MISC. July 2020
Curiosity Fosters Discussion
On that specific Pillow 1533 On that specific Pillow Our projects flit away— The Night’s tremendous Morrow And whether sleep will stay Or usher us—a stranger— To situations new The effort to comprise it Is all the soul can do. Emily Dickinson
EDITORIAL. A lot has happened since we put together the contents of this issue of MISC. Magazine. Earlier this year, I visited the MISC. archive in Trinity’s library, where I found an abridged history of the world in the form of MISC. articles. These articles from the past 50 years spoke of the housing crisis, the failures of the Luas line, landlords, student protests, the gay marriage referendum, and other issues playing themselves out at the time. This trip inspired me to use this editorial as a time-capsule. This issue of MISC. is a moment in time, informing people of their present and acting as a signpost for the future reader. The statistics below are just some of the issues that are prevalent at the time of publication. TW // Death On 6 June 2020, half a million people joined the Black Lives Matter protests in 550 places across America to protest the murder of George Floyd (1). Since then 60 different countries have had protests against police brutality, on every continent except Antarctica. At the time of publication, 716,000 people have died from COVID-19 worldwide (2). At the time of publication, a successful hunger strike was carried out by the residents of the Cahersiveen direct provision centre because of the inhumane conditions of their accomodation. Their efforts have resulted in the closure of the centre (3). The topics investigated in the following pages examine inequalities and injustices that persist in society, and which are only exacerbated by the current pandemic. Every MISC. editorial team aims to capture a critical account of the contemporary condition. Our belief is always that curiosity fosters discussion, and that discussion is the first step towards change. As we find our footing in situations new, we hope that this issue of MISC. emboldens readers to ask the pertinent questions, and pursue the necessary actions. As always, we ask that you read the following pages with an open mind and critical eye, and we encourage you to share your thoughts with us. Aoife Donnellan Editor In Chief 1. Buchanan, Larry, et al. “Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History.” The New York Times, 3 July 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html. 2. “Coronavirus (COVID-19).” Google News, Google, 2020, news.google.com/covid19/map?hl=en-IE. 3. McGee, Harry. “Controversial Skellig Star Direct Provision Centre in Kerry to Close.” The Irish Times, 30 July 2020, www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/controversial-skellig-star-direct-provision-centre-in-kerry-to-close-1.4318045.
CONTENTS. POLITICS.
SOCIAL.
6
Children and the Climate by Dominic Tscherny
9
Offsetting Flights by Graham Kelly
12
The Ethics of Cocaine by Harry Downes
16
The Sustainability Question by Mairéad McCarthy
20
Millennial Burnout and Social Media by Suzanne Flynn
CREATIVE.
CULTURE.
24
Give Us The Night by Tom Jordan
26
Between Art and Reality by Aaron
30
Luca by Darryl Clarence Johnson
Finnegan
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STAFF. Editor:
Aoife Donnellan
Head of Research:
Kara Schechtman
Social Editor:
Mairéad McCarthy
Culture Editor:
Tom Jordan
Politics Editor:
Graham Kelly
Copy Editor:
Niamh Burns
Layout & Design:
Aoife Donnellan
Cover Art:
Maya Bushell
Visual Artists:
Celine Delahoy Cúnla Morris Katie Murnane Sinéad Barry
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO Lauren Boland, President of Trinity Publications 2019/2020 and Meg-Elizabeth Lynch, the 2020/2021 President. Our amazing writers and illustrators who worked extremely hard to get this issue out considering the strange conditions. Visual artist Ciara Barker, who allowed her work to appear in collage. All the editors and members of other publications who gave us guidance, and everyone who lent us their time and patience. This publication is funded partly by the DU Trinity Publications Committee. This publication claims no special rights or privileges. All serious complaints may be directed towards chair[at]trinitypublications[dot]ie or Chair, Trinity Publications, House 6, Trinity College, Dublin 2. Get involved with Trinity Publications through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or email, secretary[at] trinitypublications[dot]ie
c
POLITICS.
hildren and the Climate
My children will suffer the climate crisis. Should I have them?
Words By Dominic Tscherny Image by Celine Delahoy
It’s December and I am visiting my grandmother. As her youngest grandson, the rules of our relationship dictate that I must endure the usual interrogation: Are you seeing anyone? Nein, Oma. Will you get married soon? I don’t think so, Oma. Would you like to have children someday? Pause. This time it’s different. Because I don’t know how to answer that question anymore. Although I have always wanted children, lately I have begun to fear the life they would lead. Burning summers, melting ice caps, mass extinction. In the face of total ecological breakdown, is it fair to create new victims of this crisis? Another question reaches my mind. It is one that is increasingly asked in both media and the arts: “Will my children contribute negatively to the climate crisis?” I first heard the question during a college performance of Duncan MacMillan’s “Lungs”, a stage play where, referring to the carbon footprint of her would-be child, the female lead laments: “That’s the weight of the Eiffel Tower. I’d
6
be giving birth to the Eiffel Tower.” Of course, I can’t be certain what the carbon footprint of my future children would be. It depends on the type of life they lead. But more importantly, it depends on the type of world they inherit. To be sure, of all people in the world today, my life is among the most carbon intensive. Despite the choices I make to mitigate my environmental impact, my existence remains opulent - much of the food I eat is imported from far away, I enjoy intensive appliances like washing machines and refrigerators, and I still fly multiple times each year. Compared to most people on Earth, mine is a life of luxury. If I have children, their lives will likely look like this too; I hope that every child will live as well as I do, and better. I wish delicious, millennial avocados upon the children of Siberia, washing machines to remote settlements in Africa, and yes, I wish the joy of air travel to every human being. Such statements are not popular. I can already hear the critics spitting: “How can you say
“Burning summers, melting ice caps, mass extinction. In the face of total ecological breakdown, is it fair to create new victims of this crisis?”
