My Second Favorite Store At The Mall

When conversations, both intellectual and your run of the mill small talk, head towards environmental degradation and/or loss of biodiversity, several buzzwords start flying around. (I don’t know why these topics would come up in everyday conversations, but they could.) Among these buzzwords, one reigns supreme: “Conservation.” It shows up like a store at the mall you go to because it has cool graphic tees and you “like the music” (i.e. Hot Topic). For an idea that gets thrown around quite a bit, there seems to be a very narrow realm that conservation covers. People know about, but only from the little experiences they’ve had with it or from what others say. Almost like a store that gets a bad rep from people who don’t visit it.

As a wannabe geography professor, I feel that it is my duty, nay my job, to use what I have learned to allow for a better understanding of what could be meant by “conservation.” Take, for instance, the Flint Hills that surround Manhattan, KS. While it could be argued that the area is heavily influenced my mankind, and indeed it is, if you look at the history of the area, you would find it surprisingly well taken care of.

The Flint Hills are in an environment that, at least before the vast majority was converted to farmland, would be called a tallgrass prairie. Defining features of prairies are large expanses of grassland and a deficit of trees. Now, for the shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies that dominate the Great Plains west of the Flint Hills, this environment exists due to the lack of available moisture. Trees can’t really survive, and the prairie grasses only due so thank to their extensive root systems. But these same climatic conditions do not occur in the tallgrass prairies. Trees can, and do in our present age, grow readily. So then, why were there so few trees when Europeans first described this area? It wasn't because the native tribes deforested the area; there is little evidence supporting the area as forested at the same time as human habitation. So what gives? There must be some reason found in nature for the prairies continued survival.

The answer is every Hot Topic shopping teens dream: fire. Every so often, a storm would come through after a dry period, and some errant lightning strike would start a wildfire. While there is the common preconception that fire is bad, it is the very lifeline for the tallgrass prairie. As the prairie fire sweeps through the land, it burns away the old grass stems. Now, tallgrasses have very deep roots, 10 ft. or more on average. So they are fine, and with the nutrients from the ashes added back to the soil, they can grow again very quickly. An added benefit from the fire is that any new saplings or other plant growth is destroyed in the process, allowing the prairie grasses to flourish, and allowing the soil to maintain its excellent fertility. The tribes that originally inhabited the Flint Hills recognized this, and there are records stating that they would regularly start fires to renew sections of the prairie, creating locales where game animals would want to head to. In much the same way, modern day ranchers burn their fields to allow for grasses to grow anew, creating prime grazing land for their cattle.

It is extremely rare nowadays for a wildfire to start, so humans have taken it on themselves to start and monitor them. Anthropogenic burns have been a part of the tallgrass prairie for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Remarkably, however, this isn’t thought of as conservation. The prairie isn’t protected except in a couple of places. Farms, roads, and buildings are all over the Flint Hills. But, you could argue this is one of the longest lasting conservation efforts in the world. While the effort is mostly for some self-serving reason, the landscape isn’t degrading as much as it would if the burns were not in place. So maybe conservation needs to take a page out of a farmer’s book. Using our resources in a responsible way is what matters, and even if that means doing something that might seem to hurt the environment, or put it squarely into mankind’s hands. Counterintuitive thinking may be hard to comprehend, but teenagers manage to do it. Why can’t we?

P.S. my favorite mall store is Barnes & Noble. I love books.

Blog #10: How we can make a difference

            Welcome back friends!  So lately I’ve been thinking about a couple ways that we could spread the word.  After what we have talked about in class the past few days and about the consumers and how we act on the environment doesn’t help it got me to thinking.  And again when I went to print something the other day and how paper and wood and trees are used everywhere.  Anyways, we need to take a step back and look at life and realize what is important and how we can change things that are currently hurting the environment we live in.  Here are a couple ideas (some might have been mentioned before so beware).

1.  Recycle: I know that my dorm just started this recycling program this year and by the looks of it, it seems pretty successful!  It is twice a week and all you have to do is put all your stuff outside your door.  A lot of people participate in it and it is such a great thing for our world!  Saves so many things, and if you think about it there are so many things that we use that can be recycled instead of thrown away.  This was all possible because of one person and how much they cared about our world and recycling.  Just proves you can do anything if you’re passionate about it!

