New blog post, and as you can guess, Indie Web represent.
So the prompt for this session I chose is "My impossible bucket list". Before I talk about what I mean by "my" or "impossible" or "bucket" or "list", which are all indeed very thought provoking words now that I think of it, let me just jump straight into it (don't worry ramblings will soon ensue).
visa-free travel/stay anywhere
I really really wish boundaries were just paperwork for governments, but not for people who live on the land. If I were a bird, I would go around the planet many times over, find my favourite tree, favourite breeze, favourite smell, favourite sunset, favourite every single thing all across the globe. If I were a (lone) wolf, I would ideally like to move around, go on my own chosen pilgrimages, learn the different terrains, climates, flora and fauna, and enjoy the privilege of being on this planet, no matter how it is. It is funny that the boundaries limit humans from moving, and "immigration" has been a problematic thing since the time of Moses (and perhaps before). I hope the 21st century gives up with the national identities and simply lets people find their own tribe. So much of our life is decided by our place of birth and parenting, it would be great if we could make it easy to try different things without quarter life crisis and intense therapy bills.
an end to factory farming of animals
STOP! I mean, just look at the numbers. Billions of humans end up causing more than 80 billion land animals and tens of billions of farmed fish to be killed every year. The number of wild fish killed is much harder to estimate. Yes we live in the modern world where "food chain" is a risible concept, for we can mass produce sentient beings only to extract their milk, honey, fur and flesh, but may I offer an alternative way of modernity that is far more efficient (plant farming vs plant farming for animal farming) and empathetic (raising animals for food requires higher net consumption of plants). Factory animal farming is just an extremely appalling scale of mass slaughtering.
universal basic income, or "free lunch" for all.
In the year of our (evil) lord 2026, I don't see why not. Religious sites and various shelters/kitchens are able to do it without any complicated math, I don't see why this can't be mandated. Free public transport has also been experimented. Let's just make surviving late stage capitalism a tad bit easier without survival crisis post layoff.
high speed rail everywhere
Let's just make commercial (and private) planes a specialty mode of transport. They are painful to endure, no matter if it's a 40 minute flight or 17 hour flight, the entire airport is just an anxiety producing machine. East Asia has it figured out, a person living in Taipei can commute for work to Kaohsiung (350 km) thanks to High Speed Rail (in 1.5 hours). Imagine Bengaluru to Hyderabad (575 km) in 2.5 hours of a calm, relaxing train journey?
indoctrination to authentic living from childhood, not bad-faith
Why can't we not raise humans to live in good faith by default? Let's give it a go maybe? My first 3 decades have been installing and uninstalling the software of "do as told". I never learnt that I should do because I feel so. Can't we teach authenticity and compassion at the same time? Do we really think authentically raised children will always become entitled narcissistic assholes, who would end up abusing the laws, committing multiple felonies, war crimes, and the rest of the population would just sit back and let them rule the world because they were taught to act in good faith and self actualize? Huh.
to wake up on a moon of Jupiter or Saturn
I really get scared of vast oceans (TIL it's called Thalassophobia, and I've already forgotten it). Like waves the size of a 4 storey building, chills! Now imagine waking up and seeing a huge planet cover your entire perspective as you draw your curtains. Not just an ordinary planet, but one with enormous storms, much bigger than the size of your entire planet, flowing very slowly, with equally large thunders. Why do I want this? Maybe sometimes I want things I am terrified of. Why do I think it's impossible? Radiation alone will kill me.
promised ramblings;
my: How do I know what is "mine". Just because "my" brain thought so, doesn't mean it is "my" thought. What if I am performing? What if I am doublethinking? What if I am acting in bad faith and saying I want things but secretly I think these are the good things, nay, right things to want?
impossible: I mean, we have Virtual Reality and deep-fried DLSS 5 now. Maybe anything is possible in some form. As it is, we all live in false reality anyway, constructed by corporations. I am sorry to burst your bubble but the internet is far from reality, yet we spend most of our time surfing the web.
bucket: Okay fine, I don't have much to say about buckets. I prefer showers. This probably speaks of the privilege of having running water taps 24x7 and not having to live in constant anxiety of water tanker emptying out. I take quick showers, in fact, my childhood has made me quick with everything, but yes, here be privileges.
list: This one is tricky to ramble on, but let me try. What is a list really? I can change every single item of the list, would it still be the same list? What if my bucket list changes over time? Does that mean a list is always becoming, never finite? Is our list an atelic project?