makes this claim: simplify our diet and benefit the world. The stats it uses to back this up are as follows: if we all stopped eating meat, the grain that we saved could feed every person in the world with 3 pounds of grain per day (more than enough to survive) and everyone turning vegetarian would save 70 million gallons of gas (greenhouse gas prevention would be equal to that of France's total pollution). Those numbers are huge. I realize that Jensen doesn't necessarily condone turning vegetarian, but I think he would buy into this concept that we could save lives by changing our habits. Its also important to note that if we were eating natural vegetables, we would be reducing the interconnected economic web that plagues our society.

The application to may life is simple, and applicable by chapter. Ch. 20 teaches me to revolt in ways that are nontraditional. We can't just keep recycling the same ideals, because then the injustice just cycles through different leadership and never actually improves. At the heart of this is killing the silence that holds us down. Ch. 21 is lighthearted, telling me to follow my professional dreams, enjoy work that is fulfilling, and be aware of teachers that come in all forms (dogs in particular). The last chapter, 23, brings it home by condemning the interconnectedness of society. This ties in aspects from the first two (injustice, and happiness) and implies that if we can break away from the injustice of interconnectedness, it is then that we will be happy. All of these lessons will remain with me as attempt to break away from the contemporary economic practice and work to have my voice heard above the silence.

Questions

What is it about bees the Jensen finds so attractive? How do they help him develop so much that he references them every few chapters?

I'm confused what the difference between silence and pride is?