2.  Pick up after yourself: This goes for everyone everywhere.  There is a time in everyone’s life where you have had to litter at least once.  I know I’m guilty for it and I think you guys are too.  Just think if no one littered how clean everything would be.  If you didn’t throw your gum on the ground or out the window instead of throwing it away, no one would ever step on gum.  If when you drop papers and they go flying if you picked them all up there wouldn’t be things all over the streets.  It’s really simple, we do it at home all the time so why not do it outside too!  Just think about it next time you want to throw that gum out the window or you drop something.

3. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX: I know we are all capable of thinking outside the box.  We do it all the time!  We do it for homework, when we go on adventures, just thinking about what to do to eat or anything.  It is a lot simpler then we think it to be.  Be creative with things.  You can think about a million different things to do with a piece of paper to reuse it.  Or even like water bottles or plastic.  There are so many things out there that we can do with almost anything.  The possibilities are endless you just have to be creative.

            So I challenge you guys to go out try some new things and help the world we live in while you’re at it.  Take shorter showers, reuse the materials that you use, and don’t throw gum out the window and who knows maybe you’ll see a difference in our world.  Have fun doing it and let me know if there’s anything new that could help others.  Till next time!

Blog Number Eight: Climate vs. Trees

And we are back!  This time we are just going to talk about the climate and how that can affect the trees and us humans very much.  What is climate, the actually definition would be: 1. The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.  2. A region with particular prevailing weather conditions.  3. The prevailing trend of public opinion or of another aspect of public life.  So pretty much the weather, and how it feels outside in the area you are in. If I were to look up the weather for today it would currently be 36 degrees and the high is 63 with a low of 39.  That is the weather forecast for today but what will it be in lets say ten years?  With global warming and all the other things in the world that can affect the weather forecast who knows what the weather will be like then?  It could be warmer or colder or perhaps there could be a tornado or a thunderstorm.  So many options but we wont ever know until that time comes.  

Global warming and how it might affect deforestation.  Well, in my mind at least, when I think about these two issues I think that they do not go along well together.  Lets say that we are talking about the amazons and we know that it already gets really hot down there but if global warming gets worst then it is just going to get hotter and hotter and then all the water will evaporate and then where will the trees get the water that they need?  Or if there is a pretty big forest up by a coast and the glaciers melt so that there is more water in the oceans then there should be the forest will get flooded and then the trees would get flooded and they might die because of all the water.  Two extremes and how they might kill a bunch of trees.  It isn’t quite deforestation but it is one way of getting rid of trees.  We have to try and save them and try and stop global warming to prevent these situations from happening.  

The climate is a big issue now a days and I have a feeling it is just going to get worse.  We need to figure out a way to really help and try to fix this issue so that we can all have a longer and better life.  Also so that it will not ruin our environments and our homes.  Those are two important factors that should give us an incentive to go out and do something so that we can stop and look around us to see the place that we want to save.  If that means stop using paper and start typing everything and saving trees that way.  Or if it means carpooling everywhere or maybe it even means watch what you throw away and make sure that if you can recycle it that you do.  Start with the little things and then go from there.  Spread the word and make people aware of what is happening to the world around them then maybe they will change their minds and go and help you change the world.  You just have to make sure that they are passionate about it as much as you are.  That is probably the most important thing.  You can do it just gotta believe!  Anyways that for reading this week, talk to you guys soon, have a great spring break!

Blog Number Seven: Ideology

Welcome back friends.  Today we are going to talk about ideology and what it means.  Figuring out your ideology and then using that to go on and talk about the environment and how it could help you figure out ways to help save it.  Join me in exploring through this thought.

What is ideology?  But more importantly what is your ideology?  

Ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.  It also is, the science of ideas; the study of their origin and nature.  

We are going to form our ideas of the environment and deforestation.  

The anthropocene that we live in has many ways that we look at it.  If you just go and think about where you live and the areas around you that you always go to you see a wonderful place called home.  For me being a student at Kansas State University I think of campus and call it home.  That is my home and the place I am always at.  The dorms are home because it is where I live.  Those are my thoughts over my anthropocene.  Although being in college the place you live is so closely related to the place that I go to school at (its cause it is the same place pretty much).  School and home can be the same two places because if it is what you are always around then you cannot help but call it the same place.  Even when I do go back to Kansas City (the place I grew up) that is still home to me as well.  Nothing wrong with have two homes.  So what is your ideology on your home?  

