Let's sit at home and reflect.

"It's a very heretical idea, what I'm about to say: Latvians would be able to focus for a while if they didn't have gasoline. […] You shouldn't have to give private citizens gasoline so they can drive around. And if there weren't any telephones either… we'd write letters to one another, once again in our own thoughts, not in these shouted half-sentences with their chatty tone, gesticulating over the telephone. And if there weren't any televisions—I think we could collect ourselves very quickly if it were like that. If there would just be the necessary maintenance—you need gasoline to bring you home, to till the field—but we have so many cars, all these lightweight cars that we drive all around without knowing why. Let's sit at home and reflect."

– Imants Ziedonis, "on what's necessary in order to think," 1991 (via Žanete)

Any Latvians out there—Rich?—feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong. This is the first time I've really translated something without the written text in front of me. Mr. Ziedonis is an articulate man, but my ears are not always as sharp. Related: the NRDC's page updating the public on the oil spill in the Gulf. Write to your senators; ride your bike. Or sit at home and reflect.

© Zan McQuade. All rights reserved.