Stuck: Blog Post

     This week, after meeting with the author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and reading a little bit out of our new book, Deeply Rooted, I cannot seem to get one thought out of my mind. As citizens of the United States, we tend to focus on how we are the "best" country in the world, almost as if we are better than everyone else. In no shape or form am I trying to discredit our country because we have accomplished a lot of amazing things. But, the older I get, the more people I talk to and the more opinions I hear, I am starting to realize how messed up of a society we truly live in.
     For instance, food. It is something we need to live a healthy live and survive in general. In the United States we have token advantage of that. There are people in the world who if were to come to the United States would be completely overwhelmed by what we look into our cabinets in our kitchens and say, "Wow, I have no food!" I am guilty of this too, finding myself taking a bite out of an apple, then realizing I want something else, tossing something that seems so small to me that could mean the world to someone. As a society we have our reality has become so twisted. People now a days are so blinded to how such simple things effect us in the grand scheme of things and this goes for not only food, but our environment as well.
     After meeting Robin Wall Kimmerer, she talked about how we have alternative ways we could go about treating our planet. She said, "Why would we want to hurt our beautiful planet?" and when you look at it like that, obviously no one is going to say that is their intentions. But, it is not about if you think something is right or wrong, it is about the actions you take. I think that is what is so backwards about the United States right now because we say one thing and it still remains the other way, leaving us stuck. We have been so brainwashed into a society where money and functioning the most easy, efficient way has become the road we take, no matter the effects. Finally people are now starting to discuss these problems, but it is in our hands to take action or else we are going to remain stuck in the same place.