Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Lower Class Is not Allowed to Achieve the American Dream
Anyone would be happy if they were living the American dream: a Lamborghini, a three floor house, and a two door garage. The foolish thing about it is that not many people know that the American dream comes with consequences. Many people have the opportunity to live in luxuries, but they forget that the “good life” causes one of the biggest conflicts known as global warming. It’s crazy to know that wealthy people have the chance to live in luxuries while people that live in poverty have to live in pain, and suffer while they get the worst of Mother Nature. The American dream has a restricted line that stops the lower class from reaching their dream life.
Every time you mention the American dream you think of the rich. Everyone admires them because they have it all: cars, houses, and a great job. Why can’t people in the lower class think about this? It’s because they have to worry about getting out of their neighborhoods, and into a better apartment or project home. Everywhere they go they would have to travel with their best “friends.” Their best friends are the furry, gray, red eyed, cuddly rats. You could never feel lonely because there is always someone to talk to in lower class communities; it might not be your first choice, but it will always be there to listen to you as long as there’s some type of crumb on the floor. The lower class societies tolerate the worst conditions of living, but that is because they don’t have a choice. No matter how far a low income family travels, they still will have to deal with natural disasters, because lower income communities are known for their struggles with global warming. Furthermore, no matter what happens, people that live in poverty will always receive the devastating part of mankind.
Factories are built in lower class communities and fill the air up with dirty pollution. It seems like the government is careless about what happens to people that can’t even dream about a luxurious life. According to “Detroit Arcadia,” by Rebecca Solnit, Detroit struggles with money. Detroit barely has enough resources to allow anyone to live there without getting sick. Many factories were built there and they each stop Detroit from having a populated city. The only people that will probably stay in Detroit are obviously the people that already live in lower income communities. History seems to repeat itself. Society has allowed minorities and whites to diverge. Solnit states “In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the city was falling apart, spectacularly and violently” (Solnit, p.68). So much violence goes on in lower class societies because many people there know that they could never reach the luxurious life. People fight and kill each other to be on the top of an invisible business. This business is created to help provide “the hood American dream.” The “hood American dream” is to have enough money to provide your family with food and shelter. It is also to have certain products that others don’t have: electronics, sneakers, and clothes. Many people create a drug business because they believe that they can acquire all their necessities, and they believe that they can finally reach their American dream. In reality, they don’t reach it; they just risk getting arrested or killed to be above everyone else. They see people living the American dream, so they do what they can to share that feeling. In some cases, that might mean stealing to get what they want. Society has divided, and the rich will continue to stay rich while the poor will stay poor.
How far are some people willing to go to reach their American dream? I ask myself this question everyday. Not only do the rich play a huge role in climate change, but people that live in lower class communities do too. The rich buy these fancy cars, and get involved with these remarkable jobs because it brings in a lot of money. They are so blinded by the money that they forget about global warming. Every car they have ever driven releases gas, also known as a greenhouse gas, into the air, which impacts climate change. When people in lower class societies do reach their American dream they also get blinded by money. They never had the chance to live in the shoes of a wealthy person, so they spend all of their money on luxuries. However, everything they buy contributes to global warming: cars, houses, and electronics. Moreover, the American dream is like a drug, and it becomes very addictive to people that have never had it. When people from poor neighborhoods reach their American dream they get hooked the first time they taste it because the recipe contains a pile of money. A person that lives in poverty struggles to reach their American dream, and for some of them that American dream turns into an American nightmare. An unprivileged person might reach a stop sign in their life if they are trying to snatch their American dream from someone else. For a lot of people in lower class societies, that is all they know how to do. They grow up believing that sometimes you have to take what you believe is yours, but that is not always true. That results in violence, and usually that violence happens between people of the same race. According to “Dead Cities,” by Mike Davis, history follows a constant pattern. Davis states, “He invites us to reopen that history from that vantage-point of an early visible future when sprawl, garbage, addiction, violence, and simulation will have overwhelmed every vital life-space” (Davis, p.31). Global warming was predicted to happen because there were many signs of it before. Factories that were built contributed to global warming, because all of the gas they released mixed into the air and got trapped in the atmosphere. Sprawl cities were created once these factories came into the world, and people created it to separate social classes. Violence just became an addition to sprawl cities and global warming. Finding the American dream can result in a global impact.
