Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Final Assignment
In the beginning of this school year, I perceived the American Way of Life as one that "essentially revolves around self-desires, competition, and an injustice between work and value." I remember on the first week of school, Andy had us draw out the image we incorporate with the words, "American Way of Life." I recall myself drawing a fat guy sitting on a couch, in front of the T.V. Looking back at, I can now say that I had a very typical American response to the typical American Way of Life. Through evaluating different aspects of the American Way of Life, I can see that this is something that is much more complicated. Rather than just being a life full of laziness and selfishness, the American Way of Life is one that alienates Americans from life itself. In addition, this alienation will ultimately lead to the downfall of America.
One of the most fundamental building blocks of this country is our Constitution; this is also known as "The Supreme Law of Land." These laws are all the laws that everyone in the United States has to follow. This document states what the people are allowed to and not allowed to do. As the history of the United States continues to expand, Amendments are established to revise the original Constitution. While interviewing people about the system and the democracy that we have in America, numerous people mentioned freedom. One woman said, "Here in America, we can do whatever we want...Although we waste our time, people seem to be a lot happier than any other people outside of America." And when I interviewed my older cousin, she had a similar response: “the people can actually express their opinion and have an input on how to benefit their way of living.” The people believe that the Constitution allows them to have certain privileges. In America, people believe that they are given freedom through this piece of document. Our rights stated in the first 10 amendments do not come from the government or the Constitution itself. It is just our rights as humans. By existing, we are supposed to have the right to do whatever we want. Society and forms of government were just created to limit those rights. So even though, we are given this "freedom" in America, we are really just being less restricted. Therefore, our basic human rights to certain actions are alienated from us through the basis of this country, the Constitution. Believing that we are limited in our actions by the government of this country, we refuse to actually take action. Being constraint in our actions, a revolution can never or will be difficult to take place.
In this country, we celebrate holidays that are quite responsive to the American values. For instance, we celebrate Thanksgivings. Most people say that Thanksgiving is a holiday to be thankful for what you have. But I do not know why you would need a holiday for that, and neither does my family. This holiday reveals that the American Way of Life requires some sort of reason or reward for doing anything. In this case, you would need a feast in order to appreciate the people and life that you have. The economic system and the lifestyle in America ties together almost perfectly: give in order to get. In America, it is a rare to have people doing something for the sake of doing it. There has to be some sort of self-satisfaction, whether it in shape of a gift, money, return-service, tax-reduction, etc. As part of living the American Way of Life, we also live through the obsession for material objects. This obsession demeans all value for the family gatherings, and prove that without a feast or any particular reasoning, we would not even host these events.
As part of Thanksgiving, Black Friday is a very big event where every store in America has sales, but it is also an opportunity for us to understand our AWOL. Everyone starts camping out in front of the stores days in advance. Every year, Black Friday continues to reveal and emphasize on the greed of Americans. People would do anything to save a couple of bucks (which they're going to spend buying more stuff anyways). This year a man in Wal-Mart was trampled to death because people were rushing in the store. When there are sales that is the only thing that the people see. They do not notice the 6'5 man fall down and that they're walking all over him. It doesn't matter, as long as they get into the store the fastest. I think Black Friday takes off the good-guy mask off of everyone. The people are now willing to take that mask off because they are going to rewarded with a massive sale. This incident showed us the lack of consideration found in the AWOL. Everyone in that Wal-Mart was so blinded by the deals and the opportunity to save a few bucks, that no one could take notice by the lump that they are running over. As a result, a man was killed by the greed of the people on Black Friday. When money is involved, another human being can be completely ignored and disregarded. Everyone there was just going with the flow, which is the AWOL but on a smaller scale. The people were just moving along with the drift and were following the overwhelming general movement. This also shows us that the image of Americans of being slackers is not completely true. Living the AWOL is about having ambition, but unfortunately it is for money. Americans' obsession for money, created by the AWOL, took away all consideration for the other human beings. Just as, the victim was stumbled to his death, through the oblivion of the American people, the same will happen will our entire society. In the country we live in, people only see the physical representation of value that they are saving. And as we continue on following this mentality and going with this flow, the country will gradually decline into its downfall.
Aside from the Constitution and our yearly holidays, we can also examine the way that we handle births in the country, to look for alienation towards life. As of right now 99% of the births in America are “normal births,” meaning it takes place in a hospital, where one or more doctor is involved, the option of taking epidurals and pitocins is available, and about a third of the births lead to a caesarian section (according to “Business of Being Born”). Around a month ago, I believed all these aspects of birth were good and indispensable to the birth process. However after interviewing several mothers, receiving many lectures, researching, watching various videos, reading a few articles and listening to guest speakers, I have gained a small but significant amount of insight into the American Way of Birth, which would be the normal hospital births.
Whether or not, we will have to personally or directly be involved with the birthing process, we all believe it is a painful and disgusting to a certain extent. Consciously we, or at least I, believe and say that birth is beautiful thing. But subconsciously, the image that often takes place in a hospital with a woman going through an extremely long process involving blood, screaming, and overall instability is incorporated with the idea of birth. And it is this image, created by the American Way of Birth that alienates America from the true meaning of birth. The perception of something being disgusting and repulsive is caused by the feeling of borders being crossed, as explained by Julia Kristeva. She says, “The abject body repeatedly violates its own borders, and disrupts the wish for physical self control and social propriety.” This concept of why we believe birth is partially a repulsive process is due to the violation of borders that occurs in the hospital while a female is giving birth, according to Kristeva. In a hospital, a woman in labor is connected to many wires that restrain her movements, which Kristeva would describe as the disruption of “physical self control.” In addition to the physical limitation, the mother also faces emotional suppression. The doctors overwhelm the mother and delude any feelings or thoughts that the mother has. According to Julia Kristeva, our subconscious view on births being something sickening is germane to the crossing of boundaries in hospitals. Thus the American Way of Birth is alienating us from the genuine perception on birth.
Rather than seeing births as an entrance of another human being, some people view it as “labor” and as a part of what you have to do in order to get what you want. In an article named, MD- Midwife in Disguise, the author says “My mother talked about birth being hard work- painful, yes, but an intensely physical experience with a tremendous reward when the work was done.” In America, birth is seen as an obstacle. Not knowing that birth can be a wonderful experience and sometimes even an “orgasmic” one, we view it as “work.” Our approach of birth in America has led us to perceive it as something to just get out of the way, and is alienating us from the fact that it can be a pleasurable moment in each of our lives.
Other than alienating our view on birth, the American Way of Birth also alienates the mothers from themselves. The American Way of Birth has led woman to be believe that they do not have the ability to give birth by themselves. One of the teachers in our school, Ms. Plaza was brave enough to share her birth story with our class. And her story is a perfect example of the alienation of the mother and themselves. In her experience, Ms. Plaza had to wait for the doctor to arrive to her room. And when he finally arrived, she said, “We can do this.” Ms. Plaza, as well as many other women in America, is convinced that they cannot give birth without the doctor. The alienation from the American Way of Birth is especially apparent when she referred to the person giving birth as “we.” Women who plan on having a child in America are now totally mentally reliant on the doctors. The American Way of Birth has alienated women from their abilities to give birth.
