SumBlog 12: No-Impact Man

This week we had an assignment-taking place for the class right before Thanksgiving. We were assigned a worksheet that held us responsible for tracking our travel, food, waste, energy and commodities. For one day we had to record all of these things, this really made me realize the impact that I have as an individual on the environment. One of the things it really made me think about was the consumption of my food. As pitiful as it sounds I don’t always know where my food is coming from unless we get it at the co-op, farmers market or from our garden. But a lot of foods even “fresh” fruits and veggies are coming in from all over the country. That is something I will really start paying attention to. Eating locally and seasonally, I believe, would be very beneficial. Before doing this assignment I considered myself to be an environmentally conscious person. However, from doing this I found that I have a lot to work on and have many areas of improvements in helping make a clean environment.

I posted a video clip about the experiment of the No Impact Man, which eventually became a book and a documentary. The clip shows why the family decided to this and what they ultimately gained from doing so. They went completely green for one year, they did not use electricity, or waste anything for a year, and they also did not buy anything new for the entire year. They ate completely local and seasonally. They found that as a family they became closer and felt like they made a real difference. This family did something that would be very difficult for an average citizen. Most people could cut out some of these things but doing all of them I think most people would find extremely hard at first.

SumBolg 11

In class we watched the documentary “Good Fortune.” It showed Kibera, which is a town or rather, a slum. It is over-populated, has poor sanitation and the people live in small shacks. Dominion Farms Unlimited came into Kibera with the idea of helping the people improve their living conditions. Their farms mainly produce rice and fish. One of the reasons Dominion felt like this was such a good idea was because there would be food security provided by the rice and fish. However, the people of Kibera did not want this, they were, for the most part, happy with the way they lived. They had housing and food and did not think of themselves as poor. The people of Kibera did not want to leave their homes and they believed this would not enhance their lives in fact they felt it would devastate their lives. Even though these people live in the slums they still have economic activity. They use the materials and opportunities they have to create a steady life. The United Nations and the Kenyan Government has started to work together in a massive “slum-upgrading” program. This program would demolish their housing and be replaces with modern housing. The residents have been promised that their eviction is only temporarily.  However, they do not trust the government and do not know if they will be able to return. Dominion plans to create a reservoir, which in turn would flood homes and farmland of people. I think the intensions of Dominion Farms Unlimited are good ones, except in this case they were affecting the people more negatively than positively.

I posted a video about Dominion farms; it is about irrigation in Yala. This video is a positive about Dominion farms. They made a massive sustainable farm that would impact thousands of people. This video is from Dominion’s point of view and not the residents so it is hard to tell if it is truly making a positive impact. Eight hundred workers are on the payroll and the area has had a large growth and ninety percent of the people are locals, which is a positive aspect.  After watching this video and the documentary it has made me want to some more research on this issue.

(SumBlog 10) Zoe Page

Today in class we started to discuss the environmental facet of globalization. With this we talked about population and migration. We had a discussion about the matter of population control. There are involuntary and voluntary attempts. I am very concerned about the involuntary attempts, especially about the practice going on in India. In parts of India they use sterilization to control the population.  They claim this is a voluntary attempt. However, these people are living in extreme poverty and they are promised, food, clothes or shelter in return for their sterilization. This is a very manipulative maneuver because some of these people are so desperate for basic necessities that they would do just about anything to help their families and themselves.

I found two videos off of YouTube; both were very informative and very disturbing. In the video that I posted impoverished women choose to get sterilized for a couple of devious reasons. First off women are paid eleven dollars and men are paid twenty-one, it is usually the woman who receive the operation. They are also promised by the government a chance to win cars, motorcycles and even refrigerators. Many of these people have been lured by these incentives. These procedures are not only immoral in the ways they’re doing them but they also are dangerous for the women because they are not always getting them done in safe environments.

India’s population is on the rise and is continuing to be so; the Government believes sterilizing the poor is a good solution. In my opinion the government should focus on supplying these women with affective contraception methods. Whether it is condoms, IUD or pills. That are provided this would be a much safer and more humane way, instead of making these women feel like sterilization is the only option.

Zoe Page (SumBolg 9) Religion

We have been discussing religion in class and talking about whether America is a Christian Nation. Some of us felt like we are, and others felt like we are not. I think a lot of people think of America this way, but I’m not sure if we are a true Christian nation anymore. Simply, because we have so many people in the United States that have different ethnicities and cultures. Which make us vey diverse. Our country has been known as a melting pot. However, in class w talked about how we are moving towards a salad bowl or a soup. In the way I see it is a bunch of different people mixed in and sharing different perspectives. We have various cultures, religions, ethnicities, and races of people living in the United States. With this come different morals, values, attitudes that people have.

I was raised Catholic and we attended the same Church for many years. I was going to be confirmed at this church, until I found out one of the requirements. We were told that we had to stand outside and protest at an abortion clinic. I was unwilling to do this and eventually switched churches. I understand that the Church believes in pro-life that I respect, but I am pro-choice and did not feel comfortable doing this at all. I found it sad that this was an actual requisite to be confirmed. I honestly do not think that is appropriate and I believe it is morally wrong to make kids do this. However, I know some people were comfortable doing this, for me it just did not reflect my values or morals.

I posted a short a short clip The Catholic Conference of Kentucky who had a conference with lawmakers to discuss social issues and political agenda. The biggest issues they examined was their their pro-life stance and opposition of the death penalty. They plan to further these in Washington. They want policies based on merc, forgiveness and love. 

(SumBlog 8) Anonymous/Wikileaks

This past week in class we watched a documentary that discussed Anonymous and Wikileaks. I had not heard of either of these before. I found the documentary to be very interesting, I had no idea that there was Internet activists and hacktivists. Anonymous was originated in 2003 and the Sunshine Press initiated Wikileaks in 2006 in Iceland. After we started the documentary on Monday I did some research that night to find out more information. I was surprised I had never heard of Anonymous or Wikileaks. For the most part I think Anonymous is a great thing the only think I do not like is if they give out peoples personal information like credit card statements, while tying to prove a point. The point could still be proven without hurting the consumers like the example in the documentary.

I think both of these are very important. Anonymous is a group that publicly hacks and blocks government, religious and cooperates websites. They do this to give people a voice and stand up for things they believe in. People who support anonymous view that as “freedom fighters” and people who oppose them refer to them as “cyber-terrorists.” I feel like anonymous is a helpful and that they keep a watchful eye on issues that the general public would most likely not know about. They believe everyone has the right to Internet and it is a key aspect of communication and knowledge.

 I also really like Wikileaks; to me they believe in the right of people to know information that the government and other institutions are trying to hide. Over the years group has released many significant news documents, which became front-page news items. The citizens of the United States, in my opinion, have the right to know information about the wars and so on and this is essentially what Wikileaks believes in.

I have posted a documentary about Wikileaks that is very informational. It gives you more information about the group and why they choose to expose information.