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... at keeping up writing here. Since learning how to build a website ( http://loco2travel.com), and with the Ecologist ( http://www.theecologist.org) agreeing to publish an article I wrote about personal carbon trading, I had grand visions of building a lovely shiny Wordpress site for my writing. So I've now set up http://www.definitelynotpostmodernism.com for my writing. If you happen to be reading this then have a look at the new site. I may write bits and bobs here to practice my writing, depending on how the new site goes. Evidently I have so far failed to keep up the promise of writing non-travel related stuff here. LiveJournal will be where all the thoughts and musing appears; if anything becomes publishable and is not related to low carbon travel. I see LiveJournal as very much my private site - the site I won't be telling people about, but a place where I want to write, to purge my thoughts. So what is in my head? Tonight and actually quite a lot recently I've been thinking about the social barriers that are inevitably erected when I explain to people that I'm starting a 'low carbon travel company'. Although most people I come across (white, middle class; would be termed champagne socialists if the phrase hadn't been so ridiculously over-used) are concerned about climate change, there is a strange aura of helplessness that is clearly evident when I explain I'm actually attempting to do something about it. There are two relevant responses as far as I can tell: 1. "He's trying, I'm not. I am therefore bad, or at least I will be seen as bad in his eyes." 2. "He understands more than me about what is considered to be green and what is hypocritical. The fact that he knows more than me (and that I've flown in the last year more to the point) is making me feel guilty". And so what I am inevitably faced with is a rather lukewarm response to my explaining what I'm trying to do. It's as if there's an elite bubble of people privileged to do something about climate change (because we're otherwise affluent enough not to care about more pressing matters such as how we support ourselves on a day-to-day basis). I completely sympathise with this and to a great extent actually understand how the opinions emerge. However it makes it very difficult for me to continue being someone, knowing that I have been privileged enough to think about the intricacies of carbon and how individuals and governments should be responding, who make the effort and has to absorb these social blows. The burden of isolation from the everyday person who sees climate change as such a gargantuan issue that it's clearly not within their remit to attempt to address it, and that anyone who does is on a different level, be that a position of respect, or arrogance, aloofness, loftiness or utter madness for thinking there is anything to be done. An interesting example was yesterday at http://internetpro.meetup.com/10/ when Tom Dyson ( http://throwingbeans.org) had just finished the Carbon Account ( http://thecarbonaccount.com) presentation, and I heard two guys talking at the bar (them not knowing that I was anything to do with it): Guy 1: "I missed the last presentation, what was it like?" Guy 2: "About personal carbon tracking. A sophisticated application but I'm opposed to anything that talks about individuals' responsibilities. Did you know that Kyoto doesn't even include flights? Guy 1: "Yeah, it doesn't include shipping either does it?" It was fascinating to hear that a tool for promoting specific legislation (personal carbon trading) that would comprehensively address all emissions, was being criticised because the Government wasn't doing more. I agree with Guy 2 entirely. What is the fucking point of us tracking our individual emissions when international negotiations are so poor and lacking in substance? There needs to be a channelling of purpose in all of the current noise being made about climate change, and all of the initiatives thriving within the current global market (which, even though increasingly fragile, is still powered by the burning of fossil fuel), need to hold their hands up and say "we would stop all this if some legislation was in place to guarantee the reduction of emissions to safe levels". This relates back to my original point, which is that 'everyday individuals' (and I feel a dick even referring to the issue in those terms) are in complete agreement with all of us pro-actively trying to change the situation. Yes, it is governments that need to something and act decisively and assertively, and no, we're not blaming you for not doing more, or not understanding the various carbon implications of every aspect of your life, or the economy, or how your life interacts with out carbon intensive economy. I want to just have normal conversations with people where I don't feel that my frustration at the lack of collective and global action is channelled through the social mechanisms at play in a world where almost every choice in our affluent communities is filtered through an ethical gauze. Ethics has fuck all to do with it. Dealing with climate change is about survival and economic stability, and that's one of the only reasons I stick with it at all.