The alienation between a mother and the experience of giving birth is also seen in the Monty Python skit, as well as Ms. Plaza’s birth story. Unlike the Business of Being Born, the Monty Python skit portrays the moment after birth as it being the doctor saying, “Isolate it.” The child is immediately taken away from the mother, and there is no bonding between the two of them. Even though Monty Python is a skit, this is often times this is true for almost all hospital births. One real life example would be Ms. Plaza’s birthing experience. In her story, she gave birth in a hospital, where she was completely worn out by the waiting and the labor. And after the labor was finally over, she was already saying “take the baby away.” While, ;the women in the movie, Business of Being Born were closely bonding with their children, Ms. Plaza could care less about the presence of her baby, mainly due to the exhaustion of the hospital. The normal hospital birth, also referred to as the American Way of Birth, alienates the experience of giving birth and the experience of connecting with her child after the labor done. And by following this way of giving birth, we Americanize another thing offered to us by nature. Having hospital births- involving different interventions and avoiding the full experience- may not necessarily cause the downfall of our civilization, but when the time comes and we are no longer able to have births take place in a hospital, the people will not be prepared to approach the natural birth, which does not involve a stranger with a piece of paper that certifies him as a “professional.”
From what is presented on the movie SiCKO, it seems that having universal health care in the U.S. would only be an improvement to the country. So why have we not made that transition from HMOs to single payer or socialized health care, even when many of the other Western countries, such as Canada, Great Britain, France and Cuba, are already following this system? The reason why to anything is never clear, nor definitive, however I believe the prevention of this change lies amongst the people of the U.S. It is not because universal health care is a bad system and will lead to the deaths of many people; it is because the people in the U.S. are unwilling to amend to a different system and admit that their own system is not the best one out there, partially because they want to remain “superior” and partially because they do not know that. Regardless, the health care system is still corrupt. Our attitude towards health care in this country also draws us further from the path of improvement and brings us closer to a road of despair.
Americans are often described as “stupid” and “ignorant,” which is not that far from the truth, judging from what I have seen from others and myself. Many of the people that I met in the past appear to know very little about the things that occur around them, even when they directly affect their own lives. In my most recent interviews about America’s health care system, most of the responses reflect on this ignorance. The common responses to the questions, “Do you think we should use the France or Britain or Canada’s health care systems as a model for the system in America” or “Do you agree or disagree with Obama’s health care plan?”Were, if not pertained to, the phrases such as “which is...,” “I guess…” or “what exactly is Obama planning to do?” People in America are not informed about the current situations with their own country or any other country. This ignorance is partially why we cannot have a revolution in America leading towards universal health care. Without this knowledge, the people cannot differentiate bad systems and better systems. The people do not know enough to see the flaws and the better alternatives, even when it is presented right in front of them.
Our lack of universal health, however, is not solely resulted from our lack of knowledge. Rather, it is also the outcome of our low standards and satisfaction from minor benefits. As long as there’s limited health coverage from some people, those people will be satisfied and follow the current system. When my mother was asked about our current health care situation, she responded by saying that she was happy that the government is willing to pay for her expenses. She added that our government is better than most other countries. It was shocking to hear this from my mother, being that I can recall many times where she was denied of certain doctors because they were not within her network. There were also many times where I have heard her complain about having to pay for some of her expenses. But despite all this, she still support the current health care system in America, which shows us that, in America, if the government provides some aid the people will accept it and ask nothing more of it. Just as it was said in SiCKO, the American people fear the government, and they fear that if they intervene with the government’s plans, then they will lose the aid that they already have. Therefore America would never be able to progress until the people lose this fear and adjust their standards.
Americans are not only controlled by the fear for their government, but also by the fear of transforming into their greatest enemies, communists. In SiCKO, it was referred to as “The Red Nightmare.” Throughout history, the American people have viewed people such as Mao Zhedong, Che Guevera, and Joseph Stalin; people with socialist and communist views, as the villains. And to have socialized healthcare, it would be seem like the country is taking one step towards communism, eliminating everyone’s chance of rising to the top. However this view is created by our values that have been heavily influenced by the government and what they portray in the media. If America were to learn to not intake everything that is given to them, then maybe they will begin to accept the alternative views and consider it.
These characteristics of the American people are not the only reason, but are definitely factors to why America still does not have universal health care. But if we were to begin inform ourselves about our health care situation, and listen to people (from Denmark) rather than making comments such as “the one in the pink looked hot,” begin to have higher demands, such as the people in France and make the government fear people rather than the other way around, and begin to open up our minds to other systems rather than making websites such as this one, then maybe we can move on towards a better way of living. Even then, there are more unknown variables that need to be changed about the American way of life, because 60% of Americans believe that the country needs to follow a different health care system, and yet remain as a country that predominantly follows HMOs. As we continue on, using this health care system, we remain as the country with the highest death rates and one of the countries with lower life expectancy. The people in America obviously needs to begin evaluating their own systems and seeking for better ones, but for now we can only continue to be a nation where 40% of our people are covered by health care, looking up to countries such as France where 99% of the people of covered (assuming that they know that fact). [Link] Meanwhile, Americans are oblivious to alternatives and constantly drifts further away from a better society. This path we follow, that is reflected by our health care system, shows that our lifestyle eliminates the privilege of having options and alternatives.
Countless times have I said, “Yo I’m hungry. I want something to eat.” I sought for food whenever my body felt weary, because of its calories and its ability to rejuvenate its consumer. And it would not be foolish to assume that most of America does the same. Rarely, do we view food as something pleasurable, rather than something necessary for survival; both of which are true. This alienation of Americans and the food we eat, I would say, is the result of our disconnection with nature. Our view of the world around us is directly correlated with our food-ways and our view of our foods.
“Ask one of those eaters where their steak or soda comes from and she’ll tell you ‘the supermarket’”(Pollan, 34-35). As depicted by this quote from The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Americans go around not knowing, nor wondering where our foods come from. Whenever we think of the place to get food, we simply think of a supermarket. In America, the vast majority does not gather their own food from the Earth. Instead, we exchange green pieces of paper for the sources of energy for our bodies that represent an “equivalent value.” We do not wish to understand how exactly nature provides these resources nor understand the process that the food went through to be placed in our refrigerators. We do not wish to grow our own foods from the Earth nor make the effort to create something meaningful within our foods. That is because, as Jared Diamond says, “We get our energy from oil and machines, not from our sweat.” Americans do not work with nature for their foods, and therefore do not appreciate food as much.
Being that we get our foods from the supermarket, our foods come from corporations through mass productions of each particular food. And of course, being that corporations are corporations, their ultimate goal is maximized profit. Our food has been industrialized for the convenience of the people and the pockets of the big businessmen. Within any industry, “profit is the name of the game,” as said in the Meatrix. And to the food industry, nature is just what produces the pieces necessary to win this game. In order to maximize their profits, any industry feels it is necessary to take advantage their access to nature. Thus technology, such as GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) , are used. In the case of corn production, having a “higher yield” is the goal of using technology. "The higher yield of modern hybrids stems mainly from the fact that they can be planted so close together, thirty thousand to the acre instead of eight thousand in his father's days" (Pollan, 37). By having a higher yield, the farmer is able to take advantage of the land that he has, and is able to maximizing his profit off of something other than himself.It allows the mass productions of different foods and the exhaustion of any resource the Earth provides to each individual farm. The perspective of the “producers” of our foods on the Earth we live on is that it is a source of wealth. And to the farmers, food would to be nothing more than their income.
Within America, there has always been an artificial separation between “humans” and “animals.” This separation causes the alienation of humans from nature, which will lead to the alienation of humans from their food. Between humans and animals, humans particularly the ones found on the land labelled as America views themselves as the more superior. According to my mother, whatever beings that has its back facing the sky is meant to be eaten by humans. It has always been man versus nature.The music video for “The Cows with Guns,” depicts this exact differentiation. We do not accept the fact that we are part of nature, and are animals as well. By neglecting this fact, we neglect our animalistic instincts to hunt and gather. Instead, we turn to what Jared Diamond calls, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” agriculture. Just as we have domesticated crops and animals, humans have also taken control of nature itself for the mass-production of various commodities. And as we all know, this mass production ultimately leads to the packaged-foods which we, the people purchase and use to rejuvenate our bodies, without ever wondering the whole process of how the food ended up in our stomachs. Separating ourselves from animals, we never strive to have a direct connection with nature through the foods we eat. Therefore, nature and food will always remain as another alienated aspect of life that humans will never get to truly experience.