this? Your way of life is destroying the planet! These children you speak of, they cannot live like you!” - and they are right. My lifestyle actively contributes to the destruction of everything that I love: the forests and the air, the corals and the waters, the plants and animals... My life is devastating to the biotic community; if I bring children into this world, it seems that theirs will be too. Does it follow that I should not create them? Concretely, the current trajectory of human consumption is abysmal. We need to drastically reduce our consumption of meat, fast fashion, air travel, concrete, and so on. But we cannot accept that the only acceptable life is one devoid of carbon. Nor can we justifiably deny the comforts of rich countries like ours to poor ones. Who are we to deny others the luxuries we have thus
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POLITICS. far enjoyed? When so much of global inequality is caused by the colonial and post-colonial structures from which we still benefit, we are dutifully bound to promote better lives for our planetary brothers and sisters, not hold them hostage to emissions. We must treat our children the same way. We must be careful not to view them as means to an end (where that end is a planet rid of global warming), but as ends in themselves. The threats facing us are not children per se, but rather the carbon structures of modern life. Changing these structures is the challenge of our time because all people and their children deserve a life that is both rich and sustainable. So I respond to my dear critics: yes, our children cannot live like us. But neither can we. Another, more pressing reason why many are now electing not to have children is the concern that their life as an individual will be made painful by the climate crisis. The worry is that if people are already feeling the force of climate change today, then those who are born later will suffer even more. If this is true, maybe it is best not to bring them into existence at all. Although similar, this position is not to be conflated with the philosophical doctrine of antinatalism. The best-known interpretation of antinatalism argues that coming into existence generates both pain and pleasure, whereas not coming into existences generates neither. The argument goes that the absence of pain is good even if there is nobody to enjoy that goodness, but the absence of pleasure is not bad if there is nobody around to miss it. Therefore, the antinatalist argues, it is best not to come into existence. Antinatalism aside, I am not alone in the worry about bringing a child into existence in a world suffering the climate crisis. Globally, a movement of people who have chosen not to have children out of this concern is swelling. For these people, the primary concern is not the aforementioned worry about their children’s effect on the environment, but rather, that of the environment on their children. BirthStrike, founded by UK based musician and activist Blythe Pepino, is an international community of parents and would-be parents who have come together to raise awareness about how the climate crisis is affecting their “human ability and desire to give birth”. The movement consists of hundreds of people representing an array of genders, capacities to conceive, as well as parents and the childfree alike. The group calls for a just and systemic response to the climate crisis, and protests that children should not have to grow up in a world of searing bushfires and catastrophic hurricanes. While many members of BirthStrike have explicitly declared “not to bear children due to
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the severity of the ecological crisis and the current inaction of governing forces in the face [of ] this existential threat”, the group does not seek to instruct others how to make their reproductive choices. Concretely, BirthStrike defends all parents, and “celebrates their choice and fights for the safety and lives of their children”. Rather than telling others how to make reproductive decisions, BirthStrike is born out of the loving, compassionate desire to protect all children both present and future. However, despite the clarity of the BirthStrike position, many commentators either deliberately or accidentally associate voluntary childlessness with enforced population control. Not only is this accusation unfounded but it reinforces the false narrative that the environmental movement is at odds with a growing human population. As Pepino herself says: “BirthStrike does not seek to coerce or pass judgement on anyone having children” and “BirthStrike is not campaigning about population or for population reduction”. Of course, it is worth remembering that many people are not in a position to even consider relinquishing parenthood. Many couples do not have access to birth control, or it may not be safe for them to use it. Among those that do have access, some communities may rely on their children for security or care. Alas, for couples who are in a position to consider going childfree, BirthStrike offers valuable support. There are many reasons why couples consciously decide to forgo parenthood. A growing number are doing so out of concern relating to the environment. Principally, because they want to avoid contributing to the climate crisis, or because they want to avoid their children suffering from that crisis. It is easy for me to say that life itself is not contributing to climate change, that the structures of a carbon society are to blame, and so on, but it is difficult to ignore the overlap. More worrying still, the concern that a life under climate change might not be worth beginning. We don’t know the answers to these questions. But, hopefully, whether we start families or not, bearing them in mind will make us better parents and more responsible citizens of the Earth.
POLITICS.
Offsetting Flights Image by Katie Murnane Words by Graham Kelly
In the last few years, climate action has become a much more prominent and The Guardian columnist George immediate topic. With an Monbiot claims that to keep increase in the visibility of global warming under 2°C of climate change, and more an increase from pre-industrial discussion - but not much levels, there is a need for “a 60% action from governments or cut in global climate emissions institutions - compounded by 2030, which means a by extremely visible protests 90% cut in the rich world.” such as Extinction Rebellion, Whether or not these are the increased pressure has fallen exact figures, as it’s difficult to on individuals to be more quantify, there is undoubtedly aware of their environmental a strong need for a reduction in impact. These cheap flights our carbon footprint, especially have a very real impact. According to in relatively affluent the Myclimate countries such as Foundation, a Swiss Ireland. One area The average climate protection of consumption amount of CO2 NGO, a flight from which has a marked negative effect on produced by a Dublin to New York the environment person in the EU is emits 1.7 tonnes is aviation: a lot 8.4 tonnes. of CO2 - nearly the same amount as an of us are guilty of average car uses in a booking a Ryanair full year’s driving (2 flight to some tonnes). To put this desirable (or just into perspective, shamelessly cheap) destination, perhaps not according to their website, the thinking of the environmental maximum amount of CO2 that impact of aviation. an individual can generate to
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avoid climate change is 0.6 tonnes. However, the average amount of CO2 produced by a person in the EU is 8.4 tonnes. These figures are sobering: seeing your climate damage quantified bluntly reminds us of how much our own behaviour needs to change. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we must lock ourselves at home and never step foot on a plane again: one concept for reducing one’s carbon footprint is carbon offsetting. This is a method allowing people to“compensate for their unavoidable emissions by financing emission reduction projects around the world.” This is a definition provided by South Pole; an organisation that provides global sustainability financing solutions. A consumer can offset their carbon pollution by investing in projects which pull carbon out of the air. There are a number of carbon offset websites, which allow consumers to calculate their emissions and pay to have them offset, through projects such as planting trees, or investing in more fuel-efficient stoves
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POLITICS.
