My bike was stolen yesterday. I love that bike. I have not owned a bike for many years because my first bike was stolen in college. This bike was a gift from my parents. It was a beautiful, comfortable, and small bike for my small height. Perhaps this is my punishment for not having rode it in a month. Perhaps its Karma for moving, for feeling too happy, for being too self-involved the last year, for not finishing my thesis, for my privelage.
Can I really call this sustainability stolen? One cannot speak of sustainability without speaking of social justice. The inequities of the world that have created this enormous catastrophe we are in. It's not the person who can't afford a car that was buying gas from BP after all. In the more grand scheme of sustainability, our planet would have died long ago if everyone lived as I do. And I live more simply than many others and less simply than most. Privilege does not exist without oppression.
Perhaps it's Karmic for also owning a car. Right now I'd gladly rather have my car stolen than my bike. Maybe then I would stop feeling guilty for owning a car and feeling guilty for not having taken more advantage of the person powered transportation that was at my finger, er, toe tips.
It's pathetic to mourn the loss of an item. Something that is replaceable. However, in our over consumptive culture it's quite the norm. My only consolation is that I hope the bike was stolen out of need. That the person is either happily riding it or has sold it for money to buy basic necessities like food or clothing.
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