Now onto deforestation.  What’s your ideology on deforestation?  A tough question for people to answer sometimes.  I’ll tell you mine and maybe that’ll help.  Deforestation, I am not fully on bored with it but then again I use paper all the time.  I hate the fact that we have to cut down almost every tree we see in order to make paper, furniture, houses, books, anything you can think of.  It is a tricky thing to realize everytime I print something off I feel like I am killing a tree.  I love writing but I hate the fact that in order to write you have to kill the things that help us breath and survive.  Without trees we would have an overload of CO2 in the air because there are no trees there to take that and turn it into oxygen for us to breath in.  I feel like I always say this but it is the truth, WE HAVE TO SAVE THE TREES.  Recycle, don’t print everything out all the time.  It is the little things that we have to think about so that they can help us get the big picture and help us realize that the big things are the things that will help us stay here longer, the ones that will help us learn and go and share that knowledge with generations to come.  

So in a way my ideology on deforesetation is my blog over it all not just this post but the whole thing.  Throughout the semester because every week there is something new that I mention, or try to at least, that shows us studying different things and then relate it back to our topic, our project.  So think about your ideology over something you are passionate about and explain that.  That’s your project for next time!  So until then and thanks for reading fellow friends.

Blog #6: Carbon Democracy, Energy, Diversity and Deforestation

           Welcome back kids!  This week in class we have been talking about carbon democracy and energy flows.  So how does energy have to do with deforestation you ask?  Well you are here to find out I’m sure!  Anyways lets get to work, shall we.

            So how does energy and democracy have to do with deforestation?  Well, energy can be defined as multiple things:

 1. The strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.  

2. A person's physical and mental powers, typically as applied to a particular task or activity. 

3. Power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources, especially to provide light and heat or to work machines.  

In this case we will be using the third definition for the most part.  

            Energy is an important part in our society.  We use it to pretty much to do anything, power our houses, our cars, our phones, pretty much anything you can think of.  Without energy we would probably still be cavemen.  Just think what it would be like if energy was never invented, where the world would be.  It’s crazy to think something that little could mean so much to our world now.  Trees were a huge part of energy in the late 1800s.  Wood was one of the big sources that powered industries back then.  Shortly after people thought that it would be a good idea to start cutting down trees for everything that is when deforestation started going down hill.  Probably even before that if we were using wood as energy. 

            Carbon democracy, is more of the oil and mining fields that have changed throughout the past years.  For example we use coal mining for electricity production, factory work, trains, etc.  Both of these are examples of sustaining the anthropocene that we talked about last week.  Coal mining and oil fields are the new scene of the anthropocene in the modern world that we live in.  

            If there wasn’t any trees then the CO2 that was in the air would just stay in the air and no oxygen would be produced because the trees cannot convert the CO2 into O2.  Trees are sort of an essential thing in our lives at the moment and we need then to breath and survive.  We need to start thinking about a solution for the issue of deforestation so that we can all live a longer life and pollution levels will go down and the people after us will enjoy nature and be outdoors more then we are now.

Democracy is a big subject to the world and our own different communities.  It’s kind of crazy to think how much of a difference it can make in our lives.  It can decide where we go to school, what we learn, what we eat/can eat, what we do with our environment and everything around us.  You don’t think about it having such a great impact over everything but it usually does.  They make all the rules and laws that we follow so in a way they are in charge of us. 

Another topic that got brought up in class was the topic of diversity and why it is so important.  Diversity is a great thing sometimes.  When you are trying to decide something important and you want opinions on things and advice on what to do, it is good to have some diversity in certain situations.  It can call for different ideas and points of views on different situations. Also if you are taking a poll of something and you want different points of views and different solutions or something it would be a good idea to get a little diversity and different options.  Life without diversity would be very rough.  I feel like we would have problems and fights breaking out all over.  That is the upside of having such a great diversity in our world.  Although there are fights that break out every once in a while it probably wouldn’t be ask much if we didn’t have diversity.  Diversity vs. the trees.  With different people and their different opinions on deforestation there could be a great opportunity to help fix the situation.  

