All my life I’ve tried to do work that was important. Work that protected and preserved the beauty of creation. I started with biology in college, but tired of the university system after several years and found that with only a 4-year degree in biology, there were many more work opportunities in computers. I tried to leverage both the biology and computer background in graduate school and in my own business afterward. However, I found that there was no money for environmental applications the software I developed. So I tried marketing it for commercial applications. This was also difficult for different reasons, including lack of imagination on the part of potential users.
I used my free time to travel and educate myself about the important issues in the world. Since I was self-employed, I tried splitting my time between work for pay and volunteer work that was important. However, the cost of living in the US limited what I could do as a volunteer. Finally, I left to work as a volunteer with four organizations in Latin America. This was very satisfying and I wanted to continue but I ran out of money. I tried to get a little financial assistance from two of the organizations, but the funding opportunities were so meager that even a small grant was not possible. So I found a job in Alaska and worked there for six years in a position that paid less than half of what I was used to making in the US, but was at least for the cause of environmental conservation, which is important. I couldn’t find that kind of work in 25 years of living in Los Angeles and Kansas City.
However, now I think that the good-paying jobs in environmental conservation (and in international development) are too entrenched in the system that is causing all of the problems. Government agencies, big nonprofits, universities are largely financed by big business and are generally supporting or legitimizing the transnational corporate agenda.
That leaves the best option for doing good work being to finance it yourself. The only catch is how you earn your money. Did it ultimately come from your support of corporations that destroy the environment and peoples’ lives in some part of the world? Part of living well should be understanding and taking responsibility for the effects of what you do for work, what you consume, and what you invest in.