10
complicated by the fact why it is developing nations that the projects are long such as Nicaragua and Kenya term investments: it takes where the projects are based? years for trees to grow and A closer look at remove that tonne of CO2 Myclimate - the NGO which from the atmosphere, and a offers us the option of investing tonne less now, is worth a lot our money into either Africa or more than a tonne at some (at a premium) the EU - might unknowable point in the future. reveal some answers. According Furthermore, for the offsetting to its website, it is accredited projects to really make a by several monitoring difference, they need to be able organisations which oversee to prove that the work they are carbon offsetting. One such doing is ‘additional’. accreditation it To simplify; “ Additionality has is from the call one tonne of means that the Swiss organisation CO2 removed from reductions in called Gold the environment one Standard. emissions achieved Other carbon credit. These by the project accreditations carbon credits can must be “above which offset then be bought and business as usual” companies have sold like currency, - they would not allowing the student include American have happened heading on a J1, or the Carbon Registry, unless the project reading week Budapest Climate Action was implemented, tourist, to lessen the Reserve and Verified South Pole explains. environmental damage Carbon Standard. So for instance, it Standard of their flight. Gold must be proved states its mission that the population as to achieve of Kenya would climate action not have through “robust decided to get new stoves standards and verified impacts”. themselves, had it not been It is indeed important for European foundations that organisations which claim anxious to give them money. to offset emissions are held This leads onto another to account and have their issue: how is it that carbon impacts verified. It would be credits invested in Switzerland counterproductive for long are worth far more than credits term projects to be started, but invested in developing nations? then fall by the wayside and Why is it that money (and the not deliver the results that were associated problem of carbon promised - and which is very offsetting) is being funnelled necessary for the environment. out of rich nations, and lumped An Irish Times article notes how on less poorer ones? If - as in the last few decades, charities Oxfam suggests - the world’s “came along in the Seventies richest 10% produce half of and Eighties, they sunk plenty all global carbon emissions, of wells and put in the pumps,
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for developing countries. To simplify; call one tonne of CO2 removed from the environment one carbon credit. These carbon credits can then be bought and sold like currency, allowing the student heading on a J1, or the reading week Budapest tourist, to lessen the environmental damage of their flight. On Myclimate.org, our Dublin to New York trip can be offset for a reasonable €40: either through reforestation in Nicaragua or stoves for Kenya or you can pay significantly more (€124) to have it invested in environmental Swiss projects. However, these options raise at least as many problems as they solve. A spokeswoman for Atmosfair - a German offsetting company - says “flying and offsetting is better than flying and not offsetting”, but “it’s always better not to fly.” It’s not that the flights are any less polluting: the problem is just moved elsewhere. This is summed up by George Monbiot, environmental and political activist, who says “you buy yourself a clean conscience by paying someone else to undo the harm you are causing.” He compares the tactic to the sale of Indulgences by the Catholic Church to offset sins. “Just as in the 15th and 16th centuries,” he writes, you could “kill and lie without fear of eternal damnation, today you can live exactly as you please as long as you give your ducats to one of the companies selling indulgences. It is pernicious and destructive nonsense.” This is further
POLITICS. but then moved on.” However, the article sees that “there was no sustainable model for what happens when it breaks, or who’s qualified to fix it, or even who has ownership of the well and can look after it, or where will we get the parts we need, and how will we pay for it?”. With a longterm project like reforestation, it is imperative that a similar situation does not happen again. An analysis of the Myclimate accounts fails to fully explain where the donations are going. Rather than indicating the amounts allocated to individual projects, which might have explained why so much more money was needed to offset carbon in the EU, details are glossed over under headings such as “Direct Effort”, “Personnel Expenses” and somewhat dubious “Entertainment Expenses”. In this way, short of visiting the projects themselves, it is very difficult to confirm how effective spending cold hard cash on offsetting flights might actually be. In future, too, there might be some issues arising in terms of offsetting flights. There is a finite amount of stoves one company can sell to Africa before the market is saturated, and Nicaragua will likely not stand for being overrun with forestry plantations. Most emissions are produced in the developed world, and it makes sense that they should be reduced from there too. Furthermore, as the simplest changes which have the most impact begin to happen, the more complex and expensive it is to find ways to offset carbon. By this, the more people offset, the more expensive and difficult it will be to find new ways to continue doing so. The good news is that it is not necessary
to cancel all your holiday plans quite yet. The most important thing is to consider the impact flights have and attempt to offset them elsewhere in your consumption, or through an organisation online. Stephen Neff, the CEO of Myclimate, writes “In a liberal democratic society, bans on flying” or other drastic measures” are completely incompatible with the fundamental rights enshrined in our culture and institutions. But this right is not a ’carte blanche’ to actively ignore the call for action by the international scientific community. It is important to remember that offsetting is not a solution, merely a stopgap: “each member of society, each company and each organisation should have a clear plan in place as to how they will reduce their CO₂ footprint in future.” As institutions, governments, and companies fail to enact serious changes to their attitude to climate change and pollution, it becomes necessary to look at our own behaviour as individuals. This is not to say that the corporations, and governments of the 21st century do not have a lot to answer for, but an active awareness of your individual carbon emission is something everyone should know. Although most of us enjoy our holidays away - and I am loath to give them up, for one - do consider how you might negate your environmental impact next time you’re about to click “confirm and pay” on your next Ryanair seat sale.
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T H E S I C H T E OF C O C A I N E
12
POLITICS. Words by Harry Downes Image by Cúnla Morris
T
he 2019 Trinity Ball was marred by the arrest of twenty-six students for drug possession. Undercover Gardaí mingled with the crowd in pursuit of anyone suspected to be selling drugs, bringing suspects back to two reserved spots on campus for searches. All but two of those searched were found to be carrying drugs. The Garda and the Irish media rejoiced at the news. The Irish Sun reported that Gardaí had ‘smashed a drug dealing network at one of Ireland’s most prestigious universities’. Trinity’s reputation fed much of the media’s sensationalism around this case; one unnamed source in the Sun’s report remarked that ‘those caught with drugs come from privileged backgrounds’. This story of clever Gardaí dismantling a network of dangerous dealers does not cohere with the facts. Gardaí recovered a quantity and diversity of drugs valued at just €1,400 from twentysix students, ranging from MDMA, ketamine and cocaine. This amounts to an average value of drugs on each detainee of €53. In a country where the street price of a gram of MDMA sits at €40, an average of €53 per person hardly suggests the operation of a shady drug-dealing syndicate at Trinity Ball. The Garda allocated serious resources to arresting and charging Trinity students, infiltrating what is a private party held by the College community and alumni, for possessing and using small quantities of drugs. This use of police time, and its celebration by our national media, is a direct result of the global phenomenon dubbed the War on Drugs. While the War on Drugs affects and targets psychoactive substances as diverse as heroin and magic mushrooms, the War has recently returned to the spotlight in Ireland over the resurgence of cocaine use. In 2018, the HSE’s National Drug Forum reported that cocaine use has ‘now returned to
