Course Name: Environmental Studies 4009 (Government and Corporate Effects on the Environment)
Course Description: This lecture based course will focus on the unethical and ethical decisions of governments and corporations around the world that are in relation with climate change. We will study their decisions as well as an important phenomena which is their recent shift of blaming consumers for climate change. Students will pick certain corporations to focus on and study their decisions, as well as local or national governments. Students will interview locals and see how responsible they feel for climate change, and if it’s an excessive amount (which the government and corporations want).
Each student will be assessed on their research as well as what they bring to the table in our lively debates. This valuable course will bring each student different insights about who is really to blame for climate change, and why it’s important to take the first step to actually recognize who it is. So then we can continue to the next step of really fixing the issue.
In this article I’m only focusing on the “Consumerism” and “Environmentalism” parts, because they are the most crucial. The author of this article, Ross M. Hayduk, dives deeply into this cautionary tale about the environment and the consumers, which is called, Wall-E. The whole movie revolves around the company Buy N Large, and how they have monopolized the whole world, and even space. From the supermarkets, the gasoline, the banks, and the transit systems, they now have reign over everything. Doing so destroyed all small businesses and created mass production which now lead to mass waste. Leaving tons and tons of garbage for poor Wall-E to clean up. As Hayduk states, “Wall-E attempts to show that the human species doesn’t need aliens to destroy us and our planet.” Through our anti-environmental individual habits, such as growing dependence on machines, a largely indifferent attitude towards our societal and environmental issues as well as anti-environmental collective policies such as the corporate-dictated government policies whose sole motif is profit, without any real concern for environmental issues, we are walking straight into an environmental apocalypse. These points are the main reason I choose this movie, besides it being my favorite movie, it foreshadows our inevitable doom. Though the corporate dictated policies, and convenience of major companies are the main reason for our impending doom, regular citizens involvement (aka consumerism) is a huge issue too. It’s not fair that the government is trying to blame the consumer for these issues, but sadly that’s what is happening. In Wall-E, the technology provided by Buy N Large is so advanced that the consumers now have no need to think for themselves anymore. Honestly, I feel that is where we are heading today. Self- awareness is key, without it, like seen in Wall-E, humans will drown in the technology and convenience of large companies to the point where they don’t think for themselves ever again, like robots.
I choose this because analyzing this movie was such a fun experience, it was my favorite thing I did all semester. This movie has been my favorite for a long time and analyzing it like I did was very surprising. I was basically writing down everything I’ve been thinking while I watched this movie occasionally throughout the past year. It related to the larger themes throughout the semester because it consisted of the major issue which is climate change, that is effecting everyone. This issue is becoming more and more widespread which is great, I became really involved when the rallies began in the city. But I still feel like a lot is being unsaid, and the public might misunderstand who’s to blame for this issue.
I remember when Bryant passed away hearing about this sexual assault case from a friend. It was shocking, and though I still showed respect to his passing, when I told family members about this I was scolded. Mostly because they wanted to honor him, but as the author of this article said,”We can hardly talk about the strange pain of knowing someone in these ways—a loving father, a supernaturally talented athlete, and an alleged rapist—in life. Why should it be different in death? ”
Many people idolize Bryant, and I’ve realized this allegation is seen as a burden on his legacy, which is completely wrong. This is a rape allegation, it is serious and should be seen as such. It should make you take a second and really understand who the person is the your idolizing.
Throughout this text the author, Coates, discusses how African Amercians have suffered over the years. By using stories, and quotes from former slaves he builds up a very strong argument about what is owed to the African American community because of all the horrific things they went through. The author states in section 4 all of the facts of how slavery came to be, the extremtly harsh work they were forced to do, and the trauma of being forcefully speraerated from there families. A point that was really strong in this text was how in section 5 he discusses how slaves were seen as a luxury to white people, and white people viewed them as buying a piece of property, like they weren’t even humans at all. How black individuals and their family would decrease the overall value of the houses or properties they lived next to, they weren’t even allowed to own houses to begin with and if they wanted loans, etc, they would be declined because of the fact that they weren’t seen as humans. They were sadly treated as such. As these topics are discussed throughout the text, it gives insight into how he supports his argument with valid evidence.
My topic revolves around environmentalism and I will be exploring topics that relate to it such as consumerism and monopolized corporations. My research will explore how these topics are crucial in the deterioration of our environment. I will dive deep into consumption of ecosystems and natural resources into waste, dumping waste into disadvantaged communities, air pollution, water pollution, weak infrastructure, exposure of organic life to toxins, deforestation, natural disasters, etc. Basically climate change as a whole and all of its contributors.