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I find that whenever I am filled with a satisfied musing on a particular aspect of my life, I inevitably take my eye off the task in hand and do something entirely different. So much so that, being so pleased with the accurate observations contained within this article, I am struggling to continue writing. Perhaps this is a metaphor for humanity. In fact, it’s not a metaphor, it’s just a description of how we operate. How many people can honestly say that when gainfully employed in a position that allows them to waste time they don’t inwardly cackle with glee at how they are not required to stretch their cognitive capacities all day? I know that I am more than guilty of this and have bragged a number of times over the last month of the fact that I am being paid ten pounds per hour to surf the internet rather than work hard. Yet from an objective point of view this is a terrible state of affairs. When I think about the ability of society to apply itself to the task in hand – be that contributing to an efficient economy, combating global warming, striving for artistic beauty, or even just not wasting the incredible opportunity given to us by life – I consciously attribute our failings to apathy and a lack of internal drive. I think of two-dimensional zombies caring only about short-term superficial things like appearance and fashions, yet at the same time I live most of my waking hours with this exact approach. I am hostage to the whim of my excitable sub-conscious who wills me to act the self-interested distractible fool and leave my powers of concentration to the important moments where something is at risk. No-one wants to live in a constant state of fear where every moment risks the wasting of unseen potential. But it seems this is the only way to truly drive efficiency. For example, right now I am at work and I have a number of relatively pressing tasks: I leave in less than an hour and before then I have to make a clear list of actions to perform when I get in at 8am tomorrow because if I don’t then I will not be able to make the changes to the server that I promised my boss I would do before she gets in at 9am. But having this knowledge I am still seemingly unable to continue doing the tasks I have begun because I know deep down that I will be able to just about squeeze them in, or if not, make up a good excuse as to why the things haven’t been done. And when I am doing these menial things my mind inevitably wanders, and so it did to my days in St Petersburg in November. I allowed myself to remove the shackles of pressure I had attached to the work and this in turn led me to click on the ominous Internet Explorer icon to the bottom-left of my screen. And here I am, in a rather jolly mood, procrastinating further… So is that why society is and always has been incapable of thinking in the long-term? Is that why we are going to destroy our civilization with climate change? Because if we are happy now, that’s all that matters? And in fact is it because we know that we shouldn’t be so short-sighted that it becomes all the more exciting? Or is it because life and work have become so abstract that we no longer have any real idea of the effects of our actions? Whilst I am aware that generally the economy is not performing in a very efficient manner, and that not turning off the standby light on my monitor when I go for lunch will contribute to carbon emissions, I will not be confronted with the consequences for some time, or arguably ever (for how can we translate our future experience of economic strife or climate change chaos to our specific actions now – will my standby light be the millionth of a particular storm in 2030? Will my inefficient work practice form one thousandth of a percentile of hyper-inflation in 2025?). Five thousand years ago, my procrastinating would have meant being savaged by a wild animal or missing the next crucial meal that deterred disease from taking me. Today, it means I have time to write on LiveJournal and whilst that is the case it’s very difficult to convince yourself not to assume the attitude of a cheeky child getting his own selfish way. Current Location: Oxford
Current Mood:  mischievous
Current Music: Glenn Miller and his Sunshine Band
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I've just finished reading Heat. It's clearly an incredibly important book for anyone who wants to take climate change seriously. In fact, I'd say it's a crucial book for anyone who wants to live in a stable world with a vaguely comfortable life in twenty years time.
It sets out a blueprint for carbon-saving measures that work and highlights those which don't. As Monbiot himself admits though, it is by no means precise, and does not really address the full implications of making the changes that are necessary. However it is a great starting point and has lit a spark in me that had been dead for some time. Having finished it today I have some things to say that I started writing down before I read it, and now I believe are still relevant.
I was a bit disappointed with what he had to say about long-distance transport. Although he assessed all existing methods such as flying, cruise ships, cargo ships etc., he didn't entertain the possibility that new passenger ships could be built using hydrogen fuel cell technology and small-scale wind and solar PV. Though I know that this isn't as quick as the airships that he feebly defers to ultimately, I think that if we look at the people going the distances that can't be travelled by train (i.e. the Americas and South Asia), often they are gap year students who do have the time to get there, and more often than not, a nascent environmental conscience. The economics could make more sense than he thinks.
In addition to that, I would have liked a more radical approach more generally to the economic side of change. It would be nice if we could make all these changes within a domestic economic environment, but the fact of the matter is that all of the changes would have implications for the international economy given how liberalised it is. Monbiot does not take into account these questions but to his credit he only has one book and explicitly says he wouldn't be addressing political issues. However in many respects the economic and political implications of tackling climate change work for the environmentalists.
Firstly, people would like to be working less. The constant striving for productivity that is required for consistent economic growth actually makes people unhappy a lot of the time, and people are starting to realise. When he looks at what is economically viable and what isn't, he could think outside the box a bit more.
