he topic for LDH2BM students is - "What makes life meaningful?". If that is too hard, feel free to tweak that topic - perhaps to - "What makes my life feel meaningfuler?" You should connect to specific areas we've investigated - including dominant and marginal corporate messages, your own thoughts, the elderly, animals, physicality, health, food, and the fundamental energy basis of our society. Please include some quotes from your own or others' earlier work that expresses strongly what you believe or what you don't (any longer) believe. Feel free to include an explicit quote like, "This is the way I'm (mostly) thinking about this topic now - but my understanding is evolving!"
Some starter suggestions and questions:
You should share your own orientation to living a meaningful life. Contextualize your point of view in terms of the dominant perspective, other individuals' perspectives, and your own evolving understanding. Is meaning possible given death, infinity, and the Universe? What's your stance on happiness (the dominant easy answer for a meaningful life) - what is it, how important is it, what causes it? What about the other dominant answers - family, success, self-improvement? How about the "marginal" answers - authenticity, creativity, physicality, or deep understanding? What is the significance of the social - should we strive to be "above" our desire for acceptance and affirmation or should we accept our desire and channel it (how?)? What is the significance of our animality - of our physicality and desire for touch and sensation? Feel free to include a disclaimer like, "This is the way I'm (mostly) thinking about this topic now - but my understanding is evolving!"
In our time, a ”meaningful” life has become only superficially meaningful, as our values are so greatly conditioned by the media, popular culture, and the premium placed on success and sex appeal. With the tremendous concern for materialistic things such as monetary gain and social status, physical appearance, and power, the core from which we derive “meaning” has become warped and depleted. The truly “meaningful” life, it would seem would comprise of peace, love, happiness, community, friendship, family. Corporate media such as Rap music, Reality shows, and Commercials, warp reality to the point in which you don’t even know what YOU want. You know what the media wants you to want and you end up getting sucked into that idea of a “good” life. People are so blinded by what mainstream media tells us is a good and meaningful life, that we can’t even see the real meaning in our own lives.
In order to live a good and meaningful life, there are certain non-materialistic things you must have, or will at least help. You need mental, emotional, and moral health. It also seems to help if you have physical, social, and spiritual health. In class, we have been doing many activities to test the theory that in order to live a good and meaningful life you must have those things. We rolled on top of each other, played tag inside, and outside, we put each other through therapy sessions, and more. What I have decided is that when you are physical, you are much happier, but it also bleeds into the mental, and emotional health, because you feel better. This weekend, I did nothing but play basketball and just walk around. I was out the entire time just being social and having a good time. I honestly felt like I was high off life. It was such a good feeling that I actually wanted to do homework. Everything is connected. My theory goes as follows: If you are physical, you feel mentally and emotionally better because you feel good about yourself and that you are actually doing something useful in your life. Not only do you feel better about yourself, but you feel like you want to do better, like me wanting to do my homework. That’s moral health. That also bleeds into social health because you want to do good for people, and to make friends because you feel good about yourself and you want people to see it. But to top it all off this all leads into spiritual health—Everyone wants to believe in something, and wants to know that their life has some meaning to it, that’s it’s just for no reason. That its for a greater good, that they were put on earth for a reason. If you enjoy life more, because of the healthiness I talked about, you will want to know the actual meaning of things, and that’s where religion ties in. There are many things that help to make life better. Some people find fake reasons to make themselves “think” that they have meaningful lives, but if you just take time to do the simple things you know you should do anyway—be physical, eat right, etc. your life will be meaningful, and you will feel better.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Collapse Assignment 2
Although this has been a short unit, I feel as if I want it to be over already. This collapse idea scares me, because it's something i have been thinking about for a long time. I feel as if everything that we have in this world has been declining for a really long time. Every time i hear the price of something has gone up, it scares me because I know they're running out of it. It also makes me think about the future. I it's going up now, how expensive is it going to be when I'm an adult? What also scares me is that I feel like that's the least of our problems. Like Andy said, Oil is in almost every single thing that we use, and now that the oil has peaked, the everyday things we use are not gonna be so easy to come by anymore.
Just like in Easter Island, the people of that civilization brought the downfall upon themselves, that's what we are doing here in America. Everyone knows the oil production has peaked, but we use the same amount of oil produced materials as we always have. It's not that we're oblivious to what's happening, it's that we're ignoring it. As for the "Wizard" scientists, businessmen, and Government, they're trying to solve the problem the wrong way. In the war of 1948, Israel vs. Palestine, the United States sided with Israel, and by doing that they cut off a lot of their oil source. The U.S. had been getting oil from Palestine, and now that they were fighting against them, Palestine cut them off. They now had to pollute and rape the earth even more than they had been doing. Not only that, but the oil conflict was reaching places outside of the United States.
All authority figures all over the world know that oil is running low, and they are very tense about that. They know that their very existence is based off of oil, and if anyone tries to disrupt that, they get pissed. June 5, The Peruvian Amazon: "The confrontation apparently began before dawn on Friday in Bagua in the rainforest where companies want to develop oil and natural gas projects". In Peru, the Government wants to go into the Peruvian Amazon, and use up land and resources to look for Oil. The people of Peru didn't take kindly to that, and chose to demonstrate. Unarmed, the demonstrators went to protest at a highway where the oil explorers were. Before they knew it, helicopters had opened fire on them. Even demonstrators sleeping on the side of the road were attacked by police! All this says to me is that the Government knows that our resources are running out, and they are scared.
