"The words were wrenched out of me. That inner critic who sat watch on my words was aghast. Suddenly I was ill at ease ... These were serious people I was sitting down with. Worldly people-Adults. And I was being hopelessly naive. True, they had progressive leanings-but they were operators ... heavyweights-such as the machine makes-keen animals, such as the jungle breeds. I had almost convinced them that I was a killer myself this hour and more."
"Sitting to the left of me, drinking a matcha latte, was a regional figure. Her work and mission was a project to change the culture of consumption among middle-class consumers. Her method was educational-she taught awareness. She wanted people to shift their business from cheap Walmart and fast Amazon to local businesses promoting a slow culture of quality, ecology, and community."
A journalist and organizer convenes two professionals to address overlapping social problems. A regional leader promotes changing middle‑class consumption toward local businesses and a slow culture of quality, ecology, and community through education and awareness. A national consultant works therapeutically with wealthy executives to alter overwork, aiming to slow destructive, productivity‑driven habits. The convenor impulsively proclaims "Love ... love is the answer," provoking inner embarrassment and exposing social expectations of toughness among worldly, machine‑like operators. Both initiatives confront entrenched behavior—consumer inertia and executive addiction to productivity—yet both seek cultural slowing as a remedy.
Read at East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda
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