Secondly,take immigration. Tackling widespread immigration in the UK is likely to be a popular political stance. However, in a globalised (i.e. non-local) economy, politcians have to push through high levels of immigration in order to support economic growth (it requires large numbers of low-skilled workers as the economy becomes increasingly service-based). Obviously the travel generated by massive population movements between countries causes lots of emissions and an increase in flying. So localising economies looks like a politically popular measure. Note that most "progressively"-minded individuals are the first to support the right of migrant workers to move freely. We have some thinking to do.
As Monbiot says, we need to take his suggestions, criticise them, and build on them. I'd like to thank him for giving us the opportunity to do that. We need to get off our fat arses and do something.
In other news, I am hopefully being appointed National Co-ordinator of www.simpol.org.uk, though nothing is set in stone yet. Having looked at my list of things to do, I'm quite pleased with my progress, though I haven't done any writing. I had a fascinating weekend in London soaking up information and inspiration, including with the Romanian girl who has served as the biggest muse yet for my protaganist. The next book I'm reading is one my Uncle bought for me about how to structure my play so hopefully this will help me devote more time to writing.
Next time I write on here it will be writing up all my notes from travelling. I must do this soon or I never will...
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I have lots of ideas. But very little time to pursue them all because I have to work full-time to pay back debts and fund my social life (which has been until now pretty much crucial to my existence. This may need to change). Here is a small selection of the ideas that come to mind at the moment. I would be doing all of them if I had the time:
- Writing the play that I had an idea for around nine months ago about the political awakening of a 21 year-old female student in St Petersburg
- Writing the surreal comedy 'Badger and Mole' that I started to help me develop my writing skills for the above
- Joining the management team of www.simpol.org and helping them to re-brand the website and market the idea to more people in a more productive way. Also help them put on some music nights to promote it
- Debating politics more online and generally getting a better understanding of current affairs and economics (though I do this quite a lot)
- Getting better at the drums (I have just bought my kit back from Sheffield)
- Exercising more and if possible joining a football team
- Researching jobs in Europe
- Joining the Plane Stupid campaign and helping them get the message across
- Discovering more drum and bass (especially drum funk)
- Watching DVDs about the Red Mafia
- Learning French, Spanish, Italian and Russian (and Polish)
- Documenting my travels on LiveJournal (one of the main reasons for joining) and meeting more Eastern Europeans/Russians
As you can see, the list is slightly ridiculous. So I am forced to prioritise. I'll start by looking at the list and comparing it to what I have actually done since I last wrote on LiveJournal:
- Spoken to my family a lot
- Got drunk with my friends in Charlbury (where my parents live, and where I am staying) over Christmas
- Got stoned with my friends in Charlbury
- Had two job interviews in Oxford and one in Sheffield
- Started a temporary job as 'Project Planner' at Oxford University Press to earn £10/hour. I get a train at 7.30am and get back at about 5pm
- Spent time with my playwright uncle who advised me on how to write my play properly
- Been to Sheffield for New Years Eve, went raving to drum and bass and techno, stayed up for long periods of time, chatted a lot of shit to lots of friends I haven't seen for ages. Watched cartoons like Family Guy.
So, to try and cut the cheese from the mustard, so to speak, this is my plan for January:
I have to keep working in this job until the end of the month so that's set in stone. I will continue reading 'Heat' by George Monbiot on the journey to and from work, and on my lunch break. This counts as enough current affairs/economics. When I have finished that I will start reading the book 'Story' that my uncle kindly bought for me as he thinks it is crucial to writing a good play.
In the evenings I will do twenty minutes on the exercise machine every night, and then practice the drums for at least another twenty. I have to decide whether I should watch Neighbours and the Simpsons first, or sacrifice these pleasures for my greater overall discipline. After the drumming I will help with dinner and then eat it. It will probably be around 8.30pm when this is all done. Then I will do an hour's writing on one of the two plays or on LiveJournal to document my travels (can't believe I got back over a month ago!).
I will only allow myself a drink a couple of nights a week and so in order to relax from this rather stressful routine I will get back into doing some yoga every night - for mind and body of course. Finally, I have ordered a series of Russian DVDs called 'Brigade' about the Russian Mafia, and I need to make time to watch these.
I will also be making a trip to London soon for a weekend - both to see some friends and to meet with 'professional' contacts. This trip will involve seeing the musical 'Avenue Q' with two friends from Sheffield who now live in London, and also possibly with a girl from Romania who is visiting the country (by train not plane!) now that the EU has been expanded. I will also meet my old tutor from University to discuss my long-term plans to do a Masters in Budapest and hopefully some other Russian expert scholars who I can talk to about my play. I will also meet the founder of www.simpol.org to discuss my potential position on the management team.