Another major topic I will discuss is monopolized organizations and their contribution to climate change as well as the government and their corporate-dictated policies whose sole motif is profit, without any real concern for environmental issues. These major corporate companies such as oil, tobacco, steel, and other companies such as amazon and wall-mart, are all favored by the government, and they work together to increase revenue with little to no care about how its impacting our Earth. And these companies significantly impact our environment in many ways you might not even realize. It all comes down to realizing our duty to this earth, and how we need to educate ourselves on these issues so we can take the next step; fixing it.
“we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”
Its obvious how the prison system is just a front to continue racially profiling black people, and by labeling them as “criminals” it makes it legal to discriminate against them. “Today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans.” As proved in this article, the prison system sets criminals up for failure, it is not proven to work yet is still enforced. My understanding of this quote is how the racial caste is more present then ever, but has just been redesigned in order to make it seem less racist. The system as a whole throughout the whole country is not in favor of black people, take the crack cocaine issue as example. As the author states, the media only showed black families, women, men and babies, and labeled them as crack women, crack men, etc. The media pushed this idea that black people are criminals and should be identified as such in order to give a solid reason to enforce racial caste. An important idea brought up is how Jim Crow and slavery are examples of racial caste, and it may seem dramatic to compare that to today, but mass incarnation is racial caste, and it important to recognize and acknowledge that.
“Once released, former prisoners enter a hidden underworld of legalized discrimination and per- manent social exclusion. They are members of America’s new undercaste.” Lastly I want to bring up this point the author addresses, which is the main way the author backs up the statement at the top. Addressing them as the “undercaste” is upsetting but true, the criminal justice system has no intention of bettering a criminals life after they have done their time. But only creating a reason to legally discriminate them, and exclude them from society just as it was during Jim Crow times.
In this article I’m only focusing on the “Consumerism” and “Environmentalism” parts, because they are the most crucial. The author of this article, Ross M. Hayduk, dives deeply into this cautionary tale about the environment and the consumers, which is called, Wall-E. The whole movie revolves around the company Buy N Large, and how they have monopolized the whole world, and even space. From the supermarkets, the gasoline, the banks, and the transit systems, they now have reign over everything. Doing so destroyed all small businesses and created mass production which now lead to mass waste. Leaving tons and tons of garbage for poor Wall-E to clean up. As Hayduk states, “Wall-E attempts to show that the human species doesn’t need aliens to destroy us and our planet.” Through our anti-environmental individual habits, such as growing dependence on machines, a largely indifferent attitude towards our societal and environmental issues as well as anti-environmental collective policies such as the corporate-dictated government policies whose sole motif is profit, without any real concern for environmental issues, we are walking straight into an environmental apocalypse. These points are the main reason I choose this movie, besides it being my favorite movie, it foreshadows our inevitable doom. Though the corporate dictated policies, and convenience of major companies are the main reason for our impending doom, regular citizens involvement (aka consumerism) is a huge issue too. It’s not fair that the government is trying to blame the consumer for these issues, but sadly that’s what is happening. In Wall-E, the technology provided by Buy N Large is so advanced that the consumers now have no need to think for themselves anymore. Honestly, I feel that is where we are heading today. Self- awareness is key, without it, like seen in Wall-E, humans will drown in the technology and convenience of large companies to the point where they don’t think for themselves ever again, like robots.
While reading Claire Kim’s piece “The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans” she used very valuable terms to describe the issues associated with different races, and these three stood out to me. One quote would be “relative valorization”. I saw this as when a dominant race gives validity to another race, in comparison with another race, to ultimately dominate both races. Its very important to shed light on how the majority who do this are white males in power. And this dominant race completely blocks or excludes another race from prospering and fitting into society. Which Kim described as “civic ostracism”. I connected these two with what Kim stated in the beginning, about how we can not only associate the problem with race to be only between white and black people. She says, “beyond Black and White” which stresses the fact that people need to see further past just the Black and White community because there are other races that need attention and change, such as Asian Americans.
0:00-0:18 The video opens up with a view of the water, then goes to focus on a person tied up in a boat with his head covered. Then we get a close up of their destination, a place of ruins. They head towards the decaying community.
0:19-0:21 Now we see our Queen Bee, the ruler. (Queen Bee is mentioned in Lorde’s most famous song, Royals, it is a nickname she gave herself. Here in this music video we see the real Queen Bee.)
