The Domesticated Primate

I've been catching up on older episodes of the Small World podcast as I just discovered this podcast about a month ago. The host talks to lots of very interesting people and covers topics I've never heard about before.

Freeganism was one. I found it very interesting that so many stores apparently throw things away while still wrapped up and even on the palettes they came in. I guess I should be suprised given the rather child-like American mentality of the throw-away culture and the even more child-like idea that if you don't pay for something, it isn't worth anything. I can't say I agree with some of the ideas though - to me it sounds like stealing would just add to the problem.

While I can't really see myself embracing that sort of drop-out culture to the fullest, I will say I'm a big fan of Freecycle which seems to have a similar concept, but more approachable for the suburbanites like me - in fact, Tiffany and I were able to unload lots of stuff that way this weekend, and we have in the past. Her sister needs to be out of her apartment shortly and had lots of stuff she no longer needs. Instead of that stuff ending up in landfill (damn near a crime if it's still working, by my estimation).

Another thing the host did was to talk to the author of Work To Live, a book that was already on my reading list, and which I'll probably bump up a few notches to read it sooner. The author discusses the Protestant work ethic, and attacks the idea that work is the makeup of an individual's worth - idle hands are the devil's work and all that nonsense.