Democracy, energy, diversity and deforestation can all go together in different ways.  Hope you didn’t get too lost in this blog post and hope you learned at least one thing or made you think about something that you don’t really think about all the time.  Until next week readers!

Blog #3: What is the Anthropocene?

And we are back with the Anthropecene.  What is the Anthropecene, you ask?  And how do we affect it?  How can we help?  How can it change? Well these are good questions you may have over a topic that is very interesting and it was also what we have talked about this last week.  All these points are great starts to this issue that we call our home.  And how does that fit with deforestation you ask?  Well we will explore that in a little.  Right now lets just take it one step at a time.  Let us venture onto this topic together now, shall we?

Anthropecene: an informal geologic chronological term for the proposed epoch that began when human activities had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems.

So pretty much when humans started destroying the world that we live in and started cutting everything down to build things for us and all that kind of stuff is when everything started to go down hill.  

There are three stages on how everything went down, according to some people.  Stage one: regular growth.  That is when everything was normal and we were advancing at a regular pace and everything still wasn’t that bad.  Then we moved onto stage two which was right after World War 2, The Great Acceleration.  This is when things started to get edgy.  Everything went up really fast and we started doing all kinds of things to the environment and industrial revolution hit hard here too.  This started causing the downfall of the environment and the rise of population, industries, and deforestation.  The last stage is where we currently stand, 2015.  We have three options in this last stage.  Business-as-usual, with this we would just keep going as we were, not really change anything too much.  Keep living life as we are.  Or we could start mitigation, which is the futuristic flying cars, teleporting kind of stuff.  Or lastly, geo-engineering.  This sounds fancy but its not.  If this happens then we will start fixing everything that we have messed up and the things we can but it eventually will not do anything.  This is a baby step that will help us move along but not at a fast pace, which sometimes that is what we need, baby steps to keep us going. 

In my opinion, I have a feeling we are going to keep inventing new things when maybe we need to slow that down a little and think about the old things we can fix and make better and think a little bit about the world we live in and the environments around us and help fix those before we keep inventing things for the future.  That is the thing, things will break but the environment is always here for us no matter how much we mess with it and try and break it.  That is our true home and we need to start realizing it so we can take care of it and help it live longer.  For example, trees.  They help us breath and if we keep cutting them down and using them for other things then soon we will not have anything providing us oxygen so therefore we will not need to keep inventing things because we will probably not be here anymore.  With how many people that are on Earth, we need all the oxygen we can get.  

I think that we will keep doing what we are doing (business-as-usual) and then it will come to a point where we will need to start fixing things even if it does not make that big of a difference (geo-engineering) because it is the thought that counts and if we are thinking about helping the world then maybe we can get other people to do the same thing so everyone can do it.  Then lastly I am thinking that mitigation is going to happen.  It will also happen throughout the other two but it will sky rocket here for sure.  We have some brilliant people on our planet and they will keep inventing incredible things because they have the drive to.  They will keep exceeding everyone’s expectations in a matter of time, so just sit back and wait for it to happen.  

Well, the last of it has come to a conclusion about the Anthropecene.  It is an incredible place to live and to watch grow, but just remember about those trees that help us live and what all we can do to help them live.

Number Two

Hello, and welcome back!  So glad you could join us on this wonderful snowy day.  Today we’ll be talking about political ecology along with cultural ecology and their effects along with some possible solutions that go right along with those issues.  Also the chain of explanation in political ecology might be mentioned as well.  This is a very good representation on how it all goes down and who we could target to help us with our goal.  Speaking of goals, ours today is to spread the word and to become more informed about the little things going on right now.  Okay enough talk, lets go dig some dirt on all these things and let us go and help save the little things in life!

Political Ecology, environmental destruction and construction.  Why Destruction?  Why environmental destruction?  Why not just construction?  So many questions but I sure do not have the answers to all of these questions.  Political power plays a very powerful part in this issue.  Most people, when thinking about political ecology, deforestation is not the first issue that comes to mind.  There are so many other things going on in the world today that deforestation seems like a minor one to be talking about, but that is why you are reading this.  To learn more about the little things, the things that do not have a voice.  Remember, we speak for the trees.  