Finally I will over the course of January be making decisions about where I go next with my life. In a moment I will be emailing one of my old bosses to tell him what I could bring to the company if they had me back (that's in Sheffield) but I also have opportunities in Oxford, London and hopefully on mainland Europe.
So... It seems I have covered everything except Plane Stupid and learning four complicated languages. There's always February.
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Why is there a word 'nothingness', but not a word 'somethingness'? I think that it could be quite a useful addition to the English language (and I am too ignorant to know whether or not there is an equivalent in other languages). When I consider how fucked the world is because of global warming (which is probably far too often) my thoughts often tend to drift towards wondering why the vast majority of people are so content to simply go on living as if there was not a massive threat to our civilization. Now obviously this has been explained many times by saying things like "we live in the NOW generation", suggesting that we are all deeply nihlistic because we're aware of our pending doom and just want to perpetually live out the last few moments of our lives without thinking about long-term consequences.
But I think it's more than that. I think that to suggest everyone has concisouly assessed all of the information available to us (which is basically an infinite and completely inconceivable amount) is ridiculous. If you ask most people why they aren't doing more about global warming, or why they give more of a fuck about getting a bargain at H&M than they do about sweatshop labour, they won't answer, "I've weighed up the pros and cons of developing an active moral conscience to live by and decided that it is far more pragmatic and ultimately rewarding to behave selfishly." They will more likely look at you a bit blankly and say "I do care about the environment, I don't want to die early because of massive climate changes, I do care about Africa and sweatshop labour". There just isn't a chain of causality in their heads that links individual behaviour with global problems.
This situation is completely understandable, and it probably can't be any other way. Though I may be liable to think it at times, "normal people" (if I'm allowed to be so horrifically condescending) are not devoid of passion. It is not an gaping, empty hole in global society that is causing the mess we're in. It's easy to embrace our cynical side and put all humanity's problems down to an ever-lasting intellecutal stagnation that constrains collective action and leaves vast majorities of the global population at the whim of media manipulation. But a unique and precious passion exists in everyone's daily lives.
It is a question of scope, not of capacity. Every human being has more in common with each other than they have differences, and the same goes for groups of humans, for different races of people. But the passion that is the spark in our soul is simply employed for different means. Some people are avidly nationalistic, others collect stamps. Some people are ardent vegetarians, others attempt to hack the US government all of their waking life. Some people discuss and pain themselves with thoughts of the environment all day whilst others gossip about their friends or their football team with pure vigour. The people in the street have the same degree of compassion and moral indignation. You are the people in the street. I stepped off the street to write this.
Affluence in the Western world has led us to a strange point in human history. "We" have little to care about on a day to day level. In a society where employment rates are high and there is a level of social security, survival is not a consideration. So we concern ourselves with things like appearance and our social interactions become increasingly complex, and in some senses we become increasinly masochistic and schizophrenic as we attempt to replace the animal instincts that we have had for millenia with something tangible yet superfluous. We have not lost something real. We are simply creating new phenomena to adapt to this insanely complex world we have created. We cannot filter all of the information we are faced with so we have to devise methods of convincing ourselves that it is not worth filtering.
When you next despair as you consider the image of a young person sitting in front of a TV or computer game screen, remember that there is never a void whilst we are on this earth. There may have been an illusion of a void for some time now if you look at the development of intellectual thought over the last two decades, but that illusion was just something else we created. The somethingness we foster every day in our lives is both incredible and incredibly dangerous. It's time to remember that our lives are more fragile than we thought and that something already exists, and it's right round the corner.
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Having returned to reality/the UK via an Essex ferry port with a bump, I finally had to let the knowledge of my utter skintness reign supreme at the front of my brain. As I pondered the peroxide blonde scallies on the way to London Liverpool Street I realised I needed whatever employment I could get as soon as possible.
So here I am two weeks later having just completed my second day of data entry... For those of you familiar with this horrible chore I will now offer my tips for getting through it without going absolutely mental:
For each name you have to consdier as you mindlessly enter data relevant to their record on the database, pretend that you are seeing an old friend for the first time in ages. I find it's best to pretend you knew them in some sort of group setting, in a sports team perhaps, as this gives you the added advantage of making up suitable nicknames. For example, on encountering the name "John Smith", you can exclaim in your head "Smithy!", or "Smitho!", or "The Smithster!". Remember that you don't know the person incredibly well, but well enough to engage in some banter; you yearn nostalgically for those heady days: "Smithy was a proper legend..." (as you shake your head wistfully).