Celtic Tiger levels’ in Ireland. The apparent resurgence of cocaine has inspired moral panic throughout the country. An Irish Times editorial on the 2019 gang murders in Coolock blamed the drug and, most importantly, ‘the end user’ for gang violence. In December 2019, The Irish Mirror reported that a ‘cocaine epidemic’ had gripped rural Ireland, interviewing one farmer whose addiction saw him taking the drug ‘off the John Deere’ on an everyday basis. Other articles detail how teenagers are now budgeting for cocaine at their debs and that the drug is now a ‘dominant factor’ in domestic violence cases. Our national media portrays cocaine as a genuine source of evil. Why then is cocaine frequently associated with decadence and wealth? Cultural depictions of cocaine in Western media imbue it with an image of excess and dark glamour, tying it to a brand of amoral, elite hedonism best exemplified in popular cinema like Scarface and The Wolf of Wall Street. This image of cocaine as the communion-wine of the unfathomably successful gives it a sheen of legitimacy not afforded to other, cheaper party drugs like MDMA or ketamine. As Robin Williams said, “Cocaine is God’s way of telling you that you have too much money.” In Western culture, cocaine is an icon of deviant materialism. This image is far removed from the destructive realities unleashed by cocaine production and trafficking in Latin America. The production and export of cocaine has a deleterious effect on the politics and environment of Latin America. Cocaine is almost entirely produced in Latin America. For a region that contributes only 17% of the world’s total production of psychoactive substances, it produces almost 100% of its cocaine. Even within Latin America, cocaine is primarily made within three countries; Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Cocaine, in its familiar form, is refined from the coca leaf, a native crop traditionally chewed by indigenous peoples as a mild stimulant. Cocaine is only present within coca leaf at a concentration of around 1%, diluting its effects sufficiently to make coca leaf tea
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POLITICS. and baked goods popular in the Andean region. The refinement of powder cocaine from the coca leaf is a complex, costly procedure requiring the cultivation of gigantic amounts of coca leaf; it takes approximately three-hundredand-seventy kilograms of coca leaf to make one kilogram of cocaine. The industrial scale of coca leaf production and cocaine’s incredible popularity in Western consumer markets follows through in the massive profitability of coca leaf farming in these countries; in 2004, cocaine was estimated to make $34,221 in profit for every hectare of coca leaf farmland. Cocaine in Latin America is a major, multinational industry. It contributes about 1% to Colombia’s gross domestic product – for comparison, agriculture contributes the same value to the Irish economy. Its illegality forces coca producers to migrate to remote, unused areas on the periphery of the Amazon, opening new land to deforestation. In 2008, the Colombian vice-president Francisco Santos Calderón claimed that every gram of cocaine cost the destruction of four square metres
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In 2008, the Colombian vice-president Francisco Santos Calderón claimed that every gram of cocaine cost the destruction of four square metres of rainforest, amounting to the destruction of 300,000 hectares every year.
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of rainforest, amounting to the destruction of 300,000 hectares every year. Recent scientific analysis has also focused on the indirect effects of cocaine production, noting that the initiation of coca production in any area results in further deforestation to grow crops and provide settlements to support coca plantations. In 2018, the Colombian biologist Liliana Dávolos calculated that deforested regions used for coca production had a 7% chance of reversion to forest, compared to a 13.5% probability for agricultural land; in this way, coca helps ‘signal a transformation of the landscape toward forest loss’ in a permanent manner. Large-scale production of cocaine thereby leads to catastrophic rates of deforestation, with one 2002 estimate suggesting that 50% of forest loss in Colombia
POLITICS. could be attributed, directly or indirectly, to cocaine. Cocaine’s effect on deforestation extends beyond those countries where it is produced. With 86% of cocaine travelling through Central America on its ways to commercial markets in North America and Europe, millions of acres of land have been lost to the creation of drug trafficking routes. A 2017 study suggests that up to 30% of deforestation in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala is caused by cocaine trafficking. Deforestation is a devastating threat to ecological diversity and the planet’s ability to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide; any increase drives us closer towards catastrophic climate change. Cocaine production and trafficking also drives corruption and political instability in Latin America. The illegality of cocaine means its production and distribution depends on largescale organised crime. This normally manifests in cartels – such as the famous Medellin Cartel led by Pablo Escobar, recently depicted in the Netflix drama Narcos. However, state institutions are often co-opted or corrupted by drug traffickers. The historian Belén Boville suggests that the Bolivian military (UMOPAR) was directly involved in cocaine production and trafficking throughout the 1990s and 2000s, at the same time as the Bolivian government ordered a draconian offensive against cocaine and drug cartels rife with human rights abuses. Cartels themselves can often rise to seriously challenge state power and occupy significant swathes of territory; in the year 2000, for example, drug cartels were estimated to control 40% of Colombia’s national territory. Most shockingly, cocaine carries with it a heavy death toll. Over 100,000 people have died in the ongoing 13-yearlong Mexican Drug War alone. The use of cocaine is a political issue; by using it, the consumer implicitly endorses a trade system that destabilises the developing world and results in thousands of deaths. Cocaine has a deleterious effect on the politics and environment of Latin America. While awareness
of its effects should discourage its use by Western consumers, their underlying cause is not rooted in cocaine in and of itself. Prohibition of cocaine forces the involvement of organised crime in its production. The destruction of vast tracts of rainforest to produce and circulate cocaine is also directly connected to the need for seclusion driven by cocaine’s illegality. Cocaine can be produced in a laboratory setting – there is, in other words, no actual justification for the devastation caused by drug prohibition. The decision to use cocaine, regardless of its illegality, is ultimately a personal choice; whether it is morally right to use a drug renowned for its addictive effects on the human brain and body resides with the individual. These choices should nevertheless be informed by an awareness of their impact on the world and humanity at large. Most importantly, an ethical attitude to drugs rooted in concern for humanity cannot justify the environmental and human toll of prohibition. Within current market conditions, the purchase of cocaine is undoubtedly immoral; the focus, then, should lie in reshaping the tired, archaic drug policies that make it so.
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SOCIAL.
The Sustainability Question Animosity towards the fast fashion industry is growing as a result of the unethical conditions that workers are being subjected to. Máiréad McCarthy examines why brands can call themselves sustainable without addressing their human rights violations.
In
the wake of December and
the
beginning
of a new year, the shop windows of Dublin gradually transform from glossy, snowcovered
advertisements,
to
red heart-shaped attractions before making a brief, green splash, accompanied by Irish tunes. This is the disjointed collection
of
holidays
that
guide consumers into another wave of materialistic spending each year, as the cacophony of
thousands
overpowers
16
of the
shoppers incessant
chime
of
cash
Words by Máiréad McCarthy Kirwan
registers. their stock from shopping
Recently, a voice that struggled shelves in order to avoid further to be heard over this clamour backlash and the potential was that of a six-year-old girl threat of other messages. With who, upon opening a packet a crisis averted, newspaper of Christmas cards, discovered headlines and subsequently the message; “forced to work public outrage faded into the against our will”. The author melodic backdrop of Christmas of those words wrote them tunes, with fleeting updates on from a prison in the Qingpu the fate of those anonymous district of China; the world’s authors in Quingpu. leading manufacturer of goods.
The incident provides
The shock and outrage that a terrifying insight into a emerged from this revelation world with almost 40 million was swiftly investigated by enslaved inhabitants, that few Tesco - the producers of the could imagine fitting inside cards - who then withdrew the margins of a Christmas
SOCIAL. Social.
