This week’s focus was on technology and the environment. I thought Greg and Katelyn really made the idea clear of how we do not consider what happens to our technology when we replace it. This became apparent in the film with computers. It was frightening to know that the computers made in China ended back in China. It saddened me to see the young children taking apart the computers in waste sites. Electronic waste or e-waste I was surprised to see as the fastest growing of international waste. The harmful consequences of this waste will only become apparent in the future.
Technology will continue to be apart of our lives, and this attachment to it will only grow. As much as people should be expected to look into care of their technologies, people may not take the extra step to recycle it. Furthermore, individuals who cannot afford environmentally friendly products should not be stigmatized for it. If it came down to purchasing Kraft Dinner and organic fruit, the Kraft Dinner will last much longer and will feed more people.
The video “Manufactured Landscapes” made the impacts of technology on the environment significant in the state of China a reality. The process of electronic waste and other environmental impacts from corporations will continue to thrive unless world wide there are changes.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Corporate Power
The chapter for this week focused on Corporate Power and how it shapes the media to how the environment is perceived. The ability for average citizens to get unbiased news is become more and more apparent. We have to question every form of media because it is ultimately serving the views of a transnational corporation. For instance, Fox News is an incredible republican news channel. In all of their programs there are more representatives from the Republican Party compared to the Democratic Party. It is difficult for average Americans to understand all sides when their news program is clearly one sided. It is up to the citizen to search for this “unbiased news” however on the most part this will not occur. The film “Manufacturing Consent” reemphasized how the media is controlled through political institutions and elites, it is these groups that ultimately make drastic decision in society. I enjoyed how the article and film incorporated the propaganda model such as the New York Times that create history rather than transmit it.
Multinationals are only concerned with their own profit margins; concern with the environment is their last worry. Corporation’s ability to be “natural persons” allows them to take control and be unaccountable to the environment. An example of this is in the Mexican maquiladoras. Companies have continually degraded their surroundings in addition to poor treatment of the workers. Once the cheapest labor is no longer available they search for it in other countries.
I thought the presentation done by Adam and Tasha thoroughly explained the significance of the corporation and the lack of its accountability towards environmental efforts. The article and the videos they chose well represented the media and the perceptions of the environment it creates along with the significance of the corporation within this. Overall, the corporation will continue to have its influence in society and the media. As citizens we need to position ourselves to educate beyond the media and to see the issues from our own perspectives.
Multinationals are only concerned with their own profit margins; concern with the environment is their last worry. Corporation’s ability to be “natural persons” allows them to take control and be unaccountable to the environment. An example of this is in the Mexican maquiladoras. Companies have continually degraded their surroundings in addition to poor treatment of the workers. Once the cheapest labor is no longer available they search for it in other countries.
I thought the presentation done by Adam and Tasha thoroughly explained the significance of the corporation and the lack of its accountability towards environmental efforts. The article and the videos they chose well represented the media and the perceptions of the environment it creates along with the significance of the corporation within this. Overall, the corporation will continue to have its influence in society and the media. As citizens we need to position ourselves to educate beyond the media and to see the issues from our own perspectives.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
This week’s readings have focused on the state policy and its impacts on the environment. The treadmill of production in particular bets explains the relationship between the state and the environment. “The treadmill of production is a system in which we can observe the increasing accumulation of wealth and investments into capital intensive technologies, rising social inequalities and greater ecological withdrawals and additions, all of which are encouraged and facilitated by the nation-state” (48). The treadmill of production was present in many of the argument presented by Simon.
Simon’s presentation addressed various aspects of the readings discussed in class which included imperialism, exclusion, ecological violence and a focus on the state. Simon’s view of the state was very critical by addressing how the state did not exist due to the fact that they could not respond to social pressures, and their lack of choice on policies or forms. Furthermore, he saw the state as a terrain of struggle where social classes presumed the outcome of the state. Since states have evolved since times of Ancient Greece, he explained how the state is in fact a tool to reflect the dominant classes.
Society is always negatively impacting the ecological process, especially in the Third World. His example of his research in India further strengthened this argument due to its production of roses. In a state in which does not have tremendous water supply is now depleting their resources to sustain their economy. However, after a few years of this the environment will be negatively impacted. Next, I was interested to how Simon connected the relationship of the capitalism to the environment. People have to sell their labor power in exchange for wages. Nature is controlled by capital in means of material; all items exchanged must have a use value. To define a commodity it is not determined by the ecological practices therefore this leads to pollution quotas.
Overall, the relationship between capitalism and the environment is not equal. To make profit environments and their resources are being exhausted, people are being demoralized while states are being undermined, and this cycle will only persist and worsen as time continues. As time continues, the Third World will further experience the consequences of the actions in the west. These actions put further stress on the environments of those in horrific situations in the first place.
Simon’s presentation addressed various aspects of the readings discussed in class which included imperialism, exclusion, ecological violence and a focus on the state. Simon’s view of the state was very critical by addressing how the state did not exist due to the fact that they could not respond to social pressures, and their lack of choice on policies or forms. Furthermore, he saw the state as a terrain of struggle where social classes presumed the outcome of the state. Since states have evolved since times of Ancient Greece, he explained how the state is in fact a tool to reflect the dominant classes.
Society is always negatively impacting the ecological process, especially in the Third World. His example of his research in India further strengthened this argument due to its production of roses. In a state in which does not have tremendous water supply is now depleting their resources to sustain their economy. However, after a few years of this the environment will be negatively impacted. Next, I was interested to how Simon connected the relationship of the capitalism to the environment. People have to sell their labor power in exchange for wages. Nature is controlled by capital in means of material; all items exchanged must have a use value. To define a commodity it is not determined by the ecological practices therefore this leads to pollution quotas.
Overall, the relationship between capitalism and the environment is not equal. To make profit environments and their resources are being exhausted, people are being demoralized while states are being undermined, and this cycle will only persist and worsen as time continues. As time continues, the Third World will further experience the consequences of the actions in the west. These actions put further stress on the environments of those in horrific situations in the first place.
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