As we continue to disregard nature, we will continue to mindlessly eat our plastic-sealed foods, never quite understanding the full pleasure of real food. As humans, we do not work with nature so that both will have a sustainable lifestyle. Humans will continue to use nature as object to gain pieces of paper that were created by nature. Our instincts as animals will continue to be neglected, as we drift further away from our ancestry. And we will continue to eat GMO’s that have been purchased in the supermarket, and inflict the downfall of both humans and nature. Meanwhile, nature will continue to be depreciated and exhausted by the beings that it surrounds. It’s whole existence will continue to be reduced down to figments, which provides a sense of “value.” The alienation between humans and nature has resulted in the alienation of our foods. However, if we were to become more intact with nature (and possibly produce our own foods), the alienation of our foods would gradually decline as well. We will begin to understand that our foodway- the consumption of food, the interpretation of food, the non-numeric value that we give our foods, the production of food- is wrong. As results that come hand-in-hand with this comprehension, humans will end animal cruelty, the Earth will possibly live past the year 2100, a greater appreciation for food will be achieved, and New Yorkers can pick food from Central Park without being pulled over by a park ranger. But for now, food will remain as how "Our Daily Bread" portrays it: a long and boring process that we go through in order to survive in both this world, and in our society. Consuming at such a rate, without truly valuing the source of this food, Americans will eventually guide themselves into their own downfall.
Similar to a child putting in a game card into his GameBoy, playing the game and then eventually ridding it after it becomes boring, the acts of the human race placed industrialism onto this Earth. And following the same course, industrialism will be naturally discarded. However, in order for this game to be played, a certain amount of energy must be consumed; after which, it only a portion of the energy that was present before the game will remain. This process is one that cannot be avoided, for the reasons that it has already begun and that humans have become completely and utterly reliant on fossil fuel. And just as the source of fossil fuel is limited, this source of entertainment has a limited longevity, both of which will eventually lead to the collapse of industrialization.
Our exhaustion of fossil fuels is quite similar to the Easter Islanders' self-destruction through deforestation. In both scenarios, nature has to do some sort of adjustment in order to fit according to the human preferences. For the Easter Island, it is the cutting down of the trees to adjust to the humans' desire to create giant stone statues. In our modern society, the nature adjusts to the humans' desire for wealth, which I guess would be the same as the Easter Islanders' statues, by having its fossil fuel extracted. As the each group of people tries to "improve" and strives to outdo each other, there will be a greater consumption of resources. Being that our society has such similarities with the Easter Islanders it is difficult to see this as a model, showing that this path will only lead to the decline of our own civilization. In addition, "Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, nor to which they could turn for help; nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future" (Diamond, 20). Looking back at history, we can see a civilization's exhaustion of natural resources provided can only lead to its downfall. And while Diamond describes this as "worst-case scenario" that "may lie ahead of us," I would say that this is inevitable.
Jared Diamond also states that, "Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter's dozen clans" (Diamond, 20). Although we may share resources, the amount of resources remains limited regardless. And a continuing (exponential) growth requires a similar consumption of energy. Without this our civilization, following the idea of entropy, which states that everything will fall apart to the lowest level, will break down into a mere group of beings that share a similar body structure and set of skills. The "this" is the fundamental basis of our current economy, fossil fuel. And of course, fossil fuel has a limit that we will hypothetically, eventually meet. But according to "A Crude Awakening" and "Limits to Growth- Oil," we will not, for the simple reason that it will no longer be profitable to extract ("Within a couple of years, one barrel invested will only produce one barrel of oil!"). At that point, which will be approximately be when half of the Earth's oil supply is gone according to Hubbert, peak oil will be reached. The "production" of oil will be at its maximum, and steadily or rapidly decline. Regardless of the declining rate, oil production will surely end and so will our industrialized civilization, which heavily depends on the oil.
A civilization that runs on and is based on the consumption of fossil fuel is not a sustainable one, and is one that we live in. This industrialized civilization is bound to collapse and follow the path of the civilization that once inhabited Easter Island. The ultimate reality, nature will not be able to support it. Without the constant consumption of fossil fuel our civilization will not last, just like how without alkaline batteries the child will not be able to continue playing his game. Entropy will take place, and the simulation will break down into a blank screen of emptiness. The American Way of Life includes all these aspects, which will contribute to this exhaustion of resources for the reason that it alienates us from what nature has to offer. There is less of an appreciation for all the things that are natural and can potentially lead to a sustainable lifestyle. However we, the Americans, replaced and alienated those things for convenience and for false representation of worth. Following this ultimately brings our society towards a collapse. And not only does this lifestyle contribute to this destruction, but it also prevents any change of courses. Our trust in the Constitution allows us to believe that what we have is great, and everything we do is for the greater good. In addition, our attitudes towards alternative methods, such as universal health care, prevent us from applying anything new to our system, for the reason that it admits fault. Regardless, it would appear that our country and our people are too far into the abyss that a collapse is nearly inevitable. A destruction is bound to happen, and it is all due to the different aspects of the American Way of Life that alienates us from life.
One of the most fundamental building blocks of this country is our Constitution; this is also known as "The Supreme Law of Land." These laws are all the laws that everyone in the United States has to follow. This document states what the people are allowed to and not allowed to do. As the history of the United States continues to expand, Amendments are established to revise the original Constitution. While interviewing people about the system and the democracy that we have in America, numerous people mentioned freedom. One woman said, "Here in America, we can do whatever we want...Although we waste our time, people seem to be a lot happier than any other people outside of America." And when I interviewed my older cousin, she had a similar response: “the people can actually express their opinion and have an input on how to benefit their way of living.” The people believe that the Constitution allows them to have certain privileges. In America, people believe that they are given freedom through this piece of document. Our rights stated in the first 10 amendments do not come from the government or the Constitution itself. It is just our rights as humans. By existing, we are supposed to have the right to do whatever we want. Society and forms of government were just created to limit those rights. So even though, we are given this "freedom" in America, we are really just being less restricted. Therefore, our basic human rights to certain actions are alienated from us through the basis of this country, the Constitution. Believing that we are limited in our actions by the government of this country, we refuse to actually take action. Being constraint in our actions, a revolution can never or will be difficult to take place.
In this country, we celebrate holidays that are quite responsive to the American values. For instance, we celebrate Thanksgivings. Most people say that Thanksgiving is a holiday to be thankful for what you have. But I do not know why you would need a holiday for that, and neither does my family. This holiday reveals that the American Way of Life requires some sort of reason or reward for doing anything. In this case, you would need a feast in order to appreciate the people and life that you have. The economic system and the lifestyle in America ties together almost perfectly: give in order to get. In America, it is a rare to have people doing something for the sake of doing it. There has to be some sort of self-satisfaction, whether it in shape of a gift, money, return-service, tax-reduction, etc. As part of living the American Way of Life, we also live through the obsession for material objects. This obsession demeans all value for the family gatherings, and prove that without a feast or any particular reasoning, we would not even host these events.
