The Ethics of Printing

No yellow, no print; no chip, no print;
I've had enough!

Long, long ago, in galaxy far . . .

Well, back when I got my first desktop computer (IBM PC, two floppy drives, 128K RAM) and a dot-matrix printer, the whole set up, including the word processing software to run it (WordStar, baby!) cost $5000.  I had to take money out of my retirement account to pay for it because it was, actually, a major life investment.  And it paid off.  I ran two non-profit organizations with that computer, and my husband completed his bachelor's degree just before his 50th birthday.  Major life investment.

Since then I've gone through several changes in operating software, multiple word processing programs (does anyone use WordPerfect anymore?), and a few printers.  I'm about to say "enough!"  

Where this is headed is the same place that Cory Doctorow is going with his "enshittification" writings.  (He did start talking about this well before the new book, so it's not like there weren't warnings.)  For me, it's the printer.

The fun thing about those old dot matrix printers is that, if you were cheap (I like to think of myself as thrifty), you could re-ink the ribbon and keep using it for years.  Nowadays, we have printers with ink "cartridges" that you just pop in when you need 'em.  They even print in color.  But the cartridges are getting more and more expensive.  And while they can be recycled, they are not easily refilled and reused.  HP is among those who have set their equipment up to check the cartridges for embedded chips that indicate that the cartridges were manufactured by HP.  No HP chip, no print.

I just had to order new cartridges for my HP Officejet Pro because the yellow cartridge ran out of ink, and the printer would not print without it.  Not even in plain old black (of which there was a plentiful supply remaining).  Ordering meant that I had to interrupt my work to deal with the problem.  I checked a local office supply store and Amazon and decided that I would order the overnight delivery from Amazon because I was just too tired to drive to the store and get the yellow cartridge.  Amazon promised to have it at my door by 8:00 a.m., so I went for the whole thing and ordered the entire set of four cartridges.

Amazon, however, failed to deliver.   Around 11:00 the next morning, when the notification indicated that the cartridges would in fact be delivered the next day, I went to the office supply store to buy the yellow cartridge.  Interestingly enough (not), when I got back home, the package from Amazon had been delivered.  Later than promised, yes, but earlier than their faulty notification system indicated.  

I popped in the locally purchased yellow cartridge and went back to work.  But the whole incident grated.  The price of the set of cartridges is more than the cost of a new printer (admittedly a cheap one).  The whole set up is just that:  cheap equipment, expensive operations.  This happened with Adobe Acrobat.  It is happening with Windows (now they want us to throw out our old--still functioning--computers to upgrade the operating system).

I've had enough.

I am shopping for a new printer now.  This old one is starting to have some problems with the duplex function, so I am expecting that it will be wearing out soon.  The non-yellow cartridges still have some ink in them, so I will use the printer until it stops working or another cartridge runs out of ink, but, when it stops working--for whatever reason--I'm hauling it to Best Buy for recycling.  I will also buy a NOT-HP printer, because I am through supporting their business model.  And I will get a printer that uses ink tanks instead of ink cartridges.  

I still try to use less paper, avoiding printing unless it seems absolutely necessary.  I print on both sides whenever I can--and, when I clean out old files, I use any single-sided sheets that I can find for printing drafts.  But paper is not the only concern in printing, and the (next?) biggest concern for the environment seems to be the plastic waste that is generated because of manufacturing practices and the business model.  I broke with Adobe.  Now it's HP's turn to lose a customer.  I'm looking at Microsoft and Google next.  Amazon needs to be on the list as well.  

Yes, I am setting myself up for more work.  More trips to the store, less convenience.  I may actually have to learn new ways to use the computer, but I really am tired of being used to make billionaires richer while they turn the planet into a garbage dump.  I'm just going to have to go to bricks and mortar stores, shop around, and appreciate the experience of being a customer, not a cash machine.

Away from the Algorithm

A Google Logo

So I wanted to check something on this blog, but I am not at my home computer.  I didn't realize that the ease with which my typing "happy ethical human" in the search box would return the link to my blog is actually thanks to some algorithm that tracks what I search for and how often I search for a particular term and not because "happy ethical human" is an easily found term on the internet.  Indeed, it is not.  So, instead of a link to my blog, Google search (which was not even in AI mode when I hit the return key), just returned the following results (which I share out of interest for the thoughts now provoked).  

