I've done the Impossible

Okay, so I've officially done the impossible. I've become even more of a hippie than I thought possible. But I really don't like the term "hippie" so let's just call me conscientious and "modern." okay I like modern, modern it is.

Anyways... I recently watched two other documentaries. Don't judge, documentaries are an exceptional way of gathering information. Anyways, the first one is called No Impact Man It follows a man and his young family on a year long journey of trying to live a life in the crowded New York without making an impact on the world. That's right folks, no grocery stores, out of season fruits, a/c, electricity, and kind of store bought product at all. The family only bought and ate local in season fruits and vegetables from their local farmers market.

Needless to say, the all lost some considerable weight and saved a lot of money. These changes that this family made are very drastic, and of course it's unreasonable to think that everyone is going to make these drastic changes but it's worth a go isn't it? What have you got to lose if you go change your lifestyle? But we have the world (literally) to lose if we don't.

So, the second documentary I watched was a frontline presentation of a once dying practice called "Bacha Bazi." This documentary chronicles a powerful man in Afghani society as he buys and trains poor young boys to be dancers. These boys dress up in women's clothes and are often no older than 14. After they dance in a room full of men they are often gang raped in a ceremony that none of the men find unacceptable.

It is one of the most backward and disgusting things that I've heard of in a really long time. One man says that he has had about 2000-3000 young boys. That means that 2000-3000 young boys lives have been ruined by these men. The families that sell their children are done so only by the say-so of the man. The interviewer asked one husband what his wife thought about their son being sold and he scoffed saying that she has no say in the matter, whatever he says goes. It's not really surprising considering this has been the custom for probably thousands of years. But when does this change? It is NOT okay that this custom still exists and authorities do nothing about it (they often participate) and it is not okay that women are continually treated as second class citizens.