“
card. Research by the Global slavery index
by students and the youth community under
estimates that in the UK alone, £18 billion
the global unity of Schools Strike for Climate
worth of products are imported from the
Change. These groups, composed of nearly 6
overseas slave industry. This human rights
million students, harbour anger towards the
violation is funded by UK brands. One of the
action of large corporate companies and the
largest perpetrators of the slave trade is the
subsequent inaction of governments to curb
fashion industry, second only to the computer
their destructiveness. The causality between the
industry. Recently, fast fashion brand Boohoo
demand for fast fashion and human suffering
has been accused of modern slavery with
is evident, as is the connection between the
workers in Leicester in the UK being paid as
fashion industry and climate change. Can we
little as £3.50 an hour. For those working
rationalise the sustainable changes made by
legally in the fashion industry, the severity of
brands while they still fail to comply with the
their conditions strongly suggests an outside
basic standard of worker decency? Brands
factor that forces them to work. For example,
cannot masquerade as sustainable because
some work 96 hour weeks to earn a minimum
of their climate manifesto if they continue to
wage, which in countries like China and India,
mistreat workers. Both the climate problem and
represents between a fifth and a half of the
issue of workers’ rights propose a cost to human
wage required to meet the minimum standard
life, but can one be regarded as more important
of living.
than the other?
Of course, for many consumers, our
The fight to curb climate change
concerns are based not on the manufacturer
has largely pointed the blame at the fast
of our clothes, but on the methods of
fashion world and its subsequent methods of
manufacturing, methods which are often very
production, which rely on the use of scarce,
harmful to the environment; 2019 claimed the
unrenewable resources that incorporate a vast
record as the second hottest year recorded on
amount of waste and subsequent harm to the
earth. In the past 18 months, the world has had
environment. This has led to various protests
to come together to battle the devastation
and boycotts on businesses, led by groups such
wreaked by global warming occurring in
as Extinction Rebellion in an effort not only to
the form of floods, wildfires and hurricanes.
raise awareness on costs of clothing beyond
Leaders of protest have largely been fronted
price tags but to encourage a shift in large
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SOCIAL. manufacturers behaviour.
sands. Perhaps the most widely known tragedy to
Indeed their mission has proved
occur from this is the collapse of the Rana Plaza
successful, as brands have acted accordingly,
in 2013, killing 1134 garment workers in Dhaka,
with H&M offering their customers to sell
Bangladesh. A 2017 study conducted by Nike
their old garments in order to produce new
and the US Department of Labour found over
clothing in a sustainable way. On the surface,
1.4 million recorded injuries in the industry per
this appears to be a promising initiative that
annum – equating to a rate of around 5.6 injuries
brings fast fashion a step towards being a
per 100 workers. This is projected to rise by 7% to
renewable industry. As consumers, we must
1.6 million per year by 2030. In addition to this,
keep in mind that these policies are designed
a further 27 million are thought to be suffering
to placate us. It would be naïve to assume
from work related diseases.
that these “sustainable” goods are being
manufactured
in
A possible was to consider this is by using
ethical
‘the trolley problem,’ a thought
economies. Instead, while
“The fight to curb climate experiment proposed by philosopher
brands attempt to appease
change has largely Philippa Foot. The trolley problem
consumer’s
environmental
anxieties,
workers
pointed blame at the explains that a train is speeding down
are
fast fashion world and its one track when the breaks cut out and
suffering the consequences.
subsequent methods of the driver faints. It is hurtling towards
Most manufacturers
production” 5 people, all of whom will be killed on
are located in China, India
impact should the train strike them.
and Cambodia, as brands operate in smaller
Here we have the climate crisis, a threat to us all.
subcontracted factories that fly under the
However, you can steer the train onto a second
radar of the National Social Security fund.
track, where there is only one person. Here
The obscurity of their operation enables
we have the person making the clothes you’re
them to exist without providing essential
wearing right now. What do you do? The trolley
rights and facilities entitled to workers.
problem asks us what is important; are we willing
Factories that operate under these guises
to ignore what we know about worker’s rights for
are often found in unsafe buildings, with no
a sustainable item. Do we steer our train towards
ventilation, forcing their workers to inhale
saving the planet or toward saving the individuals
toxic substances, fibres, dusts or blasted
who are suffering right now? And why should
18
SOCIAL. the consumer be the one to decide who the
actions are knowingly damaging, we in an
murderer is?
age where technology has made our scope
Another
theory
that
attempts
to
of awareness so much more intricate, can we
negotiate this, is the Doctrine of Double Effect
be held accountable?
proposed by Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas argues
that in the case of self-defence, killing your
actions; our ability to live ethically is often
attacker is justified, provided it was not your
controlled by our budget, now more than
intent. In the case of consumers, this theory
ever considering Dublin continues its reign
argues that buying clothes from ‘sustainable’
as the most expensive city in Europe. When
companies is permissible if your intent to be
it comes to our choices as consumers, our
environmentally friendly is stronger than any ill
hands are often tied before we can begin
intent for forced labourers. This argument could
to think ethically about our actions. Yet as
be permissible in the case of a single act, by an
we understand the effects of our choices
individual. However, when a group of people
more and more, we must ask ourselves if
begin to make these decisions, we witness the
the sustainable lifestyle we are striving for
cumulative effect. With vast numbers of people
can be achieved, whilst we continuously fail
committing these acts, the subsequent immoral
to grasp the true meaning of sustainability.
acts begin to outweigh the good deed which
Can we ever behave as ethical consumers in
their actions were designed to achieve. While
a system that is already corrupt?
As students, we are limited in our
it is difficult to determine whether consumer’s
Image by Sinéad Barry Kirwan
19
SOCIAL.
Millennial
Burnout
Image: Royal National Theatre London. Source: Culture Whisper.
The effect of social media on millennial burnout instant gratification without replication.
O
ne of the defining characteristics of the millennial generation and the generations that follow, is their use of social media. Social media like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and Snapchat, have become our companions, unwanted or otherwise, which undoubtedly contributes to what is known as millennial burnout. Millennials have been characterised as the “burnout generation” (1), but why is our generation feeling the stress and strain associated with life more than others?