The consequence of following the American dream will be an ecocide of the human species. According to “Ecocide,” by Franz J. Broswimmer, Broswimmer states, “well over 50% of all species on earth will be perished” (Broswimmer, p.2). Does the American dream matter then? It will have to take something like an ecocide for all races to unite, but by that time it will be too late, because everyone will be gone. Society needs to give an equal opportunity to everyone. This way violence in lower class communities will end, and everyone can at least have a chance to reach their American dream.
Society’s divisions are the reasons why the American dream results in global warming. Whites move away to suburban areas where they will have to drive a lot more, which wastes more gas. All of the traveling affects global warming; however, urban communities suffer the most. Everyone sees the American dream as a perfect life; it seems perfect at first, but look at the damage it has done. Climate change is at risk, and if everyone keeps following what they believe is the American dream then I don’t know where this planet will be in a few years. The “poor” will continue to live with their best friends known as the rats and roaches, but not only would they share bedrooms with them, but they also would suffer from toxic poison in a lot of the food that they consume. In the film, “The 11th Hour,” narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, all the garbage and toxic that gets thrown into rivers and other garbage areas, affect people in lower class societies because most of these dumpsters are around the average poor house. All the toxic gets absorbed, and it can poison anyone who happens to be around it. Lower class communities have to suffer while the rich continue their fancy lives. In one way or another, society needs to combine the poor and the rich. According to “The 11th Hour,” one way to do this is by creating photosynthetic cities. This will not happen anytime soon though because everyone is jammed up in this idea of the American dream. The American dream needs to translate into a solution for global warming. Without a solution to global warming, the human species will be annihilated. Then the American Dream wouldn’t matter anymore. How long is it going to take before someone looks through the lens of a struggling person that deals with global warming everyday? Society doesn’t want to witness a struggling person that lives in poverty achieve the American dream.
Citation:
Davis, Mike. Dead Cities and Other Tales. New York: The New Press, 2003
Broswimmer, J., Franz. Ecocide: A Short History of the mass Extinction of species Pluto Press. 2002
Rebecca, Solnit. Detroit Arcadia: Exploror the post American landscape. 2007
“The 11th Hour”. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio DVD.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Im a survivor
Psychology is a strategy that many people use to get others to believe in certain ideologies. According to the book, The Skill of Ecological Perception, by Laura Sewall, past experiences affect what many people think will happen in the future. This is a form of psychology that forces people to believe future events will happen. Moreover, psychology makes people believe that this earth will one day be over. However, I am a survivor, and I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.
Citation:
Sewall, Laura. The Skill of Ecological Perception.
Mcbay, Aric. Peak Oil Survival: Preparation For Life After GridCrash. The Lyons Press, 2006.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Cause and Effect of Global warming
Mother Nature is ready to destroy all of mankind, because of all the harm that humans have caused this earth. In the article, “Ecopsychology and the Deconstruction of Whiteness,” Carl Anthony gets interviewed by Roszak, and they touch on the most important issues of global warming. According to Anthony, this society is built around white supremacy. He travels back in time during the harsh slavery times where blacks were treated like animals. He emphasizes on the fact that blacks, in some ways, are still slaves. Anthony believes that whites dominate every other human race. This idea of white supremacy has forced many blacks to work hard just to get the worst jobs in the working industries. These jobs often deal with factories, and just about every boss that runs these jobs are white men. In some cases, blacks realize that they are working for a white man that likes to dominate other human races. Not only do humans cause global warming by working in factories, and creating carbon dioxide, but they also create tension between each other. Humans have caused global warming, and because there is so much tension, they won’t unite to find a solution to global warming. Whites love to be on top of the world, and they constantly hire minorities to do their dirty work, such as work in factories, to keep their business running. Whites still maintain domination over blacks like they did in the 19th century when they were slave “masters.” This article just gave us one perspective of global warming, but the excerpt, “The World Without US,” by Alan Weisman, gives us another terrifying view of mankind that no one wants to witness.
As I read the excerpt, “The World Without Us,” by Weisman, I was frightened because Wiseman made me wake up, and realize that this world will soon be destroyed. She wrote about how
Citations:
Weisman, Alan. The World Without Us.
