My interest in rust is, as you might imagine, slightly more than that of the average person down the road. I don’t have data to back this up, but I’m not convinced that the idea of making photos of rusty things is of primary importance to many people as an activity. What I’m quite certain of is that people are definitely interested in the answers to big questions: Why am I here? Are we alone in the universe? Is death the end? What does the future hold?
Rust and ruin are symbols of decay and time passing. Some people are terrified by this idea, perhaps hoping that science will one day discover the answer to immortality. Others believe they have the answers to the big questions already. For them, perhaps, ruin holds fewer terrors. I wrote about this in a previous post if you want to have a read. I even included one of my favourite poems.
Sidestepping terror to make life easy
I started this post like most others. Truthfully, I didn’t really have much direction, other than the desire to explore rust and ruins as universal symbols that remind us of our mortality in the vastness of the river of time’s relentless passing. But lately, I find myself thinking more and more about the impact that I and others have on the world. For example, my use of shaving cartridges, with all the plastic they include, isn’t just annoyingly expensive, but also destructive. All of that plastic ends up in landfill, contributing nothing to the environment but toxicity.
It’s perfectly understandable that people prefer to have easy lives where everything is mapped out and makes sense. An easy to understand narrative provides us with answers to many, if not all, of the big questions we have. It’s easier to come to terms with the idea of toxic human waste, selfish governments, and genocides when it’s part of a cosmic plan ~ the evil will get their punishment and the good will find peace. Unfortunately, human history is nothing if not a struggle between the powerful and the powerless.
I think this makes it too easy to sidestep the feeling of terror gnawing at the mind in times of quiet. What does the future hold when we know all too well that the capacity for destruction lies in the same bed as the capacity for art within every human being? I strongly suspect that we may turn quickly and desperately to solutions as a species once it’s too late. The powerful will have squeezed every last drop of value from us and we’ll have been too busy buying fast-fashion clothing from giant toxic factories where people are grossly underpaid and overworked for the benefit of the few. Where do those unsustainable fast-fashion items end up, do you think? What good do they serve, other than to appease vanity?
Living with less
One kind of response I’ve often heard from people when speaking of this topic goes something like this: “But what about the economy and jobs? If we follow environmental policies, we’ll lose jobs. And how do we keep the lights on? Maybe we should think about nuclear power?“
My blunt rebuttal these days is usually along these lines: “The environment isn’t interested in your comfort. We may all need to accept the idea that we must live very differently with a lot less.”
The idea that we must not stall our economy and standard of living as we explore ways of doing less destruction to the planet is not only absurd, it is also dangerous. All this does is serve the lives of people who have vested interests in making money and living comfortably. They don’t want their lives altered and would rather continue driving big vehicles that spray minute particles of rubber into crucial waterways. Yet, nature is change. Nothing remains the same. Living a life with less money, less oil, less waste, less electricity, less gas, less cars, and less fast-fashion is not only wise, it’s likely the only path to take.
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I so agree with your sentiments re: Nature not being concerned with our comforts. So many people seem to love having a whine about the state of the environment, but aren’t willing to make any sacrifices for it- save to buy some glass straws and save up for a Tesla. Buying more STUFF isn’t the answer! (especially when those so-called “eco friendly” products are still made from finite resources- taken from big, dirty, open cut mines, just like everything else- and will only last so long before needing to be replaced. Sigh.). It’s all a bit Virtue Signally and token gesturey. What’s needed is, yes- sacrifice. Nothing changes if nothing changes. And if we want to make meaningful change ( as opposed to superficial change) , people need to begin learning how to do more with less.
People roll their eyes at me when I bang on about learning how to do and make more things ourselves, but unless people begin being more resourceful themselves, nothing is going to improve. It’s unrealistic- and at this point, I think a bit lazy- to keep expecting “leaders” to change things for us, then get all enraged when, surprise, surprise- they continue behaving the way they’ve always behaved.
One of the most impactful things human beings could do right now is to begin reestablishing/ cultivating a meaningful connection to/ relationship with Nature. Pretty hard to not consider your impact on something when it becomes personally meaningful to you. And probably adopting a less competitive, more cooperative mindset with others might make us a little less materialistic?…..Though this is probably not realistic on any large scale!
Anyway, thing is, a lot of humans love talking the talk but when it comes to walking the walk they’re quite lame ( in every sense of the word!). I’ve given up on trying to get through to people. Most are complacent, and/ or miss the big picture. Whaddya do? Can’t think for people if they won’t do it themselves. I’m just going to try my best to live the remainder of my one precious life by my own values ( which have hopefully been passed on to my daughter); connect with and appreciate those of a similar mindset, and hope for the best. The rest of the world will do whatever they’re going to do.
Holy shit- I’ve written an essay! Sorry….* sheepish grin *. I like your photo documentations of rust! ( really enjoy the last one especially). It is quite thought provoking as a subject. Does indeed make one ponder time and impermanence. How something as solid as metal can be slowly eroded by the air/ water. I could write more on that, but jeez- do you really want me to at this point? Hahaha!
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Thank you for your thoughtful reply! People will be people, won’t they? If someone is, understandably, concerned about putting food on the table, the state of the environment is going to be far from their minds. The idea that capitalism and market forces can solve the environmental crisis is, honestly, laughable. Capitalism creates scarcity and social division. Sure, it can prompt innovation and economic growth as the incentive of money becomes the most important element in one’s life, but it also creates huge waste and desires endless growth. It’s not a sustainable way to live and it generates a blindness to environmental destruction at the same time that it purports to solve them. Some days, easier to retreat into the idea that nothing is permanennt, but that doesn’t change much does it, unfortunately.
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Yes, yes, and yes. Agreed on all points. I just can’t see anything changing, as all of this is what’s considered by most to be “normal”. And it’s very deeply entrenched. Of course, it’s not remotely “normal” to me personally, but I’m obviously in the minority there; I’m a total freak by conventional society’s standards. As much as I want to be positive, the human race has a pretty lousy track record for never EVER learning from its past mistakes…it’s quite depressing some days…. it can be difficult to tread that line between being defeatist and being a realist. At the same time, I also don’t want to become too preachy and sanctimonious like the very posers and hypocrites I mentioned- because, I mean, here I am on my awful laptop, right near my shitty phone, using internet and electricity. We’re all part of it, and all trapped to varying degrees. Whaddya do? I’d move into a community of likemindeds tomorrow if I found the right crew, but what of the rest of the world? Personally I think the best we can hope for are little points of light. Create them, maintain them…them them radiate out, and those who notice will notice; those who want to take part will take part. Apart from force people into lifestyles they don’t want for the sake of the environment ( which I don’t agree with AT ALL- despite my acute reverence for and love of Nature) we just have to live our lives within our own personal values and integrity. What else can ya do, y’know?
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I find abandoned and old places fascinating. My favorite thing to do, is go on TikTok and just scroll thru all the #horrortoks!
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They are fascinating! I’m not familiar with that hash tag though. Is that a bunch of abandoned places videos?
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Hauntings, skinwalkers, ghost house tours, abandoned buildings yes yes and yes. :3
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Cool. Always like to hear about eerie experiences that people have!!
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yass me too. 😀
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