20
Answers to questions of burnout can be partly found in the research of Anne Helen Peterson. Her groundbreaking article - originally appearing in Buzzfeed News but which has since been published as a book - provides an insight into this millennial struggle for those outside the generation, and gives a voice to millennials worldwide who will find much of the observations eerily familiar. H e r b e r t Freudenberger offered one definition of burnout which defined it as a psychological diagnosis that was attributed to
Words by Suzanne Flynn
cases of “physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress”. While traditionally overwork or stress may have been associated with employment or studies, millennial burnout suggests the pressures of social media can contribute to a physical and mental collapse. Keeping up appearances has become not just an option to many social media users, but in fact an obligatory part of our daily routine. Impressing and retaining followers, as well as looking your best, are now everyday expectations that are
SOCIAL. near impossible to fulfil. Not everyone the main hurdles is recognising that what we will like you but woe betide anyone see on social media is not real, and in saying unfollowing you. The millennial self that, ensuring we don’t judge ourselves against becomes a product - it is all about being what we do see. Instagram’s decision to hide on brand, and ensuring your brand sells the number of likes on posts was a step in the right direction for safeguarding self-esteem is important. This logic does not apply and curbing obsessive comparison. Why this exclusively to influencers or those who move on the part of Instagram has not been are on their platforms for “clout”, it can extended to Facebook, the parent company of apply to those of us who use social Instagram and Whatsapp, is something which media sites on a daily basis. One of must be called into question. The worry of a Instagram’s most popular features - IG post being without a certain number of likes stories - was adopted from Snapchat. can plague social media users. While some It gives users the option to upload may not care about how many likes their picture gets, others thrive off the stories, a feature which glory of saying a photo has reached Whatsapp now also has. Alexx Stuart’s book “Low “Workplace over 100 likes and equate it to popularity. This abstract number Tox Life ‘’ cites a study from the University of communication apps that one has to achieve to feel California San Diego like Slack make it validated is a worrying concept as it is grounded in comparison to others. which says we engage more difficult to This obsession can sometimes with around 34 GB of info per day or 105,000 switch off from work, become extreme. For example, Luka Magnotta, the subject of the words with pictures. as the traditional recent Netflix documentary “Don’t The obsession with posting consistently, 9-5 hours blur into f*ck with cats”, created a fake online persona spreading positive in temporary short reading emails on rumours about himself before his term bursts, means it is difficult to truly switch public transport incarceration. Magnotta created multiple fan account pages, and off from posting your and researching at sought popularity to the extent own stories or to avoid the posts of others. What home on laptops and that he created his own. Aside from social media is more, there are those phones. ” in our personal lives, Peterson of us who put white also argues that satisfaction, borders on our Instagram in particular employment photos for the aesthetic, or those who apply certain animal filters to every satisfaction, is difficult to maintain and Snapchat selfie. In fact, some even sign off that social media is partially responsible every Facebook post with the same emoji and for this. Peterson argues it is more number of “x”s. Acting on brand can develop difficult to feel infinitely fulfilled as a into neurotic tendencies as opposed to having millennial, but we post and illustrate ourselves as seeming satisfied and seemingly harmless quirks. Those of us acquainted with social fulfilled on our social media profiles. networking sites are aware of the everyday Additionally, Peterson notes that a struggle to appear busy, relevant, pretty, social media presence is an integral influential, interesting - whatever the chosen part of obtaining and maintaining a job. adjective may be. As Peterson outlines, one of In the past ten years, we have seen the
21
SOCIAL. emergence of jobs that never existed for other generations but that are commonplace for millennials, such as influencers, youtubers etc. Workplace communication apps like Slack make it more difficult to switch off from work, as the traditional 9-5 hours blur into reading emails on public transport and researching at home on laptops and phones. LinkedIn profiles become not only a gateway for finding a new job, but an opportunity to brand yourself. The addictive qualities of social media are a large contributor to millennial burnout. One remark, by Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist evokes a sense of uneasiness. Harris found that refreshing Newsfeeds and homepages of apps by pulling the top of the screen down, replicates the satisfaction of pulling down slot machine levers (2). “You pull a lever and immediately receive either an enticing reward (a match, a prize!) or nothing,” remarks Harris. “We cannot know when we will be rewarded, and more often than not we don’t find anything interesting or gratifying, much like gambling. But that’s precisely what keeps us coming
“Social media giants are rarely thinking of what’s best for their users; the aim of the game is collecting personal data ”
22
back.” What exactly these rewards are, draws on the earlier expressed sentiment that fulfilment is difficult to actually attain for millennials online. We don’t know what fulfilment is. In an article headlined “Our minds can be hijacked” (3), former Silicon Valley employees discuss the dangers associated with social media use on mental health in particular. Referencing a study that social media use has been linked to depression (something that is also linked to gambling) they admit that it is not difficult to see why many have distanced themselves from social media. The example of Snapchat’s addictive Snapstreaks feature, which encourages daily contact between users is an insight into the mentality of social media companies and is used to exemplify just one of the issues with social media; the fear of losing the streak encourages addiction. The fact that users can see the top streaks of other users can also intensify addiction, returning again to the problem of comparison. An internal Facebook report from two years ago showed that using the site is connected to when teens feel “insecure” and “need a confidence boost” (4). This research seems to suggest that social media giants are rarely thinking of what’s best for their
SOCIAL. users; the aim of the game is collecting personal data for financial gain. Maintaining our personal brand and failing to achieve the life we lead online in real life has taken a toll on our generation. The recent trend of detoxing from social media is a proposed antidote to burnout. This is when you deactivate social media accounts for a period of time in search of rest and rehabilitation away from screens. Safeguarding ourselves and each other in relation to our social media use and how it affects our mental health should be a primary concern for our generation. According to an article from the Child Mind Institute social media users are 13-66% more likely to have depression (5). A study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology entitled “No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression� suggested changing our social media habits could undo the effects of millennial burnout (6). In the study, 143 undergraduate students from the University of Pennsylvania were randomly chosen to reduce social media use of either Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to 10 minutes, per platform, per day. Simultaneously another cohort of students used social media as usual for three weeks, to act as a control group. The results found that limited use showed significant reductions in loneliness and depression over three weeks compared to the group who had unlimited access to social media platforms. The findings of the study suggest that limiting social media use to approximately 30 minutes per day may lead to significant improvement in well-being. This is not new information for many, but as a result of the addictive features inbuilt into social media, it can be difficult to exercise control over how much time we spend a day on these apps.
Apple users can benefit from using the screen time management feature which limits time on particular apps as selected by the user. The millennial generation are known for engaging publicly with the notion of self-care, but studies show we are not taking care of ourselves. In the context of social media and millennial burnout, our generation needs to exercise selfcare in an area proven to be a threat to our mental health and wellbeing.
1. Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burn-
out Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
2. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/08/social-media-copies-gambling-methods-to-create-psychological-cravings
3. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia
4. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/01/facebook-advertising-data-insecure-teens
5. https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/
6. https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/ jscp.2018.37.10.751
23
CULTURE..
