Why the USA is the World's Largest Natural Resources Consumer ?

(Just from a minor aspect)

We hear this a lot around the climate change and environmental issues. The more people, the more stuff they consume, true. The US population is the third largest in the world, around more than three hundred millions, unless Indonesia has beaten it. Of course the quantity is counted. But, consuming natural resources is also attributable to one’s affluence, the level of quality of life.
  

Americans have “The American Dream” meaning that every American aspires to have a house sitting in a large acre of land, and with, at least, a car parking in the garage. The house is equipped with appliances that can’t run without electricity. The car runs for miles and miles to go to the destination. So we can imagine how much the natural raw material resources needed to establish that dream, given the population size.

In the community scale lifestyle, Americans, not all, have a lavish lifestyle that might not be wise and just for other Americans who are roaming around the street days and nights due to poverty, not to mention people in poor countries. In the more mobile community such as in college towns, the lavish lifestyle is conspicuous. We can see it by the time people moving in and out from the rental homes as the new academic year arrives. People are giving up usable furniture items in the streets, such as couches, TVs, chairs, and lots of other stuff. Those goods are thrown in front of houses expecting somebody else to pick them up and use them. Pickers come pick them up with trucks.

However, the other unpicked, most items look usable, will end up in landfills. They will be destroyed if not repurposed. Those usable items could be maintained, or just need a little efforts to collect and donated them to the communities or organizations who usually mobilize and provide such goods to the poor or people who are in need.

This is a lifestyle, however; some Americans, particularly students, as I observed this in a college town, might have enough money and might think that they are affluent enough to procure furniture anytime in the future. Such an attitude leads people to be reluctant to preserve the 'environment' by doing something from their ends. It also unfortunately leads them to be ignorant to other people’s living condition around them.  

We all know that things we use are sourced from nature. It’s been a heated debate about the anthropogenic global climate change. Whether it is true or not, I believe that our environment degrades and climate has changed due to the overconsumption of natural resources and enormous waste we generated. The US is the largest consumer. It does not mean that the nation has caused all the problem, but it contributes to it significantly. Thus, seeing such a lifestyle, I can assure that the title given for the US “the biggest natural resources consumer nation on earth" is undoubtable, just from this tiny lifestyle. 

**Hope this gives you an inspiration.

Made-in-Chinaphobia

My broken earphones (just the ones I have not dumped)

How many of your electronic devices or apps have broken lately? Were they broken because of your fault or was there something to do with the brand? Of course user’s fault is a primary factor. But, they may also be broken because of horrible low quality. I had fifteen earphones gone in two years. That means roughly eight each year, or four each semester. I could have got purchasing prizes more than somebody else. It sounds like I am a rich guy, no, not at all.  

I have a made-in-chinaphobia now, in the US. It is not because I am rich or do not buy made-in-china products, it is because I could not parry them in the US markets. I have tried to buy each of them from a different brand with variety of prices, company, made manual and online purchases. I have pretty much bought almost all brands that currently exist in the market, since each of them came from a different brand, but the results were still the same; they are everywhere. 

At least, one of an earphone’s components must come from China, either the box, cord, or other! I should recognize that China is invading the US markets like it does elsewhere; the demand for such low quality products over here is also increasing. Probably, low income people in the US is rising? It is not exactly known, but really, the market allows them to be here. I do not say that all made-in-china products are bad, some do have incredible long life span. But, not earphone.  Now, I have the fifteenth gone. Only my left ear can hear sounds. I am looking forward to buy a new one. I will come to buy the same thing; I hope not. 

I would not be surprised at all if I were currently in my home country. I would purchase a made-in-china thing consciously because there is no other option, they are pretty much everywhere. We are just end users, so that's all we can do. But, it seems like same thing happens in the US as well. 