So now what can we do to help prevent political ecology to take over the little things.  Spread the word! Go to those who are in politics and talk to them.  Give them an idea of what we are against here and try to convince them to help us out.  The more people know about it the easier it will get, eventually.  Make videos, flyers, put it in a newspaper, go and host lectures about the issue even.  Anything that you would think could help right now.  Even the littlest thing can turnout to be the greatest help.  

Now on to cultural ecology.  Cultural ecology is defined as, studies that dimensions of culture that interacts more closely with economy and the environment.  When I read this I think of The Forest Man.  For those of you that have not heard or seen this, it is a mini documentary about a man and how he has built a forest on this island off in Asia.  This forest in now bigger then central park and he has taken care of it all on his own.  This is his creation, his baby and he has watched it and helped it grow to become something beautiful and something he could be proud of.  Now some might ask how does this story fit with cultural ecology, well this is what I think.  These two tie together because, in my mind, is it kind like his culture and his personality is interacting with the environment.  He was told to protect the forest and so he has, and has let it grow and expand as well.  He is a perfect roe model for this situation.  He can teach us so much if we set forth to go and save the earth.  

The chain of explanation in political ecology, what is this you may ask?  Well I am here to tell you.  It’s a list of steps showing how political ecology travels and works in its own way.  From the top down, the first one is Landscape/ecological systems.  This is more like just the environment and the trees or the grass, plants flowers, etc.  Everything to do with that which leads to producers/communities.  Here is where we get to the people that go and destroy or protect everything from above.  This is an important step because here is where you spread the word and from here is where if more people and communities know the better the outcome will be.  The third level is local/regional institutions.  This is also important because this is one where you still don’t have a big group but its beneficial for people to know what is going on and have them all informed.  Next is the state, where politics comes into play and where we meet those who are in charge of the country and what it stands for.  The last level is transnational firms/finance; these is where we go and help the others in the world and get to know what is going on globally and what we could do to help those who need it.  All these levels tie in with history and have a little part of history and how it will affect it and relate to it in some way.  

Well this is all for now.  Until next time friends.

Blog post #1: Deforestation and Our Behavior

Why is deforestation such a big issue?  Why do we care so much about it?  Deforestation is an issue that is going to pretty much dictate our world in the near future, at least in my opinion.  Trees are the ones that let us breath and live, they keep us going.  “I speak for the trees,” Dr. Seuss wrote in The Lorax, which is going to be me here.  About 60,000 square kilometers of forests are being cut down each year.  That is due to many reasons.  We need trees for paper at schools, offices, etc. also for wood.  You can find wood in almost everything that you touch and see.  It is in the furniture you sit on, the things you write with, the things you eat out of and use to make meals with, and it is even what you live in.  Trees are a major part of our life, not just because of wood and paper but also because of the air we breath.  They provide us with oxygen and if we continue to cut them down at the rate that we are we will not be living as long as we should.  

            Cultural ecology is a good example on how the environment we live in and the ones we don’t know about.  The first step is when technology effects the environment.   For example when we come up with new lawnmower or car, you go and test it outside.  So you would take this lawnmower out and test it on your yard and see if it cuts well or if you like the way it works.  Or if you have a new model of a car that you really like, so you take it out for a spin and you are out for a good thirty minutes you are polluting the air because of just driving around for fun. These are both examples on how technology is effecting the environment.  This same technology affects our behavior because we become curious when we see something new that we want to just try it out.  When you see that a new iPhone or computer comes out you want to go and test it out or see if you want to buy it.  That is what we are best at, buying and relying on technology.  Finally, our behavior can affect the rest of the world.  If we are buying things like crazy then the producers of those things are going to take that into account and keep producing more of the things that will sell the most.  Also the fact that we want to keep building houses, offices, and just buildings everywhere doesn’t help the fact that we are destroying someone else’s home when we find the land for these future buildings.  

            On the other hand ethno ecology comes in handy when you are going out and teaching or even just talking to people about what Deforestation and our behavior towards it is.  You have to be interested in people’s point of view to that subject and then their known knowledge but also the knowledge that they still do not have.  Not a lot of people know the hard facts about this issue.  They just know that yeah, we have been cutting down a lot of trees lately wonder why? Or they know very minimal on the affects that cutting down all these rainforests can have on the environment on that part of the world.  There are so many factors that go along with deforestation.  You have to keep in mind the animals that live in those rainforests and then the oxygen sources that you are cutting off by killing that many trees at once. 