Give Us The Night
Words by Tom Jordan Collage by Aoife Donnellan
A
pattern of implicit bias to be allowed to stay open past state body. Give Us The Night against specific types of 12.30am. These licensing laws has been in contact with the
cultural output is emerging in are outdated and have inspired Arts Council and have told Dublin, leaving local inhabitants heated debate regarding the MISC. that while the council without a healthy and vibrant economics and moral politics of agrees in principle with their nightlife. Give Us the Night is the laws. a campaign launched in 2019
endeavours,
they
implied
The Arts Council was that as they are a government
in an effort to effect positive established under the Arts Act agency it would not be feasible change to nightlife in Ireland. 2003 in order to promote the to The campaign is specifically knowledge,
appreciation
publicly
endorse
the
and campaign.
looking for a complete overhaul practice of the arts in Ireland, of the Special Exemption Orders among other things. Like the act on
The lack of value placed the
cultural
potential
system. This system currently under which it was established, of nightlife and the culture enforced in Ireland results in the Arts Council should not associated with it can be seen premises having to apply weekly discriminate based on thematic, in the diminishing venues in for a “special exemption order� aesthetic
or
philosophical Dublin. Earlier in the year the
from the District Court in order frameworks as an independent Tivoli theatre, home to District
24
CULTURE. 8 was knocked down to make way for a hotel.
Shaw was not in tune with the “emerging
The same happened to the nightclub Hangar on
pattern of development in the vicinity” as
Andrew’s Lane in late 2018. There are limited
explanation for their refusal of planning
venues for developing artists to perform their
permission. The block surrounding it is now
work and grow their audiences. The closing of
derelict, waiting no doubt for the development
the Bernard Shaw, a pub and night-time venue
of the sites into either hotels, luxury blocks,
on South Richmond Street, in October of this
unaffordable student accommodation or
year was met with a flood of outrage and sadness
office space for conglomerates.
from across the country. Hozier, the Irish musician
tweeted, “without interesting places like these the
discernible ideology in the way that culture
city loses its heartbeat”, with FourFour magazine
is permitted to exist in Ireland. It punishes
adding, “This has to stop, Dublin is losing its soul.”
venues that are for the local rather than
The closure also prompted numerous
the tourist. Cultural spaces, artists, and art
editorials in the Irish press. Una Mullaly wrote
organisations across the country are under
in The Irish times, “The sense that cultural and
attack. Without clear and vocal advocacy, the
creative venues in the capital are under attack
“Arts” and cultural life in Ireland are at risk of
is not just a narrative, it is a reality. The impact
falling by the wayside to bigger and more
the Shaw’s closure will have is both real and
lucrative interests.
There is an unspoken but clearly
symbolic,” before going on to outline how, the Shaw was refused permission for the retention of their backyard outdoor area where they held gigs and which contained Eatyard, a collection of street food vendors, as well as the famous Big Blue Bus. These elements were central to the Bernard Shaw’s brand, aesthetic and business model. The closing of the Bernard Shaw was at the time the latest in a series of closures that are indicative of a prioritisation of the interests of tourists and multinational technology companies at the expense of people working and living in the city.
An Bord Pleanala stated that the Bernard
25
CULTURE.
Between Art and Reality “Everything we need that is not food or love is here in the tabloid racks. The tales of the supernatural and extraterrestrial. The miracle vitamins, the cures for cancer, the remedies for obesity. The cults of the famous and the dead.” -Don DeLillo, White Noise Words by Aaron Finnegan
T
26
his quote is the very last line from
DeLillo’s first novel, explores these
White Noise, a book concerned
concepts as it follows a news broadcaster
with ideas of mortality, mass
who embarks on a road trip across Middle
hysteria, and the nature of reality itself.
America to document what the country
A lot of DeLillo’s work centres on this
is “really like”. This desire to document
idea that reality as we perceive it is not
what is “unquestionably real”, and to
necessarily how it is perceived by others.
represent it in its most attractive form,
He is compelled by the ideas of French
is not just a literary one. This permeates
philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s concept
every facet of our society and has done
of simulation and simulacra. Briefly,
so in various forms for centuries. From
Baudrillard’s theories on simulation and
the polished representations of divinity
simulacrum are as follows: a simulation
that cover the ceiling of the Sistine
is a false representation of something
chapel to the advertising culture of the
tangible and real, while a simulacrum is a
1960s that sought to show Americans
representation of something that has so
the paradigms of a nuclear family; we are
many different forms of simulation that
continuously bombarded with images
it has no discernible original. Americana,
that try to represent an ideal that has
CULTURE. no real basis in reality.
a smaller scale is a new
We carry this desire to
development, rather than
represent and to create into
the usual mega-industry of
our daily lives. Our presence
advertising that held the
on social media is meant
world by the throat for most
to represent us, or rather,
of the twentieth century.
is meant to be an accurate
As the world is changed
simulation of us in an online
and
setting. But for some, the
the internet, we consume
challenge lies in representing the best possible version of us that could be represented. Rather than being a living, breathing document of a life, our online representation becomes a copy of what we would like our life to be. In a sense, we become authors of how we are perceived as
we
constantly
strive
to reinvent and become something more. We claim to be documenting life, but really we document what we want our life to be. As Baudrillard puts it, rather than having something real, we have “the generation by models of a real without origin or reality”. Michelangelo’s
representation of God was not based on any living, breathing human, but instead it was a representation of what was considered
a
symbol of divinity at the time. This representation of God is a simulacrum. We find it in White Noise when the protagonist takes a friend to see the “Most Photographed Barn In America”: the barn underwent to
no
becoming
photographed
journey the
most
barn
in
the country - it simply is, because that is the label the locals have chosen for it. Seeing champion
this
people ideal
on
brought
information
closer
on
a
by
more
personal scale, and to ensure that we are still sufficiently ensnared
by
ingrained
cultural ideals, the media has adapted to push these ideals at a much more intimate level than they have done previously; just as video killed the radio star, the smartphone has effectively obliterated
television.
Influencer
culture
has shot to the center of the world stage in recent years. Confined to websites and apps like Facebook and
Instagram,
each
person becomes their own advertising agency, and each one reaches millions per day,
27
CULTURE. ensuring that the cults of the famous and the
they see both something they want and
dead continue to thrive, just at a point where
something they are, within said style. In
they are in danger of being forgotten. Their
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nobel Prize lecture, he
representation of a perfect life is consistent
commented on the nature of art, stating that
throughout their respective profiles with images
a writer is putting forth their own feelings on
of travel, expensive food, niche experiences,
something and saying “This is the way it feels
alcohol, and ideals of perfection curated to
to me. Can you understand what I’m saying?
appear as though these are basic elements of
Does it also feel this way to you?” Despite
a person’s daily life. This is a representation that
the fact that this creation of content that
has no real basis in reality. It is an amalgamation
represents something unattainable has its
of topics chosen to appeal to the largest possible
own agenda and is mainly a machine for the
audience; rather than document a life that has
world of marketing to catch us in our most
become extraordinary through achieving the
vulnerable states, it can, in a way, act as a
means to make it such. In other words, it is a
means of connection for those who feel that
document of a life that is lived to represent what
other parts of life have nothing to offer them.
it wants to be, without appreciating what it is.
