I don't think about my coffee. I need it like I need air and water. I don't want to know which habitats have been destroyed so that I can make it through my day after a sleepless night. I don't want to think about the species I am driving closer to extinction with each sip. I don't want to hear about the lives of the people who grow those magic beans.
When I turn on my phone, I may check to see if it's charged. I've managed to ignore the environmental and labor issues around its production in China, but recently I read about the battery. Somewhere deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo, children are digging by hand to get the cobalt for my rechargeable lithium-ion battery. There are pictures and videos of this happening. I don't want to see them.
I read the news on my phone. It describes my enemies. The other side. People who are evil for knowing right and voting wrong. Gullible fools who can't see through the lies. This reductionist view feels safe now. I have my candidate, and they have theirs. Territory staked out. They are wrong, and I am right.
There will be a cost to this. Maybe not violence at the polls or a post-election revolution, but in two weeks, we'll begin to pay. If my side is victorious, my enemies will be silenced. But in time, every diminished voice will call out. Every enemy we make will gather strength. They won't forget.
Breakfast is hard. Maybe I'll hit the snooze button one more time.