As part of Thanksgiving, Black Friday is a very big event where every store in America has sales, but it is also an opportunity for us to understand our AWOL. Everyone starts camping out in front of the stores days in advance. Every year, Black Friday continues to reveal and emphasize on the greed of Americans. People would do anything to save a couple of bucks (which they're going to spend buying more stuff anyways). This year a man in Wal-Mart was trampled to death because people were rushing in the store. When there are sales that is the only thing that the people see. They do not notice the 6'5 man fall down and that they're walking all over him. It doesn't matter, as long as they get into the store the fastest. I think Black Friday takes off the good-guy mask off of everyone. The people are now willing to take that mask off because they are going to rewarded with a massive sale. This incident showed us the lack of consideration found in the AWOL. Everyone in that Wal-Mart was so blinded by the deals and the opportunity to save a few bucks, that no one could take notice by the lump that they are running over. As a result, a man was killed by the greed of the people on Black Friday. When money is involved, another human being can be completely ignored and disregarded. Everyone there was just going with the flow, which is the AWOL but on a smaller scale. The people were just moving along with the drift and were following the overwhelming general movement. This also shows us that the image of Americans of being slackers is not completely true. Living the AWOL is about having ambition, but unfortunately it is for money. Americans' obsession for money, created by the AWOL, took away all consideration for the other human beings. Just as, the victim was stumbled to his death, through the oblivion of the American people, the same will happen will our entire society. In the country we live in, people only see the physical representation of value that they are saving. And as we continue on following this mentality and going with this flow, the country will gradually decline into its downfall.
Aside from the Constitution and our yearly holidays, we can also examine the way that we handle births in the country, to look for alienation towards life. As of right now 99% of the births in America are “normal births,” meaning it takes place in a hospital, where one or more doctor is involved, the option of taking epidurals and pitocins is available, and about a third of the births lead to a caesarian section (according to “Business of Being Born”). Around a month ago, I believed all these aspects of birth were good and indispensable to the birth process. However after interviewing several mothers, receiving many lectures, researching, watching various videos, reading a few articles and listening to guest speakers, I have gained a small but significant amount of insight into the American Way of Birth, which would be the normal hospital births.
Whether or not, we will have to personally or directly be involved with the birthing process, we all believe it is a painful and disgusting to a certain extent. Consciously we, or at least I, believe and say that birth is beautiful thing. But subconsciously, the image that often takes place in a hospital with a woman going through an extremely long process involving blood, screaming, and overall instability is incorporated with the idea of birth. And it is this image, created by the American Way of Birth that alienates America from the true meaning of birth. The perception of something being disgusting and repulsive is caused by the feeling of borders being crossed, as explained by Julia Kristeva. She says, “The abject body repeatedly violates its own borders, and disrupts the wish for physical self control and social propriety.” This concept of why we believe birth is partially a repulsive process is due to the violation of borders that occurs in the hospital while a female is giving birth, according to Kristeva. In a hospital, a woman in labor is connected to many wires that restrain her movements, which Kristeva would describe as the disruption of “physical self control.” In addition to the physical limitation, the mother also faces emotional suppression. The doctors overwhelm the mother and delude any feelings or thoughts that the mother has. According to Julia Kristeva, our subconscious view on births being something sickening is germane to the crossing of boundaries in hospitals. Thus the American Way of Birth is alienating us from the genuine perception on birth.
Rather than seeing births as an entrance of another human being, some people view it as “labor” and as a part of what you have to do in order to get what you want. In an article named, MD- Midwife in Disguise, the author says “My mother talked about birth being hard work- painful, yes, but an intensely physical experience with a tremendous reward when the work was done.” In America, birth is seen as an obstacle. Not knowing that birth can be a wonderful experience and sometimes even an “orgasmic” one, we view it as “work.” Our approach of birth in America has led us to perceive it as something to just get out of the way, and is alienating us from the fact that it can be a pleasurable moment in each of our lives.
Other than alienating our view on birth, the American Way of Birth also alienates the mothers from themselves. The American Way of Birth has led woman to be believe that they do not have the ability to give birth by themselves. One of the teachers in our school, Ms. Plaza was brave enough to share her birth story with our class. And her story is a perfect example of the alienation of the mother and themselves. In her experience, Ms. Plaza had to wait for the doctor to arrive to her room. And when he finally arrived, she said, “We can do this.” Ms. Plaza, as well as many other women in America, is convinced that they cannot give birth without the doctor. The alienation from the American Way of Birth is especially apparent when she referred to the person giving birth as “we.” Women who plan on having a child in America are now totally mentally reliant on the doctors. The American Way of Birth has alienated women from their abilities to give birth.
The alienation between a mother and the experience of giving birth is also seen in the Monty Python skit, as well as Ms. Plaza’s birth story. Unlike the Business of Being Born, the Monty Python skit portrays the moment after birth as it being the doctor saying, “Isolate it.” The child is immediately taken away from the mother, and there is no bonding between the two of them. Even though Monty Python is a skit, this is often times this is true for almost all hospital births. One real life example would be Ms. Plaza’s birthing experience. In her story, she gave birth in a hospital, where she was completely worn out by the waiting and the labor. And after the labor was finally over, she was already saying “take the baby away.” While, ;the women in the movie, Business of Being Born were closely bonding with their children, Ms. Plaza could care less about the presence of her baby, mainly due to the exhaustion of the hospital. The normal hospital birth, also referred to as the American Way of Birth, alienates the experience of giving birth and the experience of connecting with her child after the labor done. And by following this way of giving birth, we Americanize another thing offered to us by nature. Having hospital births- involving different interventions and avoiding the full experience- may not necessarily cause the downfall of our civilization, but when the time comes and we are no longer able to have births take place in a hospital, the people will not be prepared to approach the natural birth, which does not involve a stranger with a piece of paper that certifies him as a “professional.”
From what is presented on the movie SiCKO, it seems that having universal health care in the U.S. would only be an improvement to the country. So why have we not made that transition from HMOs to single payer or socialized health care, even when many of the other Western countries, such as Canada, Great Britain, France and Cuba, are already following this system? The reason why to anything is never clear, nor definitive, however I believe the prevention of this change lies amongst the people of the U.S. It is not because universal health care is a bad system and will lead to the deaths of many people; it is because the people in the U.S. are unwilling to amend to a different system and admit that their own system is not the best one out there, partially because they want to remain “superior” and partially because they do not know that. Regardless, the health care system is still corrupt. Our attitude towards health care in this country also draws us further from the path of improvement and brings us closer to a road of despair.
Americans are often described as “stupid” and “ignorant,” which is not that far from the truth, judging from what I have seen from others and myself. Many of the people that I met in the past appear to know very little about the things that occur around them, even when they directly affect their own lives. In my most recent interviews about America’s health care system, most of the responses reflect on this ignorance. The common responses to the questions, “Do you think we should use the France or Britain or Canada’s health care systems as a model for the system in America” or “Do you agree or disagree with Obama’s health care plan?”Were, if not pertained to, the phrases such as “which is...,” “I guess…” or “what exactly is Obama planning to do?” People in America are not informed about the current situations with their own country or any other country. This ignorance is partially why we cannot have a revolution in America leading towards universal health care. Without this knowledge, the people cannot differentiate bad systems and better systems. The people do not know enough to see the flaws and the better alternatives, even when it is presented right in front of them.
Our lack of universal health, however, is not solely resulted from our lack of knowledge. Rather, it is also the outcome of our low standards and satisfaction from minor benefits. As long as there’s limited health coverage from some people, those people will be satisfied and follow the current system. When my mother was asked about our current health care situation, she responded by saying that she was happy that the government is willing to pay for her expenses. She added that our government is better than most other countries. It was shocking to hear this from my mother, being that I can recall many times where she was denied of certain doctors because they were not within her network. There were also many times where I have heard her complain about having to pay for some of her expenses. But despite all this, she still support the current health care system in America, which shows us that, in America, if the government provides some aid the people will accept it and ask nothing more of it. Just as it was said in SiCKO, the American people fear the government, and they fear that if they intervene with the government’s plans, then they will lose the aid that they already have. Therefore America would never be able to progress until the people lose this fear and adjust their standards.
