Life As Performance Art 19

I am getting used to work again. My income for this month is going to be very modest, but there are compensations. I should have enough leftover funds from my recent trip to live on for another couple of weeks, plus CPP gave me a rather generous bank deposit for March, completely unexpected, so I will be okay. And I am taking on some new clients for May. There is something really ridiculous about my employment. Basically, we are stranded at an obscenely low wage, yet our supervisors don't even blink about putting us in risky and sometimes dangerous situations with particularly difficult clients, and I hope that this gets addressed. If they aren't going to pay us for unsafe work, then they shouldn't assign it to us. If I had to pay market rents, I would have to quit my job and move to another city or province, and at my age that simply isn't going to happen. I don't know what I would have done without BC Housing. I know that a lot of people, on knowing where I live, are going to judge and stigmatize me, because people are generally pretty mean-spirited and ignorant. but I have a decent and affordable roof over my head. I can pay my rent on time, eat decently, and save money and travel. I am not free to move or change residences because for people on modest and low incomes who live in Vancouver, this simply is no longer an option. We are hostages to market forces, and this entrapment is spreading rapidly to people on moderate and even liveable incomes. The absolute stinginess of my employers certainly hasn't been helping, nor the lame excuses and the lies they respond with whenever we try to address them about their lack of generosity. This isn't the end of the world, or not yet anyway. We went through an era of unprecedented prosperity, following the Second World War, and now reality is biting our asses. I heard something quite inspiring on the As It Happens program on CBC a couple of evenings ago. I cannot remember the name of the guest, but he has travelled, written, and done climate change research extensively and he was saying quite openly that our future and the future of our planet is largely going to depend on how we take care of one another. I couldn't agree more. The individualism and nonstop progress and innovation and discovery of the so-called Modern Era that had its beginnings in the Renaissance is going to have to give way to quite a different dynamic if we are to chart and survive this horrendous and wild trajectory that we have set ourselves and other species on. The changes that are coming upon us are unstoppable, and we have to adapt and we have to pull together if we are going to survive. The resistance of our governments to this reality is telling and alarming, and this is where the people are going to have to lead, then maybe our leaders will follow. I don't suppose there is a lot that we can do as individuals, but really, what options do we have? If more of us start to act positively and proactively, within our limited circles, and if we do what we can to reach beyond these limited circles, then we will gather the power and momentum that is going to be needed for us to survive the coming changes. Unfortunately, there is going to be a lot of pushback and resistance, especially with this rise of populism and conservatism that is sweeping major parts of the world. We really have to learn to work strategically and we have to work smart in order to counter this massive wave of collective fear and stupidity that threatens to drown us all.