            I think that this destroying rainforests and habitats of other animals and sometimes even humans will take a turn soon enough and will lead us all down a path to where we will look and just think, why did we ever think this was a good idea.  I do not believe our world will be over ruled with technology before we will run out of fresh air to breath.  There is only so much you can do to try and help this issue.  Try and not use so much paper for anything you do.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, the three R’s that you should always follow.  So what, maybe it won’t get you so far right now but just think in the long run you will be thankful because you would have created a better life for those after you.  Just keep that in mind.

I could be Superman, but I don’t want the responsibility

As is already well known, I love geoengineering. When I decide to talk about geographical concepts, it is one of my favorite to soapbox on. So when I see an opportunity to bring it up, I do. (If you don’t actually know how I feel about is, go ahead and look at my previous post over it. It’s the one with the word “Geoengineering” in the title. Sorry, I’ll try to be less sassy from now on.) Another friend of mine (as opposed to the one in my previous post. Yeah! I have more than one friend. Take that, parents!) and I were talking about negative externalities, and I saw my chance to enlighten another person. After finishing my diatribe, I was shocked with what he said. He told me he was glad that I was paying attention to this kind of stuff, because he had no idea about it. I was like David Keith, telling others about the dangers of geoengineering (if you haven’t seen that TED Talk yet, I highly recommend it. Again, it’s in the post with “Geoengineering in the title). Most importantly, I was becoming the change I wanted to see in the world. I was becoming my own Superman, or possibly Batman, since he’s cooler. Regardless, I was the person in my friend group that could make a difference. They are all cool guys and gals, my friends, and they aren’t against the trying to improve the world. I would argue that they all are actively for improving the world. But, as most of my friends and I are strong Christians, saving the environment was not necessarily on our minds. This has changed thanks to my picking geography as my major, and taking several meteorological, climatological, and environmental classes. It still isn’t, frankly, something I consider important, at least not in the same way as other people might view it. I want the environment to be safe so people can be safe. There are seven plus billion people on the Earth, and I consider each of them important, but I am only one man.

I help out with the food pantry at my church. That feeds about 10 families regularly. On one hand, it is great that the hungry of Manhattan are being fed. On the other hand, I have done next to nothing to truly stop world hunger. What am I to do?  What is the director of the Flint Hills Breadbasket to do, when there are homeless and hungry in Topeka, Lawrence, Wichita, KCK? There is simply too much to do. Have I shattered your hope yet? Well, I haven’t shattered mine. I’m not saying I can plant a forest by myself, but I am uniquely qualified to change the world around me in ways that no one else, including me, could imagine.

I have already mentioned that I am religious. I am also interested in going to grad school, with climate or atmospheric science being a possible point of emphasis. I’m starting to sound like a smaller, albeit taller and male, Katharine Hayhoe. And like Dr. Hayhoe, this puts me in a unique position. I am in no way trying to compare my body knowledge and grasp of understanding with hers, but like her, I can communicate with in-groups that other science oriented people may not be able to enter into. It’s not because I am some gifted writer or great orator or spectacular word-smith (I am not any of these things). It is merely because I have the knowledge I have learned, and am an excepted member of my friend group. They listen to me and what I have to say because I have earned it, because I share the same basic beliefs and ideologies that they do. The science and the facts haven’t changed, just who is presenting them. The response, however, can be radically different.
All of us are uniquely qualified to make an impact wherever we are. And the most wonderful, beautiful part of this is that, just as are qualifications are unique, so too are our impacts. I personally enjoy gaining knowledge and sharing it. That’s why I want to be a professor. But nothing is going to happen if we have a bunch of smart people (the only dumb people are those who support geoengineering) sitting around teaching others. And some people aren’t really comfortable doing that. They want to go out and do something. These go-getters are great as well. The world needs them just as much as the mobilizers who can inform them of what changes are needed. Combined, it is easy to see how just one person can make a difference.