** Hope this gives you an inspiration 

CASINO AND PROSTITUTES

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We know Las Vegas, Macau, Hong Kong, Beijing, or many other world class cities that have the gambling business culture. What usually comes with gambling is entertainment. Dancing, alcohol, and musics are inherent with gambling industry. Some of us usually see these things first on TV shows, particularly Hollywood movies. I recall movies like Casino, and Jacky Chan’s, Rush Hour, he fights in a casino. This gives us a virtual experience about the casino industry that we typically heard conservative, and religious people would not want them in their backyard. However, seeing this kind of environment gives us a different perspective. It tells us another way of life of other people in another hemisphere. Some folks  may put themselves incompatible to such a culture, but all we need to do in the US, and it is applicable elsewhere, is just abide rules, respect people, and do not forget to respect yourself. That’s all we can do for our self-preservation while out.

Visit to Washington DC

Washington Monument 

Coming to the US without visiting its capital is like leaving behind a curiosity unsatisfied. There are many reasons why; Washington DC as the Capital of the US is distinctively a pleasing city for those who try to pause to visit hustle bustle cities like New York, Chicago, and others; it is a city that offers America’s political history for visitors to learn, to experience, to even dissent on some events that the country has caused in the world. We, each of us, might have been indirectly affected by the US foreign policies or decisions at some point. It could be bad or good.

Thinking about Washington DC reminds me of my own country’s history that a US former Secretary of State made a decision to support Indonesia to invade East Timor. The decision was made down there, DC, and this is something to which I connected myself psychologically before landing my feet on its ground to explore more and more and more.  Nevertheless, I was not going there to probe. Instead, to see how Americans built a capital city in which federal government servants and politicians live and work.

A Personal Story to Reflect the 20th of May, the Restoration of Independence Day

  

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What reminds of our past is what relates to our past. It could be a person, an event, an object, or anything that pokes our mind. Every year, the 20^th of May marks our country’s, Timor-Leste, anniversary; the restoration of independence. The story of getting this full independent state is long and very long and also long, but here is a short personal experience related to that long chain that made me proud to be a Timorese, the super infamous and the most unheard of citizenship among the Americans' ears in particular.

As a person who is currently living outside of the country for a study mission, I always feel proud and excited by the time I bump into our diplomats’ traces who played their contributions from afar, overseas. The diplomatic front had a huge impact on our independence gain because we secured supports from lots of people around the world. Thus, this has always been my passion to learn what our diplomats did in the past that led to our festive 20^th May.  

Adeus Maun Ju

    

Foto: Hau hasai Maun Ju wain hira Nia ba visita
hau iha Nagoya, Japao.  

Se mak nunca lakon Maun Alin iha nia vida moris? Hau senti laiha ema ida! Rona informacao lakon Maun, Amigo, Kolega ida nebe fila hikas ba Nai Aman Maromak, ita sempre senti hanesan iha falta buat ida ona. Wain hira ita hakarak atu hare, nia lakon ona. Wain hira ita hakarak koalia, nia nonok ona. Buat hirak ne’e maromak halo hotu mai ita ema. Iha moris, iha mos mate. Maibe tanba saida ita sei triste nafatin quando sasan ne akontese? “Hahalok.” Hahalok diak nebe Maun ida halo ba nia alin seluk no kolega seluk. Wain hira ema ida sai husi uma ba buka matenek, Inan-Aman, Maun-Bin Alin rasik fo tulun ho reza no suporta ho material. Maibe atu halao moris realidade nian husi segundos ba segundos, minutos ba minutos, oras ba oras to tinan ba tinan iha periodo balun, ema sira nebe hela iha kakuluk okos ida, horon ahi-tein is husi dapur ida, fahe kulsaun belar ida ba isin lolon barak, maka sai Maun Alin ona.

     

A Piece of Opinion

  

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It has been two weeks for the top leadership change at home. I say just “top leadership change” because that’s what happened. Lower tiers did not change so much. It is still reined by both the ’75 and later generations. That does not matter though because leadership change will be realized itself by going through a natural process, live must start and end as it is. Hence, people should not be hurry. The important thing is how this change could penetrate to the bottom line, where the process towards the betterment increments, builds up, and eventually visible in due course. To be realistic, gofers, drivers, and technical staffs must feel the vibration of the change because they are the micro entities within the system that should work properly in order to ensure a sustained change. Now, the question is will the new Prime Minister (PM) be able to increase his tremor from the epicenter?