Interview between Carl Anthony and Roszak. “Ecopsychology and the Deconstruction of Whiteness”
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Companies Manipulate the Youth
Nowadays everyone seems to be insecure, and they make decisions based on their desires. They get so blinded by what the media exposes that they start doing things that make them forget about who they really are. Many companies use psychology to manipulate people, and make them think that they are missing something if they do not have what it is that they advertise. Companies use commercials such as the 1950’s Colgate commercial, to emphasize that Colgate’s toothpaste attracts girls or boys. Although they just speak about what the toothpaste does, they hide the real subliminal message. Companies target younger kids because they know that it is easier to get kids to consume their products. Children are an easy target, because they aren’t mentally strong enough to think outside the box. If you constantly tell a child that they are missing something then they eventually start to believe it and they strive to get that missing part of them. Psychology is one of the biggest advantages that successful companies utilize the most.
According to “The Story of Stuff,” consumers buy products without realizing that they are adding to global warming. People buy new things because what they had before wasn’t good enough for them. They become insecure and throw away their old products for new ones. Furthermore, every time they throw something out they create dioxide because that piece of garbage gets burned or thrown into mixtures of other garbage. All of that dirty garbage turns into dioxide, which mixes in with the air to create air pollution. Companies persuade you and make you think that you aren’t noticed unless you have what is in style. That product becomes a consumer desire for many insecure people. Companies know that young kids want the new Ipods and the new sneakers, but they fail to tell them that they cause global warming once they throw out their old necessities. Kids don’t understand the concept of global warming, so companies advertise commercials with jingles to attract the attention of kids. Kids don’t know that the little things that they cry for cause a problem that can annihilate the human species in a couple of years.
According to “The All-Consuming Self,” by Allen D. Kanner and Mary E. Gomes, the media makes people believe that technology is the face of this new generation. However, the media usually targets the youth because many kids are easily tricked. Companies come out with new technology all the time, but kids are so blinded by what’s in style that they miss the fact that every new invention affects global warming. Technology makes it easier to consume materialistic needs. Companies use this form of psychology to keep their business growing. Technology has become the new face of the earth, and it uses psychology as its partner, so that the both of them together become unstoppable.
Viewed:
Kanner, D. Allen, and Gomes, E Mary. “The All-Consumng Self”
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Rockafeller Center and Global Warming
Global warming has been spoken about for years, but no one has really paid much attention to it. Since no one paid attention to global warming in past events, global warming is expected to become so destructive that New York City will be underwater. This means not only will the Rockefeller Center be underwater, but also 42nd Street, and the rest of “the city that never sleeps.” The 19 commercial buildings that surround Rockefeller Center will probably collapse by the time this happen. Nothing will exist if global warming does the damage that it is predicted to do.
This tourist attraction is also home to many people. People do live in this wealthy area, so Manhattan natives would also be affected. All of them would probably die by the time that global warming does the damage that it is suppose to. No one could picture Rockefeller Center being underwater. One way or another someone needs to put an end to global warming by creating some type of law that stops the usage of a lot of gas and oil; if they don’t the heart of New York City will be destroyed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southen/3500364115/
In Class Blog on Immigration Video
Viewer: "Sprawl City"
(http://www.sprawlcity.org/)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Response to Suburbia
Furthermore, whites and blacks that live in America are a huge accumulation to global warming as well. Everyday there is another argument about racism. However, people need to understand that racism is an existing problem that will never end. Slavery still exists, but it is just in a form that blinds many people. According to a video provided by YouTube, “Gangs and White Flight,” the 1950’s was a time of gang violence. Compton was a very segregated place that allowed many people to start gangs. White people formed a click called the spook hunters, who believed in white supremacy. They kept alive a slavery tradition that they followed for generations, which gave whites the opportunity to beat blacks. This on going gang violence still exists until this day, but now this white and black division has added on to global warming. Whites did not want to live in the same communities as blacks, so whites moved out to areas that later became known as the suburbs. This means that new roads have to be created, which make whites drive more when they want to get to their destination. All the gas that is used causes carbon dioxide, which also causes global warming. This on going racism conflict has cut short the American dream for many Americans because many people have to worry about where they are going before they can get there. I don’t know how any one can reach their American dream without coming face to face with a racism hardship.
The community separation between whites and blacks has left behind a trail of global warming that no one can reach. Where I’m from the minority makes up the majority of the urban community; however, if you go to the suburbs you see the exact opposite. Whites make up the majority of the suburbs. The majority of those white people work in many places around urban communities, which reject many opportunities for the minority. The minorities now have to struggle to find a decent job. Whites rather drive hours from the suburbs to urban communities to work. According to the You Tube video, “Radiant City: Commuting,” an average North American spends about 55 eight hour workdays driving. Due to racism, global warming increases on a daily basis because whites do not want anything to do with blacks, and vise-versa. This question is asked everyday: what is the American dream? It’s different for everyone, but one thing I do know is that the American dream does cause an increase in global warming, which has to be abolished.