If you're suffering from time constraints (i.e. you need to hurry up and enter some data), you can shorten it to "lege-", instead of the full "legend". I did this at least two hundred times today. You can of course mix it up when the moment takes you and make a snap judgement the other way entirely "He's a right cunt". For authenticity, any swearing should be phrased (in your head of course) in the regional accent of where you are at the time (in contrast to the rather generic lad-type banter when being positive).
If you are lucky enough to have access to their email address then you may be able to work it into your hypothetical profile of the person. For example you could think, "Smitho was a right crazy bastard, having [insert email address] as his email". You can also consider the implications of a particular email address or domain name. For example if the address is someone@psalm91.com, it's likely they're a crazy religious bastard (I think this was the address of someone I had today but can't be sure, anyway I found this site: www.psalm91bandana.com, when checking... unbelievable. Anyway, I digress).
Look out for email addresses that are someone&theirspouse@domain.com because then you have the limitless fun of considering how long they will be together... Will they one day abandon that fated email as a symbol of their failed marriage and paranoid needy togetherness that was really just masking their fear of truly knowing themselves? Even more interesting is when there's a woman's email address and it's actually in the format wife@husband.com! I had the pure unadulterated excitement today of discovering a husband and wife pair on the database, and yes, she was hosted on his domain name. Can you believe it?! If ever I saw a poignant symbol of a latent and systemic postmodern backlash against feminism, that was it.
Right, I think that's quite enough from me on this mind-numbing boring subject. Anyone who has any further tips to offer me to counter the boredom, please let me know. I would like to state now that this advice has all been rather male-centric, and that all of the male banter can of course be transferred to female banter. Unfortunately (and note I am freely admitting this now in a moment of self-reflection) I basically either considered how fit the women might be, or called them a bitch (in a suitable accent)... Hmm...
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All entries below this will be backdated as I write up my notes from my travels around Europe... This is a short introduction. The rest will be written in present tense AS IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY THERE RIGHT NOW EXPERIENCING IT. (what the fuck's going on with the presnet/past/future tense in that last sentence? My general awareness of time and where I am (and you are) in it needs some work...). Note the long hair: this is what I looked like before I left. Welcome to Jamie's travel blog, documenting his travels around Europe by train in summer/autumn 2006. I hope it's interesting, comments welcome and will be replied to... Back in July 2006 I was working from home to complete the project I was managing at my job in Sheffield (UK). I had been tired of the job for many moons and looking forward immensely to finally doing the travelling I had been planning for years. When I say "planning" I mean only that I had been wanting to leave the country for a long time but kept getting sucked back into my job (an entirely different story from the one I'm telling now). I hadn't actually booked my Eurostar and Interrail ticket until approximately a week before leaving, and the night before I left I was frantically finishing the final reports required to let me write "successfully concluded the project" on my CV (note to prospective employers: this disorganisation is entirely uncharacterstic). To make matters even more hectic, the same night I was finishing the reports also happened to be my birthday/leaving party at my parents' house near Oxford (which is where I am now writing this). I was finally able to venture down from the computer to loud drum and bass and a sporadic selection of good friends at about 10pm. And so I woke up hungover and blurry on the morning of the 5th August having to rely on my far more organised sister to help me pack the necessary belongings for fouth months backpacking around Europe. At 2pm me, Jenny and Rich set off to Charlbury's quaint train station and onward to Waterloo to meet Matt. We had one night booked in Paris and a whole plethora of hopes and dreams... I will give a brief account of the first fun-filled month I enjoyed with my friends but most of the journal will be based on the observations of people and places that I made after I was abandoned in Amsterdam stoned and alone on September 5th. In case you're wondering why the itinerary is so crazy and seemingly illogical, it is a combination of my spontaneous nature and the fact that I have committed to never flying again because of global warming. I think I spent at least two weeks on trains out of the four months I was travelling. Itinerary: August - Paris, France - Munich, Germany - Prague, Czech Republic - Split, Croatia - Hvar (Croatian island) - Korcula (Croatian island) - Orebic (Croatian pennisula) - Sibenic/Krka national park (Croatia) - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Berlin, Germany - Amsterdam, Holland September - Sopot, Poland (part of the Tri-city, Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot) October - Budapest, Hungary - Sofia, Bulgaria - Popovo/Voditsa, Bulgaria - Varna, Bulgaria November - Bucharest, Romania - Cluj Napoca, Romania - Budapest, Hungary - Krakow, Poland - Stockholm, Sweden - Turku, Finland - Helsinki, Finland - St Petersburg, Russia - Helsinki, Finland - Stockholm/Uppsala, Sweden December - Copenhagen, Denmark - Harwich, UK Tags: environmentalism global warming climate
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