Americans are not only controlled by the fear for their government, but also by the fear of transforming into their greatest enemies, communists. In SiCKO, it was referred to as “The Red Nightmare.” Throughout history, the American people have viewed people such as Mao Zhedong, Che Guevera, and Joseph Stalin; people with socialist and communist views, as the villains. And to have socialized healthcare, it would be seem like the country is taking one step towards communism, eliminating everyone’s chance of rising to the top. However this view is created by our values that have been heavily influenced by the government and what they portray in the media. If America were to learn to not intake everything that is given to them, then maybe they will begin to accept the alternative views and consider it.
These characteristics of the American people are not the only reason, but are definitely factors to why America still does not have universal health care. But if we were to begin inform ourselves about our health care situation, and listen to people (from Denmark) rather than making comments such as “the one in the pink looked hot,” begin to have higher demands, such as the people in France and make the government fear people rather than the other way around, and begin to open up our minds to other systems rather than making websites such as this one, then maybe we can move on towards a better way of living. Even then, there are more unknown variables that need to be changed about the American way of life, because 60% of Americans believe that the country needs to follow a different health care system, and yet remain as a country that predominantly follows HMOs. As we continue on, using this health care system, we remain as the country with the highest death rates and one of the countries with lower life expectancy. The people in America obviously needs to begin evaluating their own systems and seeking for better ones, but for now we can only continue to be a nation where 40% of our people are covered by health care, looking up to countries such as France where 99% of the people of covered (assuming that they know that fact). [Link] Meanwhile, Americans are oblivious to alternatives and constantly drifts further away from a better society. This path we follow, that is reflected by our health care system, shows that our lifestyle eliminates the privilege of having options and alternatives.
Countless times have I said, “Yo I’m hungry. I want something to eat.” I sought for food whenever my body felt weary, because of its calories and its ability to rejuvenate its consumer. And it would not be foolish to assume that most of America does the same. Rarely, do we view food as something pleasurable, rather than something necessary for survival; both of which are true. This alienation of Americans and the food we eat, I would say, is the result of our disconnection with nature. Our view of the world around us is directly correlated with our food-ways and our view of our foods.
“Ask one of those eaters where their steak or soda comes from and she’ll tell you ‘the supermarket’”(Pollan, 34-35). As depicted by this quote from The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Americans go around not knowing, nor wondering where our foods come from. Whenever we think of the place to get food, we simply think of a supermarket. In America, the vast majority does not gather their own food from the Earth. Instead, we exchange green pieces of paper for the sources of energy for our bodies that represent an “equivalent value.” We do not wish to understand how exactly nature provides these resources nor understand the process that the food went through to be placed in our refrigerators. We do not wish to grow our own foods from the Earth nor make the effort to create something meaningful within our foods. That is because, as Jared Diamond says, “We get our energy from oil and machines, not from our sweat.” Americans do not work with nature for their foods, and therefore do not appreciate food as much.
Being that we get our foods from the supermarket, our foods come from corporations through mass productions of each particular food. And of course, being that corporations are corporations, their ultimate goal is maximized profit. Our food has been industrialized for the convenience of the people and the pockets of the big businessmen. Within any industry, “profit is the name of the game,” as said in the Meatrix. And to the food industry, nature is just what produces the pieces necessary to win this game. In order to maximize their profits, any industry feels it is necessary to take advantage their access to nature. Thus technology, such as GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) , are used. In the case of corn production, having a “higher yield” is the goal of using technology. "The higher yield of modern hybrids stems mainly from the fact that they can be planted so close together, thirty thousand to the acre instead of eight thousand in his father's days" (Pollan, 37). By having a higher yield, the farmer is able to take advantage of the land that he has, and is able to maximizing his profit off of something other than himself.It allows the mass productions of different foods and the exhaustion of any resource the Earth provides to each individual farm. The perspective of the “producers” of our foods on the Earth we live on is that it is a source of wealth. And to the farmers, food would to be nothing more than their income.
Within America, there has always been an artificial separation between “humans” and “animals.” This separation causes the alienation of humans from nature, which will lead to the alienation of humans from their food. Between humans and animals, humans particularly the ones found on the land labelled as America views themselves as the more superior. According to my mother, whatever beings that has its back facing the sky is meant to be eaten by humans. It has always been man versus nature.The music video for “The Cows with Guns,” depicts this exact differentiation. We do not accept the fact that we are part of nature, and are animals as well. By neglecting this fact, we neglect our animalistic instincts to hunt and gather. Instead, we turn to what Jared Diamond calls, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” agriculture. Just as we have domesticated crops and animals, humans have also taken control of nature itself for the mass-production of various commodities. And as we all know, this mass production ultimately leads to the packaged-foods which we, the people purchase and use to rejuvenate our bodies, without ever wondering the whole process of how the food ended up in our stomachs. Separating ourselves from animals, we never strive to have a direct connection with nature through the foods we eat. Therefore, nature and food will always remain as another alienated aspect of life that humans will never get to truly experience.
As we continue to disregard nature, we will continue to mindlessly eat our plastic-sealed foods, never quite understanding the full pleasure of real food. As humans, we do not work with nature so that both will have a sustainable lifestyle. Humans will continue to use nature as object to gain pieces of paper that were created by nature. Our instincts as animals will continue to be neglected, as we drift further away from our ancestry. And we will continue to eat GMO’s that have been purchased in the supermarket, and inflict the downfall of both humans and nature. Meanwhile, nature will continue to be depreciated and exhausted by the beings that it surrounds. It’s whole existence will continue to be reduced down to figments, which provides a sense of “value.” The alienation between humans and nature has resulted in the alienation of our foods. However, if we were to become more intact with nature (and possibly produce our own foods), the alienation of our foods would gradually decline as well. We will begin to understand that our foodway- the consumption of food, the interpretation of food, the non-numeric value that we give our foods, the production of food- is wrong. As results that come hand-in-hand with this comprehension, humans will end animal cruelty, the Earth will possibly live past the year 2100, a greater appreciation for food will be achieved, and New Yorkers can pick food from Central Park without being pulled over by a park ranger. But for now, food will remain as how "Our Daily Bread" portrays it: a long and boring process that we go through in order to survive in both this world, and in our society. Consuming at such a rate, without truly valuing the source of this food, Americans will eventually guide themselves into their own downfall.
Similar to a child putting in a game card into his GameBoy, playing the game and then eventually ridding it after it becomes boring, the acts of the human race placed industrialism onto this Earth. And following the same course, industrialism will be naturally discarded. However, in order for this game to be played, a certain amount of energy must be consumed; after which, it only a portion of the energy that was present before the game will remain. This process is one that cannot be avoided, for the reasons that it has already begun and that humans have become completely and utterly reliant on fossil fuel. And just as the source of fossil fuel is limited, this source of entertainment has a limited longevity, both of which will eventually lead to the collapse of industrialization.
Our exhaustion of fossil fuels is quite similar to the Easter Islanders' self-destruction through deforestation. In both scenarios, nature has to do some sort of adjustment in order to fit according to the human preferences. For the Easter Island, it is the cutting down of the trees to adjust to the humans' desire to create giant stone statues. In our modern society, the nature adjusts to the humans' desire for wealth, which I guess would be the same as the Easter Islanders' statues, by having its fossil fuel extracted. As the each group of people tries to "improve" and strives to outdo each other, there will be a greater consumption of resources. Being that our society has such similarities with the Easter Islanders it is difficult to see this as a model, showing that this path will only lead to the decline of our own civilization. In addition, "Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, nor to which they could turn for help; nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future" (Diamond, 20). Looking back at history, we can see a civilization's exhaustion of natural resources provided can only lead to its downfall. And while Diamond describes this as "worst-case scenario" that "may lie ahead of us," I would say that this is inevitable.
