Hopefully, this will be my last request that everyone do what they can to help us learn a little more about what is in our food. Labeling GMO and genetically engineered food, will never be a perfect science. I do not know the exact text of the proposed law.
I believe in ‘successive approximations.’ My personal epiphany on that subject was when we were repairing the hull of the boat for so many years in Texas. Clearly we did not know how to make it perfect. We satisfied ourselves with making it much better, and then looking at the result and seeing where we can improve that. And in looking at that result in seeing if we could improve upon it.
Until we got to the point that we thought that looks pretty good.
One of the rules of do-it-yourself or DIY is to lower your expectations to something you can accomplish.
I am hoping that Washington state can accomplish passing 522. I believe that things will be significantly better for everyone if they do. I would appreciate any help from any of you, to motivate registered voters in Washington State to please vote yes on 522. Even if you think that GMO is better for you.
Because, if you think it is wonderful, then you would want us to know which one it is, so that we could buy it.
And, if, wherever you live, you are not registered to vote, but you could be. Or you do not vote. Please do. The nature of our theoretically democratic system is that we each get to have a say in many of the things that happen.
I once saw a placard on Merry Haggard’s wall that said, “In an avalanche, no snowflake feels responsible.”
I use her real name in this case, because Merry was a good friend, but has passed over to the other side now. Like Janet, knowing her for something like 40 years improved my life and we were only friends. Never sweethearts.
Well, like the snowflake, it is easy to assume that, “My vote won’t make any difference. So why bother.”
And I certainly understand that feeling very well. But, I can promise you that if none of the good people are motivated, then the bad people, who virtually pay for votes, with expensive and deceptive propaganda campaigns, will win.
You see, they are VERY motivated, because they can make a fortune from that motivation.
So, please vote when you can, for the things that you feel need doing. Or not doing. If there are things on the ballot that you know nothing about, you can leave them blank and let someone else decide how that’s going to turn out. But you get to live with the consequences.
For many years, Janet and I could not vote in Washington State elections, because the snail mail could not get the absentee ballot to us in time for us to return it and be counted.
However, now Washington state has a pretty good system, that allows people outside the country to vote over the Internet. As long as we can keep fraud out of the system, that seems to me to be a wonderful improvement. Whether my snowflake is counted or not, at least I tried. And, importantly, I feel like I accomplished some small drop in the bucket.
We probably all had various realizations on the drop in the bucket effect. For me, mine began when my parents started giving me an allowance. In the beginning, I spent it as I got it and it gave me some pleasure. However, I noticed that there were many things that I wanted but I could not afford.
I discovered that I could save up my allowance and not fritter it away. And thereby, get more, “bang for the buck.” I got much more pleasure out of the same amount of money. By just spending it in a different manner.
I was about seven or eight years old when I had my epiphany on that subject. Certainly not rocket science, but looking at America, I would say that many of my fellow citizens have not figured it out, even yet.
We all progress, as we can, when we can. Or, at least we should, right?
Of course, many of you that have known me for a while are now going, “Tisk, tisk! Dave is the biggest tightwad that I’ve ever met. And I don’t mean because he’s tall and weighs a lot.”
But my defense is, we all make choices. And most of my life has been very pleasant, and accomplished on a very tiny cash flow. Especially with the perspective of hindsight, I’m quite aware that I should’ve done many things differently. But, all you can hope to do, is the best you can do, at the time. And that includes, hopefully learning as much as you can from the results.
There have certainly been many of these, “learning experiences” where I’ve had to repeat the class. On some of them, I am still repeating the class on a regular basis.
Dave
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