ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2020-05-16 11:32 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2020-05-16 11:32 pm
Poem: "The Right to Repair"
This is the freebie for the May ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from alexseanchai. It also fills the "WILD CARD: Repair" square in my 6-1-19 card for the Cotton Candy Bingo fest.
"The Right to Repair"
If you can't fix it,
you don't own it.
If someone else gets
to decide what you can
do with something --
if they can turn it
on and off, change
its settings, make it do
what they want it to do --
then it's not yours, it's theirs.
You only own what you control.
Repair is better than reuse
or recycling, because it keeps
things as high up the ladder
as long as possible, before
entropy drags them down.
Repair saves you money --
it's cheaper than replacing things,
and if you learn to do it yourself
then the labor costs you nothing.
Repair teaches engineering
and creative problem-solving.
To know how something works
is to have power over it.
Repair saves the world.
Earth is a finite planet with
a limited amount of resources,
which repair conserves for
sustainable use in the long run.
Repair connects people and things,
and people to each other and
things to all different things.
We have a right to devices
that can be opened and
stickers that can be removed.
We have a right to documentation
for everything, to error codes and
wiring diagrams, to flowcharts
and troubleshooting instructions.
We have a right to standard tools
and non-proprietary fasteners,
to service parts at fair prices.
We have a right to choose
our own technicians, or to make
repairs in the privacy of our own homes,
and to replace consumables ourselves.
We have a right, and if corporations
won't give it, then we'll take it.
We'll take it with better products
and customer relations, with
transparency and sustainability.
Corporations that mistreat customers
are just like any other bad part:
they can be replaced.
Repair is a right because
it grants independence, it
inspires pride in ownership, and
it makes consumers into contributors.
Repair is a war on entropy, and
that may not be winnable, but it
can achieve a fighting retreat.
Repair is syntropy with
duct tape in one hand
and WD-40 in the other.
* * *
Notes:
The right to repair is detailed in this manifesto. I used a lot of the same phrases in this poem, but much of this is stuff I've been saying for years. You may also remember the one I got from my grandparents:
Eat it all, use it up, wear it out.
Make it do or do without.
Repair instructions are available for clothes, electronics, toys, and other household items.
Repair kits are essential for effective repairs. While specialized kits are available for many items, some general kits are good for many purposes. These includes a backpacking repair kit, roadside emergency kit, sewing kit, and long-term survival kit.
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from alexseanchai. It also fills the "WILD CARD: Repair" square in my 6-1-19 card for the Cotton Candy Bingo fest. "The Right to Repair"
If you can't fix it,
you don't own it.
If someone else gets
to decide what you can
do with something --
if they can turn it
on and off, change
its settings, make it do
what they want it to do --
then it's not yours, it's theirs.
You only own what you control.
Repair is better than reuse
or recycling, because it keeps
things as high up the ladder
as long as possible, before
entropy drags them down.
Repair saves you money --
it's cheaper than replacing things,
and if you learn to do it yourself
then the labor costs you nothing.
Repair teaches engineering
and creative problem-solving.
To know how something works
is to have power over it.
Repair saves the world.
Earth is a finite planet with
a limited amount of resources,
which repair conserves for
sustainable use in the long run.
Repair connects people and things,
and people to each other and
things to all different things.
We have a right to devices
that can be opened and
stickers that can be removed.
We have a right to documentation
for everything, to error codes and
wiring diagrams, to flowcharts
and troubleshooting instructions.
We have a right to standard tools
and non-proprietary fasteners,
to service parts at fair prices.
We have a right to choose
our own technicians, or to make
repairs in the privacy of our own homes,
and to replace consumables ourselves.
We have a right, and if corporations
won't give it, then we'll take it.
We'll take it with better products
and customer relations, with
transparency and sustainability.
Corporations that mistreat customers
are just like any other bad part:
they can be replaced.
Repair is a right because
it grants independence, it
inspires pride in ownership, and
it makes consumers into contributors.
Repair is a war on entropy, and
that may not be winnable, but it
can achieve a fighting retreat.
Repair is syntropy with
duct tape in one hand
and WD-40 in the other.
* * *
Notes:
The right to repair is detailed in this manifesto. I used a lot of the same phrases in this poem, but much of this is stuff I've been saying for years. You may also remember the one I got from my grandparents:
Eat it all, use it up, wear it out.
Make it do or do without.
Repair instructions are available for clothes, electronics, toys, and other household items.
Repair kits are essential for effective repairs. While specialized kits are available for many items, some general kits are good for many purposes. These includes a backpacking repair kit, roadside emergency kit, sewing kit, and long-term survival kit.
Hear Hear
(Also, small typo alert, instead of finite planet, you have finite planed.)
Re: Hear Hear
Cool.
One thing I've seen in "reality TV" is a totally predictable, potentially very dangerous exploitation of humans' tendency to mimic other humans, especially humans in authority. So for instance, what's the first rule people learn about cooking? Usually it is some version of "Don't rush, because a kitchen is full of things that are sharp or hot, and you could get hurt." Cooking reality shows tend to use time limits, often unreasonably short ones, which pushes people to rush, because it's "entertaining." I saw one show where two different people got injured in the same episode, because they were rushing. That's not just bad for those people. It's encouraging all the viewers to exacerbate a known bug in human wetware by making it seem okay not only to rush, but to push other people to rush and get them hurt, and to enjoy watching that.
I find it off-putting, beyond the embarrassment squick that the shows also run on. Humans are very imitative. When I see "entertainment" that encourages their worst habits, I worry how much damage that's doing. And these shows don't even come with "Don't try this at home, because rushing in the kitchen gets people hurt."
>>(Also, small typo alert, instead of finite planet, you have finite planed.)<<
Fixed, thanks!
Re: Hear Hear
(Although even in Bake Off the limits seem a little more reasonable than on American competition shows and usually when people run up against time it's because they bit off more than they could chew and the judges warned them they would end up rushing and that's Bad.)
Re: Hear Hear
It's one of several, but they depend on the configuration of the show.
Some shows are real but don't include any of the stupid things. I used to love Crockett's Victory Garden because it basically ran in real time -- he just went outside and did things in the garden with a camera crew there. Don't see much of that style anymore, but it was very nice.
There have been a few shows where what people made was so interesting I watched the whole thing ("Blown Away") and others where I just had my partner call me in to see the finished pieces ("Lego Masters").
>> Repair Shop may actually be up your ally. There's not an unreasonable time limit set on anything, <<
That's thoughtful.
>> the judges warned them they would end up rushing and that's Bad.)<<
Smart judges. The show I saw, the people in charge kept saying things that led to rushing. >_
Re: Hear Hear
Re: Hear Hear