Breakfast: The ubiquitous Kashi and soymilk BUT I added bits of apple that made it taste weird.
Lunch: A huge salad and some cold curly fries.
Dinner: Pasta and a salad
Cravings: Sushi again (I’m tempted to walk over to the Hudson River and catch my own.)
Mood: Worryingly cheerful (When I’m in a fabulous mood, I temper it by convincing myself it’s a manic episode and will dissolve into tears by the end of the day.)
Everybody’s eyes always pop out when I explain what a Freegan is. People just can’t believe that they dumpster dive, eschew buying and remain steadfastedly unified in their opposition to capitalism. Or to put in their own words; "After years of trying to boycott products from unethical corporations responsible for human rights violations, environmental destruction, and animal abuse, many of us found that no matter what we bought we ended up supporting something deplorable. We came to realize that the problem isn't just a few bad corporations but the entire system itself." Or to use more iconic language, they have turned on, tuned in and dropped out. And that, the ‘system’ notwithstanding, is as American as apple pie (which by the way, comes from England). Seriously, think about it but if you don’t want to, I have developed some mathematical equations to illustrate my point:
Freegans + Drugs + Communes = Hippies
Freegans + Jesus = Quakers
Freegans + Walden Pond = Henry David Thoreau
Freegans + Jesus - Electricity = Amish
Freegans + Jesus + Mother Ann - Sex = Shakers
Now don’t get offended; I’m being purposely simplistic to prove my point, which is that striving for the simple life is not new in this country (Little House on the Prairie was on the air for nine years!) and neither is proselytizing against the wicked consumerist ways of your fellow Americans (Who said; "Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!"? Answer below.). And I suspected you might not believe me so I dragged in an expert. I talked to Dr. David Shi, President of Furman College and the author of "The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture." Not only did he say that I was completely right; but he also endorsed me for Queen of the World. OK, he didn’t say any of that; but here’s what he did say:
Freegan Girl: Freegans all advocate, on some level, dropping out of mainstream culture. I want to know, what is the historical context of dropping out, what makes it so American in character?
Dr. Shi: It’s certainly fair to say that simplicity is a perennial human ideal but at the same time, it’s a very elastic idea that when put into practice constitutes a wide spectrum of practices and perspectives. The contemporary Freegan would be positioned at the left end of the simplicity spectrum.
Freegan Girl: Who’s on the right?
Dr. Shi: Well, on the right would be people who are actually very affluent but are attempting to live relatively simple life within their socio-economic means, so for example someone like Robert Redford. He’s super wealthy but compared to Paris Hilton, he lives a much more self-conscious life and makes deliberative efforts to live simply.
Freegan Girl: And what’s at the far end of the left?
Dr. Shi: Primitivism would be the natural result in that Freegans are for the most part promoting simplicity to enable to dedicate their time and energy and resources to "higher" pursuits, whereas primitives are forced to spent more of their time (our most precious resource) simply subsisting (or just finding sources of water). Because of the extremity of their stands, they’re giving up control of their time in exchange for the purity of their commitment. The most famous predecessor would be the 5th century BC primitive philosopher, Diogenes, an eccentric everyday figure who quite self-consciously thumbed his nose at mainstream society and the prevailing mores of Athens at the time.
Freegan Girl: Are Freegans cousins to Hippies?
Dr. Shi: Certainly there's a shared sense of alienation from mainstream society, norms and the political process. There’s also the shared theme of environmentalism and a stewardship of nature
Freegan Girl: There’s a "but" there, right?
Dr. Shi: Well, Freegans have more in common with the Amish or communities that represent themselves as an oasis of purity surrounded by the corrupting effects of modern civilization and there’s certainly some of that in the Freegan movement. One of the differentiating characteristics of this modern movement is that it’s hard to discern any conventional spiritual movement other then a pantheistic strain—nature as a spiritual entity.
Freegan Girl: But no one is an oasis of purity. Isn’t it impossible to separate yourself from modern civilization?
Dr. Shi: Wherever you stand on the spectrum, your decision is fraught with hypocrisy. Thoreau borrowed an ax. He was not nearly as independent as the rhetoric of Walden implies. Any reasonably intelligent person can pick at what seems to be inconsistencies in the logic of the Freegan’s lifestyle. But the obvious point is that even if one is not completely successful at fashioning a way of life, that does not mean it is any less meritorious.
And figuring out the merit of the Freegans is what I’ve been trying to do. And one very important aspect of that is putting the Freegans into historical context because, well, if you don’t know where you come from, you don’t know where you’re going or something like that. I’m not going to deny that Freegans are extremists, but I don’t think we should dismiss them for that reason. Our national identity has been forged by more then a few extremists, from those guys who had the Boston Tea Party to all those young people screaming to end the Vietnam War and so our history might help us figure these Freegans out.
What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word "Shakers"? If any kind of adult entertainment pops up, you’re at the wrong blog. If you think furniture, then we’re on the right track. The Shakers (more properly called The United Society of Believers, founded in 1772) were radical Protestants who believed in a self-segregation from non-believers, the equality of all men and women, community property and celibacy. Now before you yawn, let me just remind you that this was the eighteenth century and freedom for all and communal living were still really controversial in 1969. Anyway, there are only four Shakers left nowadays (because they were serious about that celibacy thing, they didn’t believe in procreation) and while their legacy will most likely be the gorgeous furniture which they built to show devotion to God, they were right about that equality thing and they treated black people like humans well before the Civil War. Quakers were all about peace and Hippies may have become Boomers; but they were spot on with all that caring for the earth business. So even if Freegans disgust you with their dumpster diving and tendency towards absolutism, they might be on to something. I’ve already ceded the fact that we could all be a lot less wasteful and it certainly wouldn’t hurt us to know a little bit more about the impact of their actions, right AND FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, POLAR BEARS ARE DYING. So maybe, just maybe, these Freegans are on to something.
Good News: I’m up and running at 100% and more importantly, Kevin Everett may walk again.
Bad News: I can’t think of any!
Worries: I hope, Gentle Readers, you haven’t judged me wanting because I watch that Rock of Love Show with Bret Michaels
Note: It was that ol' scamp Henry David Thoreau who said that.