P.S. I love my parents, and I know they support me in all that I do
P.P.S. And I love being able to start sentences with conjunctions. Suck it, English grammar rules

Idea o’ log y Ideology

Have you ever spent time with a young child? Whenever anything happens, they always have a question. After the normal “who, what, when, where” they always have a “why.” And they never stop asking. They’re like the seagulls in Finding Nemo: “Why? Why? Why?” Why am I bringing up the incessant questioning of children? Because, just as it is the suffering for babysitters everywhere, it can also become the bane of any debate or discussion between groups of people. Just ask the opposing side why they believe something. Ask them again, and again, and again. Eventually, the interrogation will come to a point where the other side can’t answer. Congratulations! You have just discovered their ideology, their system of ideas and ideals, or more basically, their core beliefs.
I was talking to a friend last Monday, and the subject of ideology was brought up. At some earlier time, we had discussed capital punishment while on our way to Chipotle (the subject had come up because of some morally questionable things my Dungeons and Dragons character was going to do. And yes, I play D&D. I know, I lost some cool points. I’ll live). After sharing our views, of which we sort of agreed, and at the very least we were respectful of each other’s, we came to the conclusion that, even when if we agree, not everyone will. I didn’t know at the time, but we discovered that our beliefs on capital punishment came from our ideologies. Back to last Monday. I had shared with him what ideologies were, and he pointed out that what we had been talking about was a prime example of thinking with them. It was amazing to me to see that I had talked so openly about something, and not realize that what I was saying was qualified by my basic beliefs, my intrinsic values. How often must people overlook these aspects, when they can be the defining character of how we act in a situation? As such, I am now planning on sharing my primary beliefs with all of you, in hopes that my life can be an example, and possibly help you find out what your ideology is.

When people think ideology, politics is what usually comes to mind, so I guess I’ll start there, and we’ll use to discover my core beliefs. I would definitely consider myself to be conservative in my politics, but highly independent when it comes to party affiliation. I think the government should stay out of other people’s business as much as it can, and that it really only needs to have minimal responsibilities to be successful in operation. Libertarians are possibly the closest group I would ally with, but I do not believe that their form of governance is effective. It lacks any good form of collective action. What is really needed is a strong leader. If I’m being perfectly honest, I would most likely support a modern form of feudalism. Go ahead, burn me at the stake. Now, why do I have this political leaning? I would have to answer that it comes from three things: My strong sense of freedom, equality, and justice.
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f you are using the Merriam-Webster definition, I would be a feminist. In this sense, feminism is defined as: “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.” I am all for this definition, and the thought behind it. The key part of it is the word “equal.” I have a firm belief that all people, no matter their gender or race, should be treated equally. Not live equally, but all humans deserve a common respect from others. It’s a very simple concept, at least in my mind. With all people being equal, that means I want all people to be free, to make choices and live with their consequences. I in essence want people to be able to do what they want to do. It sounds like I support anarchy, doesn’t it. I can’t harmonize that, however, with my desire for justice. If people do something wrong, commit some sort of transgression, a punishment should be expected. If you kill or steal from someone else, you shouldn’t be surprised if you get arrested and have some severe punishment (fitting for the crime, of course). That’s simply just. All these concepts, by the way, stem from the fact that I am a Christian, and I probably wouldn’t hold these views if it weren’t for the fact that God supports them. But that is a discussion for another time.

Energetics, or test number five in your Principles of Biology class

Energetics is the study of energy under transformation. It is also considered the hardest test in the introductory class, to which I can attest (I thought the class as a whole was easy, but that is neither here nor there). The reason I bring this up is because, in biological energetics, food and the molecules that make it up is broken down to create energy. This process involves a physical flow of the molecules for the energy to be produced. Both of these aspects, transforming something into energy and having that energy moved, are extremely important to modern society, at least as far as those who can read this blog are concerned. And, like everything else I seem to post about, the effects and consequences of this energy movement, even from one small area, can become global in scope. Maybe I should have stopped sleeping in class.

Now, I’m going to be talking about oil and coal and other fossil fuels, but by no means should that be taken that I think alternative energy is without fault. I even hate when people call it “clean energy.” It shows that someone failed their physics class in high school. In fact, I have changed my mind. Alternative energy is on the table for discussion. Grab your seatbelts, this will be a wild ride.