Viewing: “Sprawl City”
http://www.sprawlcity.org/
You Tube:
“Radiant City: Commuting”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyXNb1uifds&feature=channel
“Gangs and White Flight”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVHMJzoIYQM
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Your Parents Do Not Know What They're Talking About
Dear Simon,
I have no idea about what your parents are telling you, but you really need to know the truth about global warming. Although you might be a little confused about human contribution to the atmosphere, you should know that you are probably a main cause to climate change. I do understand that you and your family are probably filthy rich, but I guess you guys do not know anything about reality. Come back to planet earth, and you will see that the earth is slowly making a transition, but for the worst. It’s kind of like when you start to throw a little fit for something you don’t get, and the worst comes out of you.
Every time a car is turned on, gas is released, and it finds its ways to the heavens of the sky. Obviously, the gas goes into the atmosphere, which makes the atmosphere polluted, and thickens the atmosphere. You do take science class right? If you do, you would know about the atmosphere.
According to Mark Maslin’s Global Warming (A Very Short story), temperature increases as carbon dioxide increases. In graph A, based on ice core data, on page 61 of Maslin’s short story, temperature is affected by carbon dioxide, and it makes it seem like the temperature is the carbon dioxide’s shadow (Maslin, p. 61). When the carbon dioxide increases, or decreases the temperature increases or decreases. When the carbon dioxide gets trapped inside of the atmosphere the earth starts to rise in heat. Maslin stated, “There is, therefore, excellent evidence that atmospheric carbon dioxide increases before overall global temperatures rise and the ice sheets melt” (Maslin, p. 60). When high temperatures melt ice sheets, global warming gets heavily impacted. As ice glaciers melt, water rises. Based on the mini clip, “Global warming: junk science vs. real science,” New York City will be underwater if ice sheets continue to melt. Humans force increasing temperatures because of all the gas and oil they release into the polluted atmosphere.
According to a mini clip, “The Climate Change Denial Industry,” companies use advertisements to persuade many people that climate affect isn’t being caused by humans. Dr. Tim Ball strongly disagrees with human contribution to climate change. He believes that climate change is natural. However, when people wanted to interview him for his opinion he rejected. If he strongly believes that he is correct, why doesn’t he want to be interviewed? Instead of being interviewed, Ball decided to sue the company and say that the media was mistreating him by asking him to explain his perception on climate change. In the clip they show companies such as Exxon, a gas company that it used everywhere, to show how gas has always been used, but what they don’t say is that all the gas that it used is going into the atmosphere adding on to the polluted atmosphere.
Face it brother, you’re wrong. Whatever your parents are telling you is extremely wrong. Your parents also cause global warming. They own an oil company that ships out oil to other companies. When humans use the oil that gets shipped out, they change the climate because carbon dioxide increases, which causes the temperature to rise. Now tell your parents that they contribute to climate change every time they ship out oil or use gas. Ask your parents if they know that. I’m glad that I took this opportunity to tell you this because you needed some real knowledge inside that thick head of yours.
Sincerely,
Jason Acosta
Maslin, Mark. Global warming: A Very Short Introductions (Very Short Introductions). New York University Press, USA, 2008
Global Warming: junk science vs. real science. Dir. k21desmog. Perf. Dr. Andrew Weaver, Tim Ball. 2006
The Climate Change Denial Industry. Dir. k21dsemog. Perf. Chris Gailus, James Hogan, Tim Ball. 2006
Monday, July 13, 2009
"Your Viewpoint Determines the Future"
My “Writing Seminar I” class at Skidmore College, influenced me to learn more about global warming, a conflict that has existed for centuries. Maslin states, “The future may turn out to be good or bad, but in any event it is beyond our control” (“Maslin, p.38). Due to the fact that no one tried to stop climate change in the past, global warming is hitting extremes that no human can survive. Many people didn’t start paying attention to global warming until it struck in 2005, with Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina killed about 3,000 people, and many people still ignored that tragedy. According to Maslin, “By looking at global warming in this way…there are clear reasons why those who do not believe in the threat of global warming may never believe in it until it is too late” (Maslin, p. 42). Global warming is ready to make a transition that no existing species can handle.
Mark Maslin is a great influence in my life because he allows me to view global warming as a dangerous hazard. If people don’t realize the conflicts that are in store for us in the future, then the world will be hit with a huge surprise.