Jared Diamond also states that, "Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter's dozen clans" (Diamond, 20). Although we may share resources, the amount of resources remains limited regardless. And a continuing (exponential) growth requires a similar consumption of energy. Without this our civilization, following the idea of entropy, which states that everything will fall apart to the lowest level, will break down into a mere group of beings that share a similar body structure and set of skills. The "this" is the fundamental basis of our current economy, fossil fuel. And of course, fossil fuel has a limit that we will hypothetically, eventually meet. But according to "A Crude Awakening" and "Limits to Growth- Oil," we will not, for the simple reason that it will no longer be profitable to extract ("Within a couple of years, one barrel invested will only produce one barrel of oil!"). At that point, which will be approximately be when half of the Earth's oil supply is gone according to Hubbert, peak oil will be reached. The "production" of oil will be at its maximum, and steadily or rapidly decline. Regardless of the declining rate, oil production will surely end and so will our industrialized civilization, which heavily depends on the oil.
A civilization that runs on and is based on the consumption of fossil fuel is not a sustainable one, and is one that we live in. This industrialized civilization is bound to collapse and follow the path of the civilization that once inhabited Easter Island. The ultimate reality, nature will not be able to support it. Without the constant consumption of fossil fuel our civilization will not last, just like how without alkaline batteries the child will not be able to continue playing his game. Entropy will take place, and the simulation will break down into a blank screen of emptiness. The American Way of Life includes all these aspects, which will contribute to this exhaustion of resources for the reason that it alienates us from what nature has to offer. There is less of an appreciation for all the things that are natural and can potentially lead to a sustainable lifestyle. However we, the Americans, replaced and alienated those things for convenience and for false representation of worth. Following this ultimately brings our society towards a collapse. And not only does this lifestyle contribute to this destruction, but it also prevents any change of courses. Our trust in the Constitution allows us to believe that what we have is great, and everything we do is for the greater good. In addition, our attitudes towards alternative methods, such as universal health care, prevent us from applying anything new to our system, for the reason that it admits fault. Regardless, it would appear that our country and our people are too far into the abyss that a collapse is nearly inevitable. A destruction is bound to happen, and it is all due to the different aspects of the American Way of Life that alienates us from life.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hmm Who Woulda Guessed?
Similar to a child putting in a game card into his GameBoy, playing the game and then eventually ridding it after it becomes boring, the acts of the human race placed industrialism onto this Earth. And following the same course, industrialism will be naturally discarded. However, in order for this game to be played, a certain amount of energy must be consumed; after which, it only a portion of the energy that was present before the game will remain. This process is one that cannot be avoided, for the reasons that it has already begun and that humans have become completely and utterly reliant on fossil fuel. And just as the source of fossil fuel is limited, this source of entertainment has a limited longevity, both of which will eventually lead to the collapse of industrialization.
Our exhaustion of fossil fuels is quite similar to the Easter Islanders' self-destruction through deforestation. In both scenarios, nature has to do some sort of adjustment in order to fit according to the human preferences. For the Easter Island, it is the cutting down of the trees to adjust to the humans' desire to create giant stone statues. In our modern society, the nature adjusts to the humans' desire for wealth, which I guess would be the same as the Easter Islanders' statues, by having its fossil fuel extracted. As the each group of people tries to "improve" and strives to outdo each other, there will be a greater consumption of resources. Being that our society has such similarities with the Easter Islanders it is difficult to see this as a model, showing that this path will only lead to the decline of our own civilization. In addition, "Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, nor to which they could turn for help; nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future" (Diamond, 20). Looking back at history, we can see a civilization's exhaustion of natural resources provided can only lead to its downfall. And while Diamond describes this as "worst-case scenario" that "may lie ahead of us," I would say that this is inevitable.
Jared Diamond also states that, "Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter's dozen clans" (Diamond, 20). Although we may share resources, the amount of resources remains limited regardless. And a continuing (exponential) growth requires a similar consumption of energy. Without this our civilization, following the idea of entropy, which states that everything will fall apart to the lowest level, will break down into a mere group of beings that share a similar body structure and set of skills. The "this" is the fundamental basis of our current economy, fossil fuel. And of course, fossil fuel has a limit that we will hypothetically, eventually meet. But according to "A Crude Awakening" and "Limits to Growth- Oil," we will not, for the simple reason that it will no longer be profitable to extract ("Within a couple of years, one barrel invested will only produce one barrel of oil!"). At that point, which will be approximately be when half of the Earth's oil supply is gone according to Hubbert, peak oil will be reached. The "production" of oil will be at its maximum, and steadily or rapidly decline. Regardless of the declining rate, oil production will surely end and so will our industrialized civilization, which heavily depends on the oil.
A civilization that runs on and is based on the consumption of fossil fuel is not a sustainable one, and is one that we live in. This industrialized civilization is bound to collapse and follow the path of the civilization that once inhabited Easter Island. The ultimate reality, nature will not be able to support it. Without the constant consumption of fossil fuel our civilization will not last, just like how without alkaline batteries the child will not be able to continue playing his game. Entropy will take place, and the simulation will break down into a blank screen of emptiness.
Our exhaustion of fossil fuels is quite similar to the Easter Islanders' self-destruction through deforestation. In both scenarios, nature has to do some sort of adjustment in order to fit according to the human preferences. For the Easter Island, it is the cutting down of the trees to adjust to the humans' desire to create giant stone statues. In our modern society, the nature adjusts to the humans' desire for wealth, which I guess would be the same as the Easter Islanders' statues, by having its fossil fuel extracted. As the each group of people tries to "improve" and strives to outdo each other, there will be a greater consumption of resources. Being that our society has such similarities with the Easter Islanders it is difficult to see this as a model, showing that this path will only lead to the decline of our own civilization. In addition, "Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, nor to which they could turn for help; nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future" (Diamond, 20). Looking back at history, we can see a civilization's exhaustion of natural resources provided can only lead to its downfall. And while Diamond describes this as "worst-case scenario" that "may lie ahead of us," I would say that this is inevitable.
Jared Diamond also states that, "Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter's dozen clans" (Diamond, 20). Although we may share resources, the amount of resources remains limited regardless. And a continuing (exponential) growth requires a similar consumption of energy. Without this our civilization, following the idea of entropy, which states that everything will fall apart to the lowest level, will break down into a mere group of beings that share a similar body structure and set of skills. The "this" is the fundamental basis of our current economy, fossil fuel. And of course, fossil fuel has a limit that we will hypothetically, eventually meet. But according to "A Crude Awakening" and "Limits to Growth- Oil," we will not, for the simple reason that it will no longer be profitable to extract ("Within a couple of years, one barrel invested will only produce one barrel of oil!"). At that point, which will be approximately be when half of the Earth's oil supply is gone according to Hubbert, peak oil will be reached. The "production" of oil will be at its maximum, and steadily or rapidly decline. Regardless of the declining rate, oil production will surely end and so will our industrialized civilization, which heavily depends on the oil.
A civilization that runs on and is based on the consumption of fossil fuel is not a sustainable one, and is one that we live in. This industrialized civilization is bound to collapse and follow the path of the civilization that once inhabited Easter Island. The ultimate reality, nature will not be able to support it. Without the constant consumption of fossil fuel our civilization will not last, just like how without alkaline batteries the child will not be able to continue playing his game. Entropy will take place, and the simulation will break down into a blank screen of emptiness.
Twilight at Easter [Second Draft/Continuation]
After discussing about chapter 2: Twilight at Easter of Jared Diamond's "Collapse" in class, as well as rereading it, I learned that a major contribution to Easter Island's downfall was their abuse towards the land. Contrary to what was said in my original response, the Easter Islanders were not as cooperative with the land as I have claimed. In fact, they are quite the opposite. Although, the Easter Islands did use rock gardens, which I described as a method for them to work with nature." they approached the land, particularly the trees, in a way that ultimately led to their destruction. I found that what I said in the previous blog was a lie. This is due to the fact that the Easter Islanders are that that different from us. They cut down all the trees and eliminated their resources for their cultural values. And in the same way, America slowly destroys the Earth through industrialization in order to fulfill our cultural value, money. And as some of us read this book, thinking "Wow, they must have been ignorant to cut down all those trees for such an arbitrary cause" and wondering "Who carved the statues, why did they carve them at such effort, how did the carvers transport and raise such huge stone masses, and why did they eventually throw them all down?" (1), we can do the same as we look into the civilization that we have in America.
[Edit]:
While reading this chapter, I couldn't help but compare these stone statues to our money system. They are directly parallel in a sense that both of these objects reflect upon an individual's position and power over others within a society. People strive to obtain both of these objects as a symbol of wealth, power and self-importance. In addition, these things require a lot of labor to produce, which comes hand-in-hand with required resources to fuel it. However, in the end the stone statues will not provide us with what is necessary to survive, and neither will money. It seems that in both of our societies, we are spending our resources and time on such questionable objectives. And in both of our societies, it would appear that we have a mentality that resembles this statement: "All right, so you can erect a statue 30 feet high, but look at me: I can put this 12-ton pukao on top of my statue; you try to top that, you wimp!" (9).
[Edit]:
While reading this chapter, I couldn't help but compare these stone statues to our money system. They are directly parallel in a sense that both of these objects reflect upon an individual's position and power over others within a society. People strive to obtain both of these objects as a symbol of wealth, power and self-importance. In addition, these things require a lot of labor to produce, which comes hand-in-hand with required resources to fuel it. However, in the end the stone statues will not provide us with what is necessary to survive, and neither will money. It seems that in both of our societies, we are spending our resources and time on such questionable objectives. And in both of our societies, it would appear that we have a mentality that resembles this statement: "All right, so you can erect a statue 30 feet high, but look at me: I can put this 12-ton pukao on top of my statue; you try to top that, you wimp!" (9).
Monday, June 8, 2009
Twilight at Easter [Original Draft]
Just based on this chapter, there are some quite noticeable similarities and differences between the society we live in today and the society that was once present on Easter Island. One obvious difference would be the rock farms. As stated in its name, rock farms are farms involve the use of rocks, which were placed on top of soil while growing crops. The purpose of this was to not allow the moisture to escape the soil, as well as attract more heat. One difference in this would be that in America, we do not have rock farms, nor would we need it. For now, each farm has more than enough water, whether that be from rain (another difference between America and Easter Island) or from their money. Heat is also not an issue for us. Whenever there isn't enough or too much, that can be solved by a light bulb, or by simply choosing another crop to grow. The existence of rock farms points out that, while other civilizations, past or present, adjust to nature and its resources, we make nature adjust to us and neglect it when that isn't an option. On this topic, it was quite interesting to see that even when a society takes works with nature and makes decent use of it, it can still crumble. Jared Diamond says that even then, the resources were being exploited, but perhaps it also has to do with how their resources are spent. The fall of this civilization (as well as, the last paragraph of this chapter) led me wondering how much longer can we last, being that we are a country that exhausts the land and carry on wasteful actions.
While reading this chapter, I couldn't help but compare these stone statues to almost everything we value in our society (e.g. money, cars, big houses, etc). These things require a lot of labor to produce, which comes hand-in-hand with required resources to fuel it. However, in the end the stone statues will not provide us with what is necessary to survive, and neither will money. It seems that in both of our societies, we are spending our resources and time on such questionable objectives, that I would say, leads to a meaningless life (if not, even lower than that). In our lives, we like to say that we earned something valuable and accomplished something great. We only see that as greatness because we made it so. But what exactly are we doing with our lives outside of society, and into the world?
While reading this chapter, I couldn't help but compare these stone statues to almost everything we value in our society (e.g. money, cars, big houses, etc). These things require a lot of labor to produce, which comes hand-in-hand with required resources to fuel it. However, in the end the stone statues will not provide us with what is necessary to survive, and neither will money. It seems that in both of our societies, we are spending our resources and time on such questionable objectives, that I would say, leads to a meaningless life (if not, even lower than that). In our lives, we like to say that we earned something valuable and accomplished something great. We only see that as greatness because we made it so. But what exactly are we doing with our lives outside of society, and into the world?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Good Eats [Big Paper]
Countless times have I said, “Yo I’m hungry. I want something to eat.” I sought for food whenever my body felt weary, because of its calories and its ability to rejuvenate its consumer. And it would not be foolish to assume that most of America does the same. Rarely, do we view food as something pleasurable, rather than something necessary for survival; both of which are true. This alienation of Americans and the food we eat, I would say, is the result of our disconnection with nature. Our view of the world around us is directly correlated with our food-ways and our view of our foods.
“Ask one of those eaters where their steak or soda comes from and she’ll tell you ‘the supermarket’”(Pollan, 34-35). As depicted by this quote from The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Americans go around not knowing, nor wondering where our foods come from. Whenever we think of the place to get food, we simply think of a supermarket. In America, the vast majority does not gather their own food from the Earth. Instead, we exchange green pieces of paper for the sources of energy for our bodies that represent an “equivalent value.” We do not wish to understand how exactly nature provides these resources nor understand the process that the food went through to be placed in our refrigerators. We do not wish to grow our own foods from the Earth nor make the effort to create something meaningful within our foods. That is because, as Jared Diamond says, “We get our energy from oil and machines, not from our sweat.” Americans do not work with nature for their foods, and therefore do not appreciate food as much.
Being that we get our foods from the supermarket, our foods come from corporations through mass productions of each particular food. And of course, being that corporations are corporations, their ultimate goal is maximized profit. Our food has been industrialized for the convenience of the people and the pockets of the big businessmen. Within any industry, “profit is the name of the game,” as said in the Meatrix. And to the food industry, nature is just what produces the pieces necessary to win this game. In order to maximize their profits, any industry feels it is necessary to take advantage their access to nature. Thus technology, such as GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) , are used. In the case of corn production, having a “higher yield” is the goal of using technology. "The higher yield of modern hybrids stems mainly from the fact that they can be planted so close together, thirty thousand to the acre instead of eight thousand in his father's days" (Pollan, 37). By having a higher yield, the farmer is able to take advantage of the land that he has, and is able to maximizing his profit off of something other than himself.It allows the mass productions of different foods and the exhaustion of any resource the Earth provides to each individual farm. The perspective of the “producers” of our foods on the Earth we live on is that it is a source of wealth. And to the farmers, food would to be nothing more than their income.
Within America, there has always been an artificial separation between “humans” and “animals.” This separation causes the alienation of humans from nature, which will lead to the alienation of humans from their food. Between humans and animals, humans particularly the ones found on the land labelled as America views themselves as the more superior. According to my mother, whatever beings that has its back facing the sky is meant to be eaten by humans. It has always been man versus nature.The music video for “The Cows with Guns,” depicts this exact differentiation. We do not accept the fact that we are part of nature, and are animals as well. By neglecting this fact, we neglect our animalistic instincts to hunt and gather. Instead, we turn to what Jared Diamond calls, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” agriculture. Just as we have domesticated crops and animals, humans have also taken control of nature itself for the mass-production of various commodities. And as we all know, this mass production ultimately leads to the packaged-foods which we, the people purchase and use to rejuvenate our bodies, without ever wondering the whole process of how the food ended up in our stomachs. Separating ourselves from animals, we never strive to have a direct connection with nature through the foods we eat. Therefore, nature and food will always remain as another alienated aspect of life that humans will never get to truly experience.