This is how the simulacrum manifests
itself in the real world, when we try to do as we see. The image undergoes permutations and then manifests itself in reality through one who wishes to exemplify the best parts of their idols, and so makes them real using themselves as an avatar. While unable to achieve true simulation, the follower ends up at something closer to homage, and readily identifies with others who have attempted the same thing. This could be seen as representing a loss of individuality on some level, but on another actually stands as an example of honest human connection in a perpetually connected world. When people commit to a persona or a style, it is because
28
DeLillo’s idea of documenting a
“
When people commit to a persona or a style, it is because they see both something they want and something they are, within said style.
”
CULTURE. world in the most minute detail to the
beat against what they tell you is the truth.
point where the details blend into the
bigger picture carries through here. We’re
your fingers, a craving that clicks harder than
presented with a collage of different lives
the strongest nicotine addiction, a buzz
every second we spend scrolling through
just barely audible in the back of your head,
our phones, or rather, we’re presented with
pushing you forward, and pulling you back,
a collage of what our lives should aspire to
the perpetual white noise that encases you
be. We hope that one day we’ll catch up
in the cults of the famous and the dead.
It will forever be there, at the tip of
to these aspirations, but we secretly know in our hearts that we’ll never get there. It sounds insidious, but in a way, it’s weirdly hopeful. To get out of bed in the morning and to look at everything you experience and wonder whether or not that’s real, to know the difference between what’s happening to you and what’s happening around you, to see the cracks that run through everything, and to say to yourself “I can be better tomorrow than I am today.”
It’s easy to be cynical about this
sort of thing, to say that we’re bound by systems from which we can’t escape and can never hope to effectively change because for the most part, that is true. What we want is based on what everyone else perceives to be desirable on the whole, and we will always be bound by that. But to slip through the cracks and to recognize what matters to you, and to acknowledge that you’re only seeing a vision of what everyone claims to be ideal living gives you freedom to live on your own terms and
29
CREATIVE.
LUKA Words by Darryl Clarence Johnson
L
uka’s school report worried his mother. It opened by reiterating the already familiar observation that he answers “beyond the curriculum” with “unconventional words and grammar”. But it was the new recommendation that he transfer to a special school that was particularly moving. She concluded that more must be done to promote Luka’s future. Perhaps it was a mistake to wait this long. After all, Luka’s mother had previously noticed peculiar behavior. For instance, his length of laughter and crying was much longer than expected. And while she played it off as merely a quirk, her sister had previously suggested that there may be an underlying cause. Her concern began to fester. She recalled teachers’ accounts of Luka playing the flute after school. She herself had once seen him with paint and brushes. And most convincing of all were the fourteen line texts he would sometimes show visiting friends. She became consumed by the fear that Luka would not maximize his potential - until it dawned on her to take him to the doctor. When it was time to summon Luka, he was found lying on his bed, reading a book. “What’s this?” she enquired. Her concern turned to frustration on reading the title: A Hand of Wires by Victoria Lucas. She had forbidden anything but textbooks to enter the house. “You can’t be reading this. Haven’t you seen your reports?” she said with exasperation. “My grades are okay” riposted Luka, with an unconcerned look on his face. “Your grades may be okay, but they ought to be excellent. Get ready, we’re going out.” At the consultation, the doctor asked Luka difficult questions, drew blood and took a saliva sample. After a short waiting period to process the results, the pair were called back in. “Borderline creativity” was the doctor’s verdict, “Preceptium 30 mg twice daily. Let’s check in with Luka in two months”. Luka’s mother had secretly hoped that the doctor would have better news, but the diagnosis did not leave any room for doubt. “At least something can be done to help” she thought as she went to the pharmacy for the first course of medicine. The second consultation was much shorter than the first. The doctor asked a couple of questions and registered the information into his computer with a contented look. “There is
30
CREATIVE. progress” he said. “Check in again in three months. And bring new school reports.” Luka’s next school report was exemplary. Teachers commented that his command of English was excellent, and that there was even an improvement in his maths - a subject that he had long been struggling with. During the third consultation, the doctor barely looked at Luka at all. He ran some simple tests, glanced at his case notes and skimmed the school reports. Without much thought he turned to the mother and announced, “Great news: your son is now in the range fit for school and work”. On the journey home, Luka’s mother was brimming with excitement. “You’re improving” she exclaimed, looking expectantly at her son, who was gazing out the car window. “Honey, didn’t you hear me? Isn’t that great?” Luka turned his face towards his mother and gave an appropriate smile, touched her hand and thanked her for her help. This reaction was pleasant and appeased her momentary need for reassurance. Luka’s newfound compliance was indeed a relief, which was going to make his way through the system much easier for himself. But it also left her feeling uneasy with what she had done. A part of her could not help but miss the boy who would have doodled during the doctor’s appointment, caricaturing his combover, and fed his medication to his one-sided friendships: the small creatures he would have found in the garden to keep in modified Tupperware. Luka since released these captives and was now even-keeled, never being oddly playful nor asking outlandish questions. And now that she thought of it, visiting her sister had never been so pain-free. The way that he now conventionally played with his cousins made all prior doubts a thing of the past. Pain-free was what it was. And was that not what a mother wanted for her children, to expose them to the least amount of pain possible? Would it not be selfish to preserve Luka’s inconvenient eccentricities for her and the world’s delight? The thoughts whirring through her head made her feel upset and uncomfortable; feelings that she had neither the time nor patience to address. Her doctor prescribed medication to guide her through the stresses of Luka’s transition. She hastily opened her handbag and rummaged around for it, and after an uncomfortable dry swallow, she could feel her nerves calm and was able to look at her son once more. “Luka, what would you like for dinner?” “You decide - I’m happy to eat anything, even Brussels sprouts!” he said with a chuckle and a loving smile. What a wonderful boy, she thought to herself. What a wonderful boy she had.
31
About MISC. Welcome to issue 125 of MISC. Magazine.
MISC. is Ireland’s oldest student publication and was founded as TCD Miscellany in 1895. It showcases independent perspectives on the political, social and cultural zeitgeist from Dublin and farther afield. Previous contributors and editors include Samuel Beckett, David Norris, Leo Varadkar, Shane Ross, and Damien Kiberd.