Maslin, Mark. Global Warming: A Very Short Introductions (Very Short Introductions). New York University Press, USA, 2008
Personal Impressions
Rising precipitation, temperatures, and many other weather conditions, are future problems that are expected to be fatal. It seems like ice glaciers are going to be abolished. Heat will increase and ice glaciers are going to vanish because of CO2 that is trapped in the atmosphere. Although the NECIA is looking for solutions, they still predict that future problems are going to occur. Global warming seems like a conflict that is impossible to solve.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Scientific Explatnation for Climate Change
Infrared radiation is the irritation that causes Mother Nature to react in such a horrifying way that no one can survive it. The earth absorbs energy from the sun that has to return back as infrared radiation. As the infrared radiation is being released into space, it gets trapped and it creates a thicker atmosphere that turns into pollution, which creates heat. The heat becomes so powerful that it starts many forest fires and volcanoes. However, no one has found a way to stop these melting weather conditions. Many people call this beautiful glorious earth home, but what was once know as a home has turned into a reality that seems impossible to escape.
Carbon dioxide is released everyday into the atmosphere by people who call this earth their hometown. According to Davis Guggenheim’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore stated that the world would be exposed to global warming if no one put an end to it. Roger Rabel was the first person to measure the killer gas that goes by the name of Carbon Dioxide. In 1968, Rabel predicted where global warming would be decades from 1968, and it would rise up to its most dangerous time period. Global warming has become a part of everyone’s everyday life. As the northern hemisphere tilts toward the sun, CO2 experiences a decrease in gas. However, as the Southern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, leaves of all sort fall into the river and create a great deal of global warming. 90% of the sun that hits ice glaciers get reflected back to the atmosphere. 90% of the sun’s energy that hits the water gets absorbed. That water later establishes warmer weather, which evolves into hurricanes, tornadoes, and all sorts of natural disasters. In 2005, one of the worse cases of weather was recorded. What started out as a thunderstorm turned into a killer hurricane. Hurricane Katrina was the reason for about 3,000 deaths. The United States of America has never experienced Mother Nature like this. Not only did global warming cause many deaths, but it also discovered many new diseases that were attracted to people.
Everyone would love to see global warming vanish, but with the help of humans, global warming will become so powerful that it will soon take over the world. Instead of finding a solution to global warming, the military spends its time creating weapons such as nuclear bombs. Not only would they make weapons, but they would also help global warming by killing many people. In about 50 years, ice glaciers are expected to melt, and the weather is expected to increase so high that it will shatter records set before. Global warming will continue destroying the earth if no one gets the world to realize what is at stake for future generations.
An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Perf. Al Gore. DVD. Paramount, 2005
Maslin, Mark. Global Warming: A Very Short Introductions (Very Short Introductions). New York University Press, USA, 2008
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Climate of Man-1
Global warming continues to be a constant problem and many people are expected to suffer as heat rises. 1990 and 1991 have the record for the warmest days ever, but it doesn’t stop there. Kolbert was able to witness this firsthand. During her stay in Alaska, Kolbert realized that men hunted for food and women ripped the skin off the animals to prepare it as meals, but since many of the glaciers have melted, people have to find other sources of food. Food is limited for Alaskan natives, and it will only continue to worsen.
Polar bears are a huge source of extinction. Because of a rise in heat and sea level, polar bears are struggling to eat. Not only does heat affect global warming, but also green house gases. As the earth absorbs energy from the sun, it releases energy back to the sun. In order for the earth to be at a stable temperature it has to keep the amount of energy on earth equal with the amount of energy released. Whenever the earth is disturbed by the amount of energy released or absorbed the earth gets warmer or colder, but as of right now the earth has had increasing heat.
Global warming is affected by people’s actions. In a couple of years, about 2085, ice glaciers are expected to melt and temperatures are suppose to reach so high that people are expected to suffer or even die. Greenland already started showing signs of fading. Although it is filled with snow and ice lands, it is still expected to be one huge body of water. After Kolbert visited, she knew that Greenland wasn’t going to make it far. She said, “If I returned in another decade, the glacier would probably no longer even be visible from the ridge where I was standing. I climbed back up to take a second look” (Kolbert, p.15). The world will only continue to see global warming as a threat.
Kolbert, Elizabeth.“The Climate of Man-I.” The New Yorker. Copyright2005,The New Yorker