A "happy ethical human" is an individual whose subjective well-being and life satisfaction are enhanced by living an ethical life, which often involves pursuing meaningful activities, developing virtues, and acting with integrity. Research suggests a reciprocal relationship: ethical proclivities tend to increase happiness, and greater happiness can foster more positive ethical judgments and cooperative social behaviors. While happiness isn't a sole guarantee of a good life, and unethical behavior can lead to negative outcomes, modern positive psychology and traditional philosophy explore how the pursuit of a good and meaningful life often involves both happiness and ethical conduct.

The Reciprocal Relationship

Ethics -> Happiness:.

A key finding is that ethical behavior can increase happiness and well-being. Engaging in meaningful activities, developing virtues like honesty and compassion, and acting with purpose contribute to a richer, more fulfilling life.

Happiness -> Ethics:.

Conversely, a state of happiness can make individuals more ethical. People who are happy tend to be more social, cooperative, and more likely to make improved ethical judgments.

The Nature of "Ethical" and "Happy"

Ethical actions:.

This includes adhering to standards of right and wrong, practicing virtues like honesty and empathy, and recognizing the importance of the common good.

Happy living:.

Beyond fleeting pleasure, happiness is linked to concepts like human flourishing and subjective well-being. It involves living a life of meaning, engagement, and purpose.

Balancing Personal Happiness and Selfishness

A crucial distinction is made between genuine happiness and pure hedonism or selfishness.

Giving excessive attention to one's own happiness at the expense of others can be considered unethical.

The goal is to pursue happiness in a way that doesn't lead to self-centeredness but rather to a more flourishing and ethically engaged life.

Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives

Ancient Philosophy:.

Thinkers like Aristotle focused on achieving eudaimonia, a concept of human flourishing and living a good life through virtue, rather than just pleasure.

Modern Philosophy:.

While some modern views link happiness to subjective satisfaction, traditional ethics emphasizes an objective, common good that individuals strive for together.

Positive Psychology:.

This field studies human flourishing and well-being, exploring how happiness, meaning, and ethical behavior intertwine.

As it happens, I don't think this AI-generated comment on the juxtaposition of "happy" and "ethical" is too far off the mark.  While it doesn't emphasize the "human" part of the blog title, the ideas of community and reciprocity do point to our humanity.  One thing that I appreciate as a nuance to this LLM attempt to embrace ethics is the recognition of the problem of selfishness.  As humans, we have needs as well as desires, which can, from time to time, get in the way of ethical choices even without the distorting lenses of our perceptions and biases.

That being said, I think I like this definition:

A "happy ethical human" is an individual whose subjective well-being and life satisfaction are enhanced by living an ethical life, which often involves pursuing meaningful activities, developing virtues, and acting with integrity. 

 I can but try.

Summer Flies

Not actual size

That could be a pun.  Summer always did seem to fly by when I was younger.  I can't say that it has slowed down as I age, but it does seem to be more miserable with the heat and the drought (except when my grandson comes over to mow the yard; then it rains--or threatens to rain).  Another misery that seems to be worse this year is the flies.  

The common housefly is all too common this year.  We had a bit of an invasion earlier in the summer, wherein my great granddaughter and I competed to kill every fly that we saw.  It was actually rather fun, and it brought back memories of East Africa.  

My late husband and I were given a house (duplex, lower floor) by the company he worked for in Dar es Salaam.  The living room had a sitting area with a built in divan shaped like a horseshoe.  There were windows on two sides of the room and ventilation slats.  The flies were everywhere--everywhere in East Africa.  My husband, both handy and clever, bought mosquito netting (screen wire for windows was not available in Dar right then) and stapled it to the outside of the windows.  That protected us from mosquitos for the most part, but flies are quite clever in finding a way into the house.  We had several fly swatters, and, lacking TV or other entertainment, we often sat in the living room in the evening, talking and killing flies.  I recall with some pride my "winning score" of five flies with one swat.