As you can see from my second Ind. Inq., dams are on my mind. I personally find it funny to think that such large constructs draw little attention to how much they can impact the region around them. Unlike building something of that magnitude on land, which really only effects its immediate area, dams constrict the fourth dimension of rivers: flow. Just like the atmosphere, rivers have mass movements as a natural part of their processes, and disturbing or disrupting these normal fluxes can have devastating results. Obviously, dams create large reservoirs behind them from the constricted flow the river suffers; The Three Gorges Dam project in China displaced 1.3 million people. What many people don’t think about, though, is that every location down river from the dam is affected, as well. Shanghai is almost 1,000 miles away, and it suffers the possibility of inundation because a lack of silt deposits to strengthen the city’s foundation. The interconnectedness of features in the world, again, is something that seems to be quickly forgotten about, but is extremely important.

Mitchell, in his essay Carbon Democracy (2008), posits that modern democratic politics is inextensibly tied to coal, and later oil. The control over the flow of energy is an utmost priority for the societies on which it is the bedrock for their current status. The same could be said for the importance of mitochondria in a cell (mitochondria are apparently so important, they actually contain their own independent set of DNA. The same is true for chloroplasts in plant cells. Even nature understands the implications of having a working energy transport system. And you thought the first paragraph had no relevance).  Many workers rights came about during the Industrial Revolution, when coal was the primary fuel, and coal miners the sole producers of it. This gave the workers and miners of coal plants and mines a great amount of political power. When oil gained dominance as a fuel source, policies were changed, and the corporations who extracted and transported the oil had the power, instead of the common worker. This is how the model works in present times.

It is interesting to bring up how alternative forms of energy would fall into these political processes. Would a new group of people gain power and importance, or would those companies already at the top keep their hold on the market? Evidence does not look good for new companies.  In the solar energy market, this can be seen through the life of the company to Solyndra. The new solar panels Solyndra promised were to be a new era of energy collection, with them capturing 12 to 14 percent of incoming sunlight and converting it to energy. The U.S. DOE gave a $536 million loan guarantee, and the company got $25 million dollar tax break from the state of California. Despite these huge benefits, the company went bankrupt in 2011 amid allegations of accounting fraud. A very inauspicious start to what have a great source of “clean energy,” or at least cleaner energy. It is my fear that the Solyndra scandal is only a prime example for the future of alternative energy solutions. It seems that only those already in power could change the source of energy, and they currently have no incentive to. So the DNA of our society remains with the controllers of energy. No wonder this was a hard test.

Individual Inquiry: Damocracy

Here are four scenarios that result from mega-dam projects

Ilisu Dam, Turkey

Scenario #1; Work continues: The dam is completed as proposed, resulting in about 35,000 people losing their homes. The town of Hasankeyf is inundated, and many archaeological and historical sites are lost to the water, as well as habitats all along the Tigris river. A 1,200 MW power station is attached to the dam, bringing in more energy to help develop this region. The dam adds thousands of jobs, and allows for irrigation easier irrigation for farmers. The region over time becomes wealthier, and better infrastructure is added to the region. Species threatened in the area face extinction, and most likely will die out. Cultural artifacts are saved, but many sites are no longer visit-able, and tourism in the area suffers.

Scenario #2; International pressure: The continued pressure from international sources, including economic sanctions against Turkey, cause the dam project to be stopped until proper environmental impact surveys are accomplished. These result in the dam project being moved upstream of Hasankeyf. The cultural heritage sites around Hasankeyf are kept, but the environment still suffers from the dams construction. Problems come to areas as far as Basra near the mouth of the Tigris.

Belo Monte Dam, Brazil

Scenario #3; Work Continues: 40,000 people from around the city of Altamira will be displaced. The biggest effect, however, is on the indigenous people. Their primary food source, fish, becomes scarce due to the drying of the Xingu river. The primary mode of transportation, again the river, is also lost. Entire villages will have to find new ways to survive or else threaten extinction. The influx of migrant workers to the dam causes an increase in social tensions, and lead to more problems down the road. Energy from a 11,233 MW station in generated for the country, continuing its large expenditure on energy security, and likely leading to more dams in the future.

Scenario #4; Effective collective action: Thanks to dedicated efforts of conservationists, native peoples, and international support, the dam project stops. Workers on the dam strike, halting construction of the dam. Those against the dam continue to protest against it, causing an increase in the notoriety of the project. Large scale efforts by these groups helps to slow down construction, while mounting international pressure results in the Brazilian government to put the project on hold indefinitely,