0:22-0:34 The community prepares for the arrival of the mysterious person with the sack on his head. Giving a direct look at their home/the place of ruins.
0:35-0:54 Queen Bee (Lorde) sings about the fascinating luxuries her ladies are entitled to. Teenagers sit around her, they live uncomfortably but they are free from society.
1:02-1:10 New kid arrives, he shows no fear, no resistance.
1:16-1:48 New kid wanders, he looks at this community, one that looks as if it is falling apart, but it’s thriving inside. Graffiti covers the walls, the walls are falling down. His tour guide has a limp, the new kid is confused but then two kids catch his attention as they are talking to each other. They have no judgement, they are living freely within this community, as is his tour guide. They’re happy.
2:05-3:05 The boy is quickly assimilated into the society of lost children. With such little communication the sense of freedom from society is soaring throughout this community. The teenagers communicate with hand signs and looks, showing that they truly know how to run things. Teenagers are capable of far much more than given credit for. The new kid is made to partake in what looks to be a test involving motorbikes. Uncertain of the aim of the test, as he tumbles off the bike and comes up bleeding, he has a smile on his face. No judgement insight, just a team.
3:06-3:18 The group carried the injured boy to the Queen Bee, this all is alluding to the initiation and hierarchy that Lorde is trying to portray in this “land of misfit toys” type of situation.
This bittersweet, dreamy track by one of my favorite artists really speaks about the way that not everything in life is picture perfect. The genre for this is Alternative Electricpop, which is a really good way to sum up most of Lordes discography. Lordes intended audience is extremely specific, she writes her music for teenagers and young adults, and she has said this multiple times. The context of this song was for kids who come from small cities that they love but they are desperate to leave. Mostly because these cities aren’t ones portrayed in mainstream media. Coming from a small city, somewhere that feels unimportant, you just wanna get out of there and that’s the main reason I love Lorde’s music so much. Her other songs such as 400 Lux, Royals, and mostly her whole genius album Pure Heroine touches up on this subject. The message seems to be summed up pretty well in: “We live in cities you’ll never see on screen. Not very pretty but we sure know how to run free. Livin’ in ruins of the palace within my dreams. And you know we’re on each other’s team.” This implies some disconnect with the rest of the world, and a unity between everyone. Alluding to the fact that we have the freedom to create our own life and not blindly follow instructions. Love your thoughts, out loud. Figure out all of the things you are capable of. Teenagers are capable of far much more than given credit for. Even creating a community that goes against societal norms, where everyone is free. Lorde shows teenagers in their own world, a world with hierarchies and initiations. This video seems a little like “Lord of the Flies” to me, but without the chaos and much more unity. Depicting a kind of broken Neverland, but it only seems broken because it isn’t something you’d watch on netflix.
With language comes many interpretations. And while reading “The Curious Grammar of Police Shootings” by Radley Balko, I understood the authors insights on how language is used in order to deceive the reader when it comes to gun violence and the police. Obviously the way the language is used in Balkos examples is in favor of the police, and tries as hard as possible to not make them look like the bad guy. A police officer could shoot someone, and get off the hook by calling it an accident, how in any sense is that justified. The same goes for white people, from assault to school shootings, the language used in the some headlines will discuss mental health issues, or how they had a bright future, but not the cruel act itself. And the language not used in these headlines tells a lot, ultimately bringing it to back to the discussion of racial inequality, because this basis is absent when it comes to minorities.
“Everything is in the language we DO NOT use.” This theoretical sentence plays a big part in explaining the interpretation behind the language that is dismissed when discussing polices actions. Balko discusses how the sheriffs/medias explanation for the officers actions is so vague and unformed that any possibility could be considered. And thats exactly what they want. It is obvious they know what happened, as explained in Balkos article, the officer shot a boy in the leg. And through the language they “do not” use, it’s easy to understand that they are trying very hard to make the officer seem as innocent as possible. “Communications officers at police agencies are deft at contorting the English language to minimize the culpability of an officer or the agency by not assigning responsibility.” This is a very important point brought up by Balko. Where is this motive when discussing the crimes of minorities? There is no justifying minorities crimes, but when will police be as vilified as they are and given such harsh punishments as they are?
In my opinion, Balko wants us to feel aware after reading this. He wants us to notice how the media is deceiving us. Even how the language is deceiving us. Its important to have an awareness of these things, and to know that the headlines will make you think what they want you to think. They favor the officers, as Balko proved, and will always portray them as innocent as possible.