I would usually sweep up the day's debris and the dozen or more dead flies we had killed and dump it all in the trash can before we ended the evening and went to sleep.  A few times, of course, I was tired (or lazy!) and left the pile to be dealt with in the morning.  After a while, I noticed, when I did that, that the flies were missing from the pile.  I had thought they were surely dead the night before, but apparently some of them must have recovered and flown elsewhere.  

One evening the mystery was solved.  We heard a splat sound from the kitchen.  I ran in to see what had happened and saw the kitchen gecko on the floor.  He normally lived on the ceiling, but, it seems, he had been overindulging in the free banquet that we were providing in the evening's trash pile.  He had apparently gotten too fat for the little suckers on his feet to hold him on the ceiling.  So, splat!

This summer, we had a second infestation of flies.  Tiny red ones.  They were a misery, and they were too small to hit with a fly swatter.  I eventually searched the internet to find out about red house flies and discovered fruit flies.  The apple in the fruit bowl!  Summer entrances and exits, with the door held open too long, and that feast in the fruit bowl had attracted a mama and her babies.  Not feeling sentimental, I found an light trap with sticky inserts to catch them.   When that didn't work fast enough, I discovered that a bowl of apple cider vinegar with a little dish soap to break the surface tension of the liquid might work.  It did, like a charm.  

As I am preparing for another adventure in New York, I thought to clean up the light trap and insert a sheet of stickum in case any more surprise visitors show up in my absence.  The used one was fully covered with the remains of dozens of those pesky fruit flies.  Sadly, when I removed the sticky part of the trap, I found a little lizard (deceased) stuck to the surface on the back side.

I'm a little surprised that there is a lizard in my house.  Among other things, Biscuit may be old and house bound, but she is a hunter, even if it's just to catch whatever it is that is moving under the blanket (my foot!).  Still, I'm a little sad that my light trap caught the lizard.  If the trap hadn't been there, maybe the little lizard could have feasted as our gecko in Dar es Salaam did.  Maybe if nature had been allowed to do its thing, the fruit flies would have eventually succumbed to the lizard's hunting prowess.  I have to say that it would have been miserable for me, so I'm not going back to nature on this issue.  

In fact, I bought a half gallon of the apple cider vinegar.  I'll be glad when all this heat is over.  In the meantime, I am prepared with fly swatters and apple cider vinegar.  Still, I might give the light trap a rest, and see how it goes.  

Religious Wars and Their Ethics

A nativity to celebrate (and remember)

I've been digging around in old journals again, looking for tidbits for the Bibliography of Ethical Culture.  I renewed my membership in the Center for Inquiry, appreciating, as I do, their support for separation of church and state in Texas.  I participate in the Hill Country Freethinkers Association, which is, I believe, an affiliate of CFI.  Good people, good conversations.  We have a variety of religious beliefs, which we express easily and comfortably, respecting our differences and the nuances of belief that can come with many years of life and whole lot of PhDs at the table (plus one JD for seasoning).

CFI's journal, Free Inquiry, has a handy archive.  Of course, I'm going to check it for articles by Ethical Culturists (as far as I can recognize them).  EC writers were evident in the early issues, but not so much later on, so this effort may not take a great deal of time.  Indeed, the tone of the journal, after those first few years, seems a little more stridently anti-religious with the occasional active "debate" between Christians and freethinkers (I've only examined issues through 1999, so this is just an assessment of these early years).  

One issue that caught my eye, because I am now thinking about time and how we relate to it, is the Fall, 1993 issue, which focused on the question:  Should secular humanists celebrate rites of passage?  The issue talked about naming ceremonies, confirmations, weddings, memorial services and Christmas.  I tend not to think of Christmas as a rite of passage, but there it was:  Tom Flynn writing about "The Trouble with Christmas," a substantially shortened version, I assume, of his book of the same title.  Judging this issue by its cover--and its table of contents--it rather feels like there is a bit of a religious war in these pages.  Not that that is the viewpoint of the Editor, Paul Kurtz.  In this same issue, his "Letter from Berlin" says, very clearly:

Organized humanists—relatively small in number—believe deeply in democracy, tolerance, and human rights.

