The BEST Class I EVER Had the Pleasure to Enroll In

From Intro to Environmental Studies 2021

Paragraph A. Theme: Disembedding + Distanciation

Thus far in our book and the content we’ve viewed up to this point has really shed some light on the impact of disembedding from each other and our natural world which results in what is known as distanciation. In most developed countries in this globalized world, we’re surrounding by man-made structures and technology to distract and separate us from environmental issues. We grow more and more used to being distanced from one another and we are unable to deeply connect like we used to. This is all due to these newer concepts of disembedding and distanciation. Along with these ideas comes globalization and technology wherein we rely on extracting these resources to create these technologies to experience our globalized world and long-distance communication between friends, family, lovers, or across nations. Being an American citizen is having much more freedom and privileges than most people living in other countries. We have it all, yet we do not behave like we are fortunate. We take it all for granted. From the beginning of our country’s history we have learned to take advantage of and exploit others and the environment and poorer or periphery countries are no exception. We take these resources from the environment through extraction, create whatever is going to attract consumerists, use the item which was likely designed to break early, and then we dump our waste or unrecycled items onto other countries for them to deal with and suffer the health and economic consequences. We are one of the world’s top contributor’s to climate change and waste, also one of the top profiters, and we will stop at nothing until it’s too late. The World Systems Theory is one that everyone should learn because it teaches you plenty about how the world works and those with money and power will be the ones who control and make all the decisions at the expense of everyone else. As for a person currently trying to live a normal, modern life while also being conscientious about my waste habits, it is certainly not easy, especially since very few people take the issue as seriously as me. I feel alone in my fight for the cause the majority of the time, but I continue to do what I think is right for the sake of the planet and everything living on it. I recycle daily, I’ve reduced my total waste by buying less packaging and shopping with reusable bags and I have eco-friendly LED lights in my apartment to name a few ways I’ve taken action. As for another issue relating to environmental degradation is human treatment and labor laws in other countries strictly for cheap, easy labor for corporations performing like the treadmill of production to produce large amounts of inexpensive items at the expense of poor people in other countries. A couple ways I could help better this issue as a regular person is to fight against it by signing petitions and avoiding buying products from those money-hungry companies.

Paragraph B. Theme: Globalization + Technology

Moving further in globalization and technology, I’m not going to contend that these terms are all negative. If you think about it they have helped humans out tremendously for our success in the world, but I do not think we should use these powers against the earth like we have been. There are many pros and cons to globalization and technology and those being how humans can communicate and connect regardless of distance or location, we can transport resources, share information, learn in faster ways, and so much more in other cities, states, or countries even! We have established businesses and organizations and we are able to spread them to global contexts and expand much easier. Progress is defined as bigger and better technology and devices that constantly get more affordable and breakable so we can spend money on the next item. It’s built into our culture, continuous supply and demand, never receding and this means the environment can never catch a break to naturally replenish its resources. On top of making our lives better, we should find ways of using these facets for saving the planet. Contradicting theories have been proposed where we can either help the environment by “greening” capitalism and the global economy while other theories have stated that the inherent nature of the global and American economy is just too competitive and greedy. I’m on the hopeful side and I believe that we can create businesses and innovations using creativity that can benefit the environment and protect it in the process. We just need to create a market for it and popularize and/or mainstream it. Humans are simple-minded, we see when something becomes popular and liked, so we naturally begin to appreciate it more too. If we can aspire to emerge a field safe-environmental practices for a green planet and spark a little passion in people’s minds, then we could achieve ecological modernization, which has to be our future at this point.

Paragraph C. Theme: Treadmill of Production

The treadmill of production is an idea which exists in the global competition among businesses and corporations in their push to be the best. This theory states that environmental exploitation and degradation are an inevitable intrinsic process of the treadmill of production which is a result of the relationship between capitalism, the state, labor and the environment. The theory also states that this problem won’t go away until we analyze and restructure the existing system and likely change our societal mindset about environmental issues. I find it astonishing that more people haven’t learned about or done more research on the current concern with our capitalist and consumerist culture. Some believe that capitalism is good along with the concept of the treadmill of production and that’s how we have "quality" products with constant innovation. However, if you think about it, the items we buy are cheap and disposable while we destroy our home and all the wildlife and ecosystems that exist within it, the lives of poor human beings in other periphery and semi-periphery countries, and we’re impacting our own health all for the sake of profiting and economic growth. How is that justified?

Paragraph D. Theme: HEP vs. NEP

The idea of the human exceptionalism paradigm is an interesting one as opposed to the new ecological paradigm. We all know that humans are the most evolved organism on the planet in terms of brain size, bipedalism, tool usage, language, and intelligence to name a few but we are just that, more evolved than other living beings. What makes us any more special than other animals or the planet? We all came from one source and we are made up of the same components, elements, and energies. As humans have become more civilized in a structured world, we’ve started developing this mindset that we are better or not even classified in the same field as ecology, which is absurd. We are living here on this planet together with other animals and sharing the resources and space, all the while we should know that the planet is its own entity with its own rights and needs of protection. It is not here for our usage, we are merely the bacteria invading the planet. The short video The Story of Stuff indubitably was urging the idea of the new ecological paradigm for good reasons explained in the video. The video succeeded at laying down all the facts and the way these processes work without blatantly stating what they believe is right. If you listened, you gathered that the new ecological paradigm is the much more ethical approach to the issue about relentlessly exploiting and extracting resources from the environment. The video explains that humans have a huge reliance on the environment for economic gain, as without it we would be no where still living an agrarian lifestyle on homesteads or farms while trading grown resources. We wouldn’t have a currency if we hadn’t discovered a way to take advantage of the environment to where we can trade what the earth has to offer for monetary value. As for the e-waste video, they also don’t clearly share their perspective on this matter but you can gain that they would support the new ecological paradigm as well because the whole issue with excessive electronic waste is the toxicity to humans and the environment. We should all be equally treated fairly and taken care of; the environment, animals, and humans.

Paragraph E. Theme: Informed Questions

I must share that I feel like I’m going to relish in this class and all the material it has to offer because I have a deep personal connection to the planet and I have a true passion for bettering the treatment of our planet. I have taken two other environmental classes which I also enjoyed so I have some background in these problems. Thus far, I’ve been able to touch up my memory on these matters and delve into them more. Every year I get better at thinking critically about the various problems the world faces today, and this is a big one that people are going to need to devote more attention to. The clock is ticking. What I don’t understand is how people can learn about these problems that affect many areas of our day-to-day lives and just quite literally not care at all. I mean they are strictly too lazy, careless, and selfish to make any small changes to their lifestyle to help anyone but themselves and its devastating that most people think this way. I have many members in my family who have hard-right political views and they either don’t believe in climate change and think its all a financial scam or they haven’t done enough research or listening to care. Its misinformation and ignorance which causes many problems. I know we’ve started teaching children in schools just how important it is to be conscientious about the environment and our decisions but we still don’t stress it enough in schools or in this country period. Why aren’t there more pre-existing laws, policies, and regulations ensuring the safety of our planet like other more progressive countries? Is it strictly the capitalistic ideals holding us back? When people walk into a grocery store, why don’t more of them see parts of the planet extracted for human usage and monetary gain as opposed to merely food or items to be purchased for our liking? Thinking about these harmful practices and mentalities in a sociological perspective allows for us to find injustice through study and critical thinking, form theories and notions about these issues, seek to fix or resolve it by brainstorming solutions, and then enacting these new ideas for improvement. Why can’t we see that if we help the planet, we help periphery countries, ecosystems, ourselves, animals, air quality, oceans, and so much more? There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain!