For evidence to support of your responses, draw upon at least six relevant, representative quotes from the assigned sources from week five on.

 

– use the 6 quotes i provided and work around them . reword my work into paragraphs. 

 

Respond to these questions with a formal essay that is no more than six pages long (12-point, double-spaced.) After an introductory paragraph in which you summarize your pathways, the body of your essay should provide an evidence-based response to the prompt above. Support your examples with quotes from the assigned readings, citing them using the following format:  You do not need to provide a Bibliography/Works Cited page .

 

5 quotes!

 

Quote 1

 

“All across the southern United States and other regions of the nation, grassroots community resistance emerged in response to practices, policies, and conditions that residents judged to be unjust, unfair, and illegal. For many communities of color, the environmental protection apparatus was broken and in need of fixing. Similarly, federal and state environmental protection agencies were seen as managing, regulating, and distributing risksinstead of protecting public health and the environment in low income and people of color communities. A permit was defined as a ‘ government-granted license to pollute.'” (Environmental Justice for All, Bullard)

 

In what ways have the state apparatuses of environmental protection shifted in their role in protecting public health, and in what ways have they stayed the same?

 

This quote points out a major shift in the purpose of state-controlled environmental protection agencies as a direct result of the movements for environmental justice. However, we are very apparently not in a state in which those agencies universally act to the benefit of the protection of public health while retaining environmental integrity (see the events of Flint, MI or ongoing disputes over harmful pipeline construction through indigenous land). Hopefully, this question provokes a level of inspection of the role these agencies actively serve, and how they could very easily improve.

 

Quote 2 

 

“For capitalism to function properly, it requires inequality, and both racism and the climate emergency fit the bill. The result has been the emergence of a sort of eco-apartheid – a segregation of climate haves and climate have-nots. Looked at like this, high-emitting individuals and countries aren’t just growing their wealth and economies, they’re colonizing the atmosphere and lowering chances of survival for everyone else – on purpose”

 

Q: My question would be: what period of human existence featured both the lowest amount of human intrusion onto the environment and also the lowest amount of discrimination against other humans?

My estimation for my question would be the earliest periods of time that humans were alive. In the Anthropology class I took at my old college we discussed how the hunter gatherer societies would need to be light on their feet and move with the animals they were hunting (migrating whenever the animals moved). With farming came sedentary societies and that meant altering the environment; such has been discussed throughout the course of this class but also opened to door for larger scale human conflicts and the birth of the type of discrimination we associate with racism or prejudice today. 

What need be said is that the rapid growth of human societies has always accompanied horrible atrocities alongside with it. If for example we were to talk about colonialism, the Spanish Empire acquired quite the sum of capital (in the form of gold and other natural resources) by plundering the America’s and murdering her inhabitants through disease and warfare. The British were slightly less short sided but ultimately their empire seeked to make government rich with other civilization’s treasurer’s. According to my 8th grade Social Studies teacher, the only European colonial power that actually tried to have a more symbiotic relationship with the local people of the land they were exploring were the French (Trading with them and also destroying much less of their environment). Moving onto American Slavery, the need to reap the benefits of slave labor justified all sorts of mistreatment and intimidation of the slaves on a planation.

The point is that, economic plundering usually encompasses the kind of horrible atrocious that we read about in textbooks. It seems extremely unlikely that a power could plunder another land without committing crimes in the process. In this regard, our current climate change crisis could be considered as much a humanitarian crisis as much as an environmental one.

 

Personally I think that you are on the right track about earlier civilizations being potentially less discriminatory towards one another and also much kinder to the earth. I also think that a lot of Indigenous societies could be looked at as being some of the best towards the environment, especially today. A lot of indigenous societies flow with the tides for a lack of a better word, just like you described. I would be really interested in hearing what anthropologist would say in regards to this question, and it definitely leaves me wanting to learn more about earlier societies social and environmental impacts! 

 

Quote 3

My quote is, “The whole idea of nature as being something separate from humanity, something that should be preserved as wilderness, denies the existence and expertise of the people who have been living in balance with their environment for thousands of years.”

Nature is superior than humanity. We need to survive using nature or it will destroy us. 

Do you think Nature is more superior than humanity or vice verse? and why? 

This quote represents how humanity can survive the correct and balanced way like we’ve been doing before changing things. 

Also, in the “inequality is not by accident its by design” section of the article we read stated, “ignorer for capitalism to function properly, it requires inequality, and both racism and the climate emergency fit the bill.

This is true it was designed a certain way and that’s why it works the way it does. But how do we expect to change the system that now may run a whole society? how Can we make the system more fair? 

Being an African American woman I know and see every system in the US was made a specific way towards the minorities and it forces humans to single themselves out as if we do not share the same flesh and blood but rather based off the color of their skin. we need to change the way we think and the way the system is directed if we WANT change. 

 

Quote 4

If you are non de-growth person do you think its because you are not aware of what is happening or because you choose to ignore reality with a superior thought mindset?

 

pople being unaware of what is happening, but rather a choice in ignoring the reality we all face or maybe not even choosing to ignore, but just thinking that the ecological crisis we all face doesn’t/won’t affect them due to the power they hold. This question reminds me of the quote:

“This conditioning process of individualization has oriented us so far from the systemic level that we are left unable to collectively construct meaning in life or restore our political sovereignty.” (Tyberg, 2020)

I feel as though “this conditioning process of individualization” engenders not only selfishness/egotism within people who think this crisis won’t impact them because they have more power in terms of wealth, but also the idea of not thinking of, or caring about the impact this will all have upon future generations.

 

Quote 5 

“This isnt about saving the planet. The planet itself will survive. The question is, What will happen to the rest of us who call it home?” (Hayhoe)

The planet will regenerate and make cleanse itself to sustainability but they way it will do that is by wiping out the forces causing the unsustainability. 

Have you guys thought about how of all the Netflix movies and shows about living and surviving in outer space? Do you think thats a hint to show us how the future is going to be, and if so how do you think that would go? 

 

I think reading that statement she wrote really puts into perspective that the world doesn’t need us to survive. We need the world and if we dont adapt to it we will be wiped out as a human species forcing us to start all over again . “I now understand how critical it is that we start these discussions with mutual respect and a focus on what genuinely connects us.”

I really enjoyed watching Hoffman and his example of cigarettes causing cancer yet its legal and generates a lot of money showing capitalism vs. health. He showed how we do not have a social concensus for climate change because the conversations never arise. 

My question to you guys is what genuinely connects you personally to climate change and how critical do you think going into discussions with mutual respect will change others perspectives that don’t believe in climate change? 

First things first you can’t deny what’s right in front of you so time will tell. I think it is very important to learn how to spread knowledge to those that don’t believe in your knowledge in a certain way that everybody can understand or relate to. 

 

your final essay is an opportunity to argue for the importance of a particular cultural pathway to social justice and ecological sustainability, or “just sustainability”. What cultural changes are necessary and how can we achieve them? In addition to writing your essay, you have the opportunity to share your knowledge and suggestions with the rest of the class in the form of an infographic profiling an individual or organization that practices a cultural pathway to sustainability that you feel is promising.