I'll take him at his word.  I have yet to read his contribution to The Ethical Forum (another short-lived Ethical Culture serial), but, just checking its contents, he seemed to refer to religious humanism in a positive way.  (I will report when I get a chance to sit down and read it more fully--and add The Ethical Forum to the Bibliography.)

All of this is context for my reaction to "The Trouble with Christmas."  It is one thing to recognize the history of the celebration, as far as we can know it, and its origins in the pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.  It is not entirely surprising to sense the negative judgments of those who associate the event with current religious belief systems and see the hypocrisy of the capitalistic version(s) of the holiday.  What struck me about Flynn's argument was the determination that humanists--being enlightened about the roots of the holiday--should then ignore it because we are no longer subject to the whims of nature.  That is, we know that the earth circumnavigates the sun on a tilted axis in a not-quite-perfect circle, which gives us seasons that we are able to predict.  Knowing the science, we no longer need to celebrate the return of the sun, so we can, in effect, ignore the solstice.  After all, most of us are no longer farmers, and we (mostly) have electricity.  Flynn says: 

Men and women can view the phenomena of nature with understanding and respect, instead of with superstition and uncomprehending fear.

A valid conclusion, but not, in my thinking, a justification for rejecting the season.  Flynn's perspective is remarkably urban, remarkably technological, remarkably ethno-centric (ignoring the achievements of Native Americans in understanding solar cycles) and, unfortunately, pre-climate change.

Two things struck me as I was (lightly) exploring this issue of Free Inquiry:

1. I am still repelled by language that denigrates another's religious belief--or, more specifically, denigrates another human being for holding the beliefs they do.  If I am free to believe as I wish, then others should be equally free.  If I am not to be persecuted (or insulted) for my beliefs, nor should any other be.  These diatribes against people of various faiths are no different--and no better--than the preacher who thumps his bible and shouts tirades against the godless secular humanists.  It is an unnecessary religious war that is fed by denial of "democracy, tolerance, and human rights."  Focus on that, I say, not whether the baby Jesus was born in a manger and angels sang "Joy to the World."
2. The earth does indeed circle(ish) the sun on its titled axes in its elliptical orbit and (I believe) we'd damned well better remember that.  It's a big deal for the tiny human ants living on its surface, messing with natural systems and forces that we cannot control, but we surely have screwed up.  This doesn't mean that we must now seek new ways to worship or pray to those screwed-up systems for relief from the big heat (or the big wind or the big water), but our "understanding and respect" might well extend beyond our own personal comfort to consider the human systems that we have created and continue to permit to alter and--for the sake of our human survival--damage our planet, consider and begin working to halt the damage and, if possible, reverse it.

I disagree with Flynn's reasoning, and I disagree with his conclusion.  I do not participate in Christmas celebrations to any great extent for mostly personal reasons.  The Ethical Society of Austin has an annual Solstice Celebration where we share songs and stories and favorite readings.  Last year I read "The Hunting of the Snark, Fit the First" to those gathered.  This year, I think I'll read "Fit the Second."  The language and rhythm is worth hearing (to my mind) even more than the "nonsense" words, despite the fact that it has nothing to with the season.  It is, in any case, a moment to share with friends and enjoy each other.  

Privately, I have been known to light a candle to celebrate the returning of the light.  Even as far south as Texas is, those short days and long nights can be dreary.  If I happen to notice the date on my calendar and have enough mental bandwidth to connect it to the movement of the sun, I have lit that candle in solitude and gratitude, happy to think of longer days and mehr licht.  

Is that a primitive response to nature?  Is that an ignorant response to the solar cycle?  No, it is my human acknowledgement of my human connection to the environment in which I live and--with "Fit the Second"--will be my human acknowledgement of my human need to connect with other humans with peace and goodwill.  We don't have to buy a tree, decorate our house, or go into debt with excessive gift giving to maintain either connection, but, I believe, we need both.  In the first days of winter, it's good to take a moment to appreciate both.