Weekly Response 12: ECOCIDE

Of the eight forms of ECOcide that Diamond talks about across examples of past failed societies, choose one to discuss in depth. Bring up as many specific examples of it both in the book as well as contemporary examples you see happening. One paragraph is acceptable as long as you're concise and coherent.

Good luck getting everything else done!

-R

World Changing #3

Lauren Korany

In my previous post, China’s impact on the environment was a major issue when considering their upcoming placement in the world market. For this post, I want to focus on Abram’s description of The Barefoot College (pg 359). The Barefoot College was established in 1972, in Tilonia, an extremely poor state in Rajasthan, India. The Social Work Research Center planned to be created in the vacant buildings of the area. Urban Professionals and graduate students in India came in assuming that they would alleviate the property. They began to work with the locals to find out the best processes to handle the environment. The oral “uneducated” knowledge that the locals shared shocked the urban professionals. The combination of book-smarts and practical knowledge created a beneficial partnership. The SWRC was converted into The Barefoot College. Education for sustainability was the primary focus of the college.

Those who attend graduate to become solar engineers, hand-pump mechanics, groundwater experts, teachers, and midwives. An important component to the college is the fact that woman and children are able to get an education. Women are not limited to graduate as caregivers or midwives, but can become engineers. However, the trained midwives and health care workers have supplied 200 village health clinics in India with basic medicine that was previously unavailable. Children are able to attend school at night. Many of the children, especially girls, are unable to receive and education during the day due to their livestock and home care chores. The children learn practical knowledge about their daily chores as well as core classes (math, language) to learn to serve the community.

The college is run on solar power, biomass for renewable energy, water from rainwater, and a dripping irrigation system in the trees. This is a great example of how a sustainable structure was able to support itself and benefit the environment and communities. A wonderful part of this is the way the centers spread throughout 13 states in India. If China ever looked into this kind of sustainability, it would be a neutralizer and eventually a replacement for the practices they are partaking in now.

World Changing #2

Lauren Korany

In the chapter “Understanding Trade”, Abrams addresses the role of China in our global market. China is rapidly becoming the “world’s factory” (pg 41). We have seen the same argument in Collapse, as it is a very relevant one. China creates 13? Of the global economic output, its economy is twice that of Japan’s, and Wal-Mart imports most of its inventory (70%) from China. Let’s think about Wal-Mart’s slogan, “rolling back prices”… there is a reason why the goods the company sells are so cheap. It is obvious to most of us that it is directly tied to the country of exporting goods. However, there are two specific reasons of why the goods are so cheap. The first deals with currency valuation (pg 42). China’s Yuan has been “floating” and was not at a fixed rate equivalent to the U.S. dollar or the Euro. The price of buying and making goods was inexpensive. The second reason is labor costs, one that we are more familiar with hearing. The labor costs are considered extremely low on U.S. terms. In the U.S., labor jobs receive hundreds of dollars per month, but this is not the case for Chinese workers. The other issue is the unregulated working conditions. Certain groups are not allowed to work in the city, such as rural inhabitants. So in order to work, they do it under illegal supervision and are paid as cheaply as possible. They do not complain because they technically would have no job if it weren’t for the illegal factories.

The low prices China give the world sacrifices the environment. China is a large contributor to sweatshop labor. An example of sweatshop-free sourcing is from Lesotho. The export garments to the U.S. retailers such as Levi Strauss and GAP. The country was able to improve its environment during this working change. Yet, as China becomes more prominent in the international garment market, it is expected that their contribution will swell from 20% to 40% (pg 44). Countries will buy from China because they will remain cheaper. Issues will arise with the condition that the production places on the environment. It is a frightening issue, and we must come to solutions quickly before we cannot step back from the market when it gets out of control.