Monthly Archives: March 2016

Are we Acting Towards the State of Sustainability?

Something quick I just wanted to share. After some quick math I created a more relatable, thought provoking, view of our current state of sustainability. In an article by Steve Connor (found here http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/earth-has-lost-more-than-half-its-trees-since-humans-first-started-cutting-them-down-10483189.html), he first talks about how there are only ““3 trillion trees on the planet today . . . [which] represents just 45 per cent of the total number… Read more »

Finals Week and One of the Ways I Cope with Stress

Taken from a journal entry that I put in my final paper. As I go through the stress and ungodly amounts of caffeine to persevere through finals week, I take a casual night drive to relieve my mind and to change my environment from my small apartment room. I take a busy highway so I can always see where I’m… Read more »

Western Guilt: how should I feel?

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This is very personal for me to share, and I hope that you find it thought-provoking or are able to relate in some way. I feel guilt because I know not of what it is like to have eat the packaging of a product because my neighbors are unable to purchase my mothers threads. I know not of the taste… Read more »

Environmental Generational Amnesia

The reading by Peter Kahn entitled Environmental Generational Amnesia really stands out to me. It brought to mind the neighborhood that I grew up in in what is now the city of Sammamish. It used to be very sparsely populated and almost every house had a large backyard on the edge of an extensive forest. I could walk straight out… Read more »

Theory or Re-emergence of Empathic Civilization?

Just as over the past century we have seen global acts of humanitarian interventions extend its reach to the protection of all innocent civilians against atrocities – shifting the value of life from the exclusive protection of civilians of western hegemon to people of all culture, race, and creed –  Jeremy Rifkin, author of Empathic Civilizations, takes this progression one… Read more »

Materialism and Progress

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The underlying psychological forces contributing to the political implications of materialism and progress are deep-seated in human-being’s natural tendency towards unconsciousness. Throughout the course, contemplative practices have shown to be a positive factor in experiencing the present moment with a different attention. Materialism has stemmed from the human tendency to not accept oneself in the present moment, running to other… Read more »

The Anthropocene

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In the book The Anthropocene by Christian Schwägerl he mentioned that “loving and hating are primeval phenomena that are deeply anchored in our biology.” I somewhat disagree. The theory of opposites has been quite prevalent currently in my educational studies and comes up a lot during philosophical discussion. What I have found to be true is that there can be… Read more »

Man Creates Motorcycle That Runs On Water

I just recently saw an amazing article on Facebook. It turned out to be a little dated but I found the info still very relevant. While this article was about a year old, the man is undoubtedly still working on the bike. It talks of a man that has created a motorcycle that can run on a single liter of… Read more »

A Good Read

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Not a blog post, but I strongly encourage people to check out the island chain of Kiribati, definitely relates to theme of this class! http://www.ryot.org/island-nation-kiribati-preparing-mass-evacuation-underwater-soon/745509 http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-to-lead-a-nation-that-will-be-swallowed-by-the-sea

Staying Optimistic

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https://news.vice.com/article/shells-kicking-off-its-arctic-drilling-effort-but-kayaks-and-court-orders-stand-in-its-way A big thing that happens a lot when talking about issues in the Anthropocene is we get so negative that its hard to even work on the issue. This of course is hardly better than denying the issue is there as the end result is the same: nothing gets done. I think the novel Active Hope was by leaps… Read more »