A blogger, a traveller, eco-warrior

During this last week I received a shit-storm of text messages from u-no-hoo.  We’re having not-so-polite exchanges about me seeing my son.

I would like to share a particular line of text from one of the little gems she sent on over: “… I do not want to see him become a blogger, a traveller, eco-warrior with no direction & goals.”

I totally agree with the part of not wanting to see my son with no direction & goals.  She thinks I have none of these.  But alas, just because you do not know of something, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

A blogger

What on earth is wrong with becoming a blogger?

It’s a profession, it’s a talent, it’s a hobby.  And if you do it properly it will earn you a salary from which you can live.

Bloggers provide information, insight and even entertainment – whatever information it is you seek, there’s probably a blogger out there giving it.

Bloggers talk about issues, get them known, network across the Internet, spread the news.  We promote  causes that are right, make known what is wrong, expose corruption, we do marketing, advertising and can even generate donations.

Bloggers are resourceful, innovative, rebellious, we break the mold, we make the mold, we think outside the box, inside the box or without the box.

I would want my son to be a blogger, so that he can explore thinking for himself, can learn how to consider matters from various angles.

I would want my son to be a blogger, so that he can conduct a debate about his views, he can raise questions,  state his opinion, solicit comments and weigh them against what he knows and learn new things.

I would want my son to be a blogger so that he can articulate what he thinks / feels / who he is, and open himself to criticism and be able to look at it objectively to either learn from it or defend it.

I would love for my son to become a blogger.

A traveller

What on earth is wrong with becoming a traveller?

Yes, travelling is probably not for everybody.  If you’re open minded, non-racist, curious, adventurous, interested in the people and the world around you, then travelling is for you.

You will learn much about the other people on this planet and about yourself – you will learn that there is more to life than just your own little world.  You will discover alternative ways of thinking, you will gain understanding of other cultures, what before might have been strange and even scary to you, will become clear within the knowledge you will gain of the cultures you will encounter.

If you’re a narrow-minded, selfish, racist, hateful, know-it-all who thinks you’re superior to other human beings, then for the sake of your own reputation (and safety), the reputation of your country and the self-esteem of the people you may meet if you are considering to travel, don’t! Don’t travel! Travelling is not for you.

Stay at home, keep on thinking you know everything there is to know, that you are right and everybody else is wrong, keep on thinking that your way of thinking is the only correct way.  Keep on hating other cultures mainly because you don’t understand them, live only for yourself and learn nothing new.

I would want my son to be a traveller.

He is half South African and half Malaysian, he should explore at least those two cultures and learn about them as much as he can.  Fortunately both South Africa and Malaysia are multi-cultural, so there’s potential to get in touch with the whole world from within these two countries.

I would love for my son to become a traveller.

Eco-warrior

What on earth is wrong with becoming an eco-warrior?

This should, in fact, be a non-negotiable for everybody born after the year 2000.  It’s all of our responsibility to do as much as possible to keep our earth clean.

To recycle, take part in clean-up operations, use reusable bags instead of taking a new plastic bag everytime, taking shorter showers and all the other things we can do to minimise our impact on the environment, is hardly being an eco-warrior – it’s just being eco concious.

What’s the point of hoping to send your son to university 13 years from now if we’re going to have to wade through rivers and oceans of trash, hide from the sun, eat scraps of synthetic protein, move to higher ground and generally enjoy a progressively poorer quality of life because we’ve ruined our environment?

Go to uni and study about how there used to be plenty of fish in the sea, how we use to be able to drink water straight from rivers, explain to him what a forest is, where the Amazon was and why it was such a great loss?

If you’re not an eco-warrior you’re an eco-fiend.  Frankly, if we were all eco-warriors this earth wouldn’t be in such a poor state.

I would love for my son to become an eco-warrior.

Much worse things to be

There are plenty of things I wouldn’t want my son to be.

I wouldn’t want him to be self absorbed, I wouldn’t want him to be narrow minded, I wouldn’t want him to be hateful, or racist, or spiteful.  I wouldn’t want him to be a person who can never forgive, never compromise, who can’t see other people’s point of view or a person who insults other people or lies to himself to make himself feel better.

As long as he doesn’t push drugs, illegally trade weapons, become a hitman or something equally destructive, as far as I’m concerned, my son can become anything that he wants.