As we continue to disregard nature, we will continue to mindlessly eat our plastic-sealed foods, never quite understanding the full pleasure of real food. As humans, we do not work with nature so that both will have a sustainable lifestyle. Humans will continue to use nature as object to gain pieces of paper that were created by nature. Our instincts as animals will continue to be neglected, as we drift further away from our ancestry. And we will continue to eat GMO’s that have been purchased in the supermarket, and inflict the downfall of both humans and nature. Meanwhile, nature will continue to be depreciated and exhausted by the beings that it surrounds. It’s whole existence will continue to be reduced down to figments, which provides a sense of “value.” The alienation between humans and nature has resulted in the alienation of our foods. However, if we were to become more intact with nature (and possibly produce our own foods), the alienation of our foods would gradually decline as well. We will begin to understand that our foodway- the consumption of food, the interpretation of food, the non-numeric value that we give our foods, the production of food- is wrong. As results that come hand-in-hand with this comprehension, humans will end animal cruelty, the Earth will possibly live past the year 2100, a greater appreciation for food will be achieved, and New Yorkers can pick food from Central Park without being pulled over by a park ranger. But for now, food will remain as how "Our Daily Bread" portrays it: a long and boring process that we go through in order to survive in both this world, and in our society.
“Ask one of those eaters where their steak or soda comes from and she’ll tell you ‘the supermarket’”(Pollan, 34-35). As depicted by this quote from The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Americans go around not knowing, nor wondering where our foods come from. Whenever we think of the place to get food, we simply think of a supermarket. In America, the vast majority does not gather their own food from the Earth. Instead, we exchange green pieces of paper for the sources of energy for our bodies that represent an “equivalent value.” We do not wish to understand how exactly nature provides these resources nor understand the process that the food went through to be placed in our refrigerators. We do not wish to grow our own foods from the Earth nor make the effort to create something meaningful within our foods. That is because, as Jared Diamond says, “We get our energy from oil and machines, not from our sweat.” Americans do not work with nature for their foods, and therefore do not appreciate food as much.
Being that we get our foods from the supermarket, our foods come from corporations through mass productions of each particular food. And of course, being that corporations are corporations, their ultimate goal is maximized profit. Our food has been industrialized for the convenience of the people and the pockets of the big businessmen. Within any industry, “profit is the name of the game,” as said in the Meatrix. And to the food industry, nature is just what produces the pieces necessary to win this game. In order to maximize their profits, any industry feels it is necessary to take advantage their access to nature. Thus technology, such as GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) , are used. In the case of corn production, having a “higher yield” is the goal of using technology. "The higher yield of modern hybrids stems mainly from the fact that they can be planted so close together, thirty thousand to the acre instead of eight thousand in his father's days" (Pollan, 37). By having a higher yield, the farmer is able to take advantage of the land that he has, and is able to maximizing his profit off of something other than himself.It allows the mass productions of different foods and the exhaustion of any resource the Earth provides to each individual farm. The perspective of the “producers” of our foods on the Earth we live on is that it is a source of wealth. And to the farmers, food would to be nothing more than their income.
Within America, there has always been an artificial separation between “humans” and “animals.” This separation causes the alienation of humans from nature, which will lead to the alienation of humans from their food. Between humans and animals, humans particularly the ones found on the land labelled as America views themselves as the more superior. According to my mother, whatever beings that has its back facing the sky is meant to be eaten by humans. It has always been man versus nature.The music video for “The Cows with Guns,” depicts this exact differentiation. We do not accept the fact that we are part of nature, and are animals as well. By neglecting this fact, we neglect our animalistic instincts to hunt and gather. Instead, we turn to what Jared Diamond calls, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” agriculture. Just as we have domesticated crops and animals, humans have also taken control of nature itself for the mass-production of various commodities. And as we all know, this mass production ultimately leads to the packaged-foods which we, the people purchase and use to rejuvenate our bodies, without ever wondering the whole process of how the food ended up in our stomachs. Separating ourselves from animals, we never strive to have a direct connection with nature through the foods we eat. Therefore, nature and food will always remain as another alienated aspect of life that humans will never get to truly experience.
As we continue to disregard nature, we will continue to mindlessly eat our plastic-sealed foods, never quite understanding the full pleasure of real food. As humans, we do not work with nature so that both will have a sustainable lifestyle. Humans will continue to use nature as object to gain pieces of paper that were created by nature. Our instincts as animals will continue to be neglected, as we drift further away from our ancestry. And we will continue to eat GMO’s that have been purchased in the supermarket, and inflict the downfall of both humans and nature. Meanwhile, nature will continue to be depreciated and exhausted by the beings that it surrounds. It’s whole existence will continue to be reduced down to figments, which provides a sense of “value.” The alienation between humans and nature has resulted in the alienation of our foods. However, if we were to become more intact with nature (and possibly produce our own foods), the alienation of our foods would gradually decline as well. We will begin to understand that our foodway- the consumption of food, the interpretation of food, the non-numeric value that we give our foods, the production of food- is wrong. As results that come hand-in-hand with this comprehension, humans will end animal cruelty, the Earth will possibly live past the year 2100, a greater appreciation for food will be achieved, and New Yorkers can pick food from Central Park without being pulled over by a park ranger. But for now, food will remain as how "Our Daily Bread" portrays it: a long and boring process that we go through in order to survive in both this world, and in our society.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wildman Trip
This was my first encounter with source of food in Central Park. Normally, I would have walked right past this, thinking it was a weed. However once I tasted this, my mind was suddenly opened. It had such a unique flavor of: lettuce-like, then minty, then spicy, that I was then looking out for whatever else could be ingested as food. I also noticed that there weren't much of this particular plant, which I would guess is why this is not as common as all the other vegetables we see in supermarkets. It was scattered around one plot of field, indicating that it does not have a high yield. Therefore it would not be as profitable for farmers to produce.
These were the leaves that could be used as tea leaves. Judging from first impressions, this plant seems like it is a tree. However Wildman Steve immediately clarified that it does have a truck. Therefore it was not a tree ("nor an elephant"). When I got home, I tried to make tea by using 10 of these leaves. It's flavor wasn't something that I was quite familiar with, and I would not necessarily crave for it. Now that I've become aware of this (after many years of predominately eating familiar foods), I was wondering whether or not corn has something to do with this. According to Michael Pollan, every complex food in our culture can be broken down to one ingredient: corn. So many all of the foods we purchase in supermarkets and restaurants are foods we like because it has that slight familiar taste of corn.
This was one of the plants that I did not want to be involved with, because next to it was another plant named "white snake," which was lethal to eat. I would say that this is the complete opposite of American food, simply because of its inconvenience. First, this plant needs to ripe at certain time of the year, otherwise it would not be tasty at all. Second, it was the next to the "white snake." A person would need to be well-educated about all sorts of plants, before they would attempt to walk around Central Park, picking out foods. Of course, this can be easily solved by reading a few books. Although that is the case, it is not quite easier than to just walk into a supermarket and reading the labels.
This was another plant that was dangerous. Wildman Steve told us that there are three ways you can die from this particular plant. And those are: if you eat the wrong part, if you cook it the wrong way, or if you pick it at the wrong time of the year. In a way, this plant demonstrates a benefit of industrialization. When people go to supermarkets to purchase their foods, they hardly have to worry about dying from the foods they are about to pay for. On the other hand, these foods are still killing us; just that it is not an immediate result.
This plant was also the plant that one of the other people climbed over the fence to pick. It just happened that a park ranger was driving by and saw her. The ranger then told her to discontinue this natural collection of food, because food can only be supplied by artificial buildings with artificial stuff in it.
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