I Volunteer

Picture this. You and your significant other have just moved in together, the apartment now becoming a shared space. You unfortunately find that your significant other isn't as tidy as you initially thought. They always leave dirty dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor, and random other items strewn about the apartment. You'd hoped that they would eventually realize that the apartment is in fact a shared space and begin cleaning up after themselves…… they never do. You take liberty to constantly clean up after them as you would like a clean environment to reside in. They continue dirtying it up and you continue cleaning up right behind them. The significant other never gets the incentive to begin cleaning up behind themselves because they've got someone to do it for them, constantly reinforcing their negative behavior. 

Now picture this. The apartment is earth, the significant other is everyone else, and of course you're you. I thought of these similarities while doing a beach cleanup hosted by my college. While we were doing a good deed of course, it can't have been considered progressive as there will constantly be people who litter and beach cleanups, sidewalk cleanups, and others will continue as well. 

One might say let's be the devil's advocate: let that shit build up and stop volunteering to reinforce negative behavior because you wanna do a 'good deed'. But of course that shit would in fact build up, more so than it already is i'm afraid. We shouldn't stop those who are giving their free time to make the world appear nicer than it is. Or should we? Because in fact they are only making the world “appear” nicer than it is and by the world I mean first world countries. 

Chile's Atacama Desert Heaps - primarily built up of fashion articles

“fashion show shines light on vast Chile clothes dump visible from space” - The Guardian

The World’s Largest Landfills as of 2019

Without playing devil's advocate, because I'm sure people are not likely to stop volunteering anytime soon, how would we go about making the world not only appear nicer than it is but actually be nicer than it is. Historically there have always been masses of people who struggle to make ends meet. Even today the average working class individual struggles with housing, food, and transportation while the upperclassmen rarely know what it means to struggle. Even today it’s baffling that the city I'm in doesn't have recycling. Its fucking 2023. Hell nah 

It seems to me that there are only progressive movements when the world is in peril, the ozone layer in the near past and climate change at our feet. As long as individuals feel that they are profiting from a financial exchange, they wouldn't be likely to put themselves at a deficit in order to prevent others from living in harsher conditions. It gives fucketh all environments.  

I mean I get it, you don't want to feel negative emotions and fuck anyone who doesnt even care about you, or that you don't even know, if that means that you get to feel good about yourself. But the only way to change the world is to first change yourself. Show people that you care instead of hiding it in fear of you being played with. Albeit it may be a tad inconvenient to find decent ways around this issue without meeting raised prices, or losing the precious time that you have in your day. Time that could go towards working or spending time with your loved ones. 

As strikes have been proven to be effective forms of protest, might I suggest another one? This likely being the easiest strike in the world to put into effect. The fashion heaps in Chiles Atacama Desert for one is full of fashion that spans for miles. So how about…. I dont know…. Going on a clothing strike? Pshhhhhh that one sounds preposterous so just kidding right? Lets go on an EVERYTHING strike!! Okay tata

Deana Martin - You’re Nobody ‘til Somebody Loves You   :39-54

Helen Merrill - Anything Goes  :54 - 1:37

Work Cited

Johnson, Sarah, and Maurício Nahas. “Castoffs to catwalk: fashion show shines light on vast Chile clothes     dump visible from space.” The Guardian, 9 May 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/global-                    development/article/2024/may/08/castoffs-to-catwalk-fashion-show-shines-light-on-vast-chile-clothes-       dump-visible-from-space. Accessed 12 May 2025.