Just like in Easter Island, the people of that civilization brought the downfall upon themselves, that's what we are doing here in America. Everyone knows the oil production has peaked, but we use the same amount of oil produced materials as we always have. It's not that we're oblivious to what's happening, it's that we're ignoring it. As for the "Wizard" scientists, businessmen, and Government, they're trying to solve the problem the wrong way. In the war of 1948, Israel vs. Palestine, the United States sided with Israel, and by doing that they cut off a lot of their oil source. The U.S. had been getting oil from Palestine, and now that they were fighting against them, Palestine cut them off. They now had to pollute and rape the earth even more than they had been doing. Not only that, but the oil conflict was reaching places outside of the United States.
All authority figures all over the world know that oil is running low, and they are very tense about that. They know that their very existence is based off of oil, and if anyone tries to disrupt that, they get pissed. June 5, The Peruvian Amazon: "The confrontation apparently began before dawn on Friday in Bagua in the rainforest where companies want to develop oil and natural gas projects". In Peru, the Government wants to go into the Peruvian Amazon, and use up land and resources to look for Oil. The people of Peru didn't take kindly to that, and chose to demonstrate. Unarmed, the demonstrators went to protest at a highway where the oil explorers were. Before they knew it, helicopters had opened fire on them. Even demonstrators sleeping on the side of the road were attacked by police! All this says to me is that the Government knows that our resources are running out, and they are scared.
Easter Island
As I was reading the Easter Island article, it reminded me of something I had read in 9th grade. The article I had read in 9th grade was Ritual of body – Nacirema tribe. It's written by Horace Miner. In the article, Miner describes a tribe which does things unimaginable, but in actuality, he is describing America (Nacirema backwards), just from a different point of view. Looking at our culture through different eyes, makes us look revolting and odd, but its these everyday things that make us America. The reason that the Easter Island article reminded me of the Nacirema Tribe article, is because I feel like they are both looking at our civilization through different eyes.
In Easter Island, they stepped on people, and used everything they had to be on top. In America, we step all over other countries, and steal resources from the earth as well as other countries, just so we can be on top. Just so we can have the best things for our civilization. 100% of civilizations before us have collapsed, and by looking at one (Easter Island), we see why. But why can't we see that in our own civilization. We're the more advanced Easter Island.
In Easter Island, they stepped on people, and used everything they had to be on top. In America, we step all over other countries, and steal resources from the earth as well as other countries, just so we can be on top. Just so we can have the best things for our civilization. 100% of civilizations before us have collapsed, and by looking at one (Easter Island), we see why. But why can't we see that in our own civilization. We're the more advanced Easter Island.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Final Food Assignment
This whole animal unit has really had an affect on me. From the videos we have watched (Our Daily Bread, VROOM - Farming for Kids, Meatrix), to the words we have read (Omnivores Dilemma, Cows With Guns). I feel somewhat trapped in this world, where no body knows the true meaning of...anything! How can we live in a place that slaughters animals, just so we can be full? How can we live on an earth that is raped by expensive and polluting machines, just so we can tell ourselves that we're being healthy by eating vegetables? Since watching the movie "Our Daily Bread", I have not been comfortable eating any kind of meat, but when I try to tell people about what the animals go through, they feel bad but then shake it off. It gets me frustrated when people go on with life not even caring. I don't know how I could make people really understand what they're doing, but people have gone by in life for generations before me so they obviously know some secrets.
I feel like this food unit has just wrapped up the whole year. People go through life, not knowing shit. Not even what goes into their body. People poison their bodies with alcohol, drugs, and dead corpses, not even knowing what they're doing. In an earlier post I said that some people take Animal Cruelty as a joke, but maybe that’s what we need to do more of. It can raise awareness in people and maybe they will actually WANT to do something about it. For example, in the song "Cows With Guns" by Dana White, one of the lines is "But then he [the cow] was captured, stuffed into a crate, Loaded onto a truck, where he rode to his fate...Cows are bummed". It kind of made me laugh at first, but when I thought about it, it's pretty fucked up. It's true that cows are literally stuffed into a small area, where they are uncomfortably taking a ride to their painful death. If more people took the time out to think about things, maybe listen to some songs, read some books, or watch some films about strong subjects, they would be aware of what they are doing, and could even stop.
If people just understood that Animals are living on the same earth that we are, they have families just like us, and their lives are very similar, maybe even better. In A Mother's Tale, by James Agee, the author shows us that Cows live the same way that we do. They have families and friends. They have curious minds and probing thoughts. They're just like us, yet we're not the ones being slaughtered by the thousands, the cows are. In “A Mothers Tale”, One cow survives the long painful trip to his death, and actually comes back to the farm where they lived, where he explained the trip; “the men had gotten just as many of us as they could into the car he was in, so that their sides pressed tightly together and nobody could lie down, they slid the door shut with a startling rattle and a bang, and then there was a sudden jerk, so strong they might have fallen except that they were packed so closely together… They never let them [The Cows] out. And they never gave them food or water. They never even cleaned up under them. They had to stand in their manure and in the water they made.” Back in the 1940’s, the Holocaust was in full affect. Thousands of Jews were killed, in the same fashion that the animals were killed. But the resemblance to the holocaust, and the animal cruelty of today, is scary.” The [Jews] were packed [into a train car]... sometimes up to 150 occupants. No food or water was provided, while the freight cars were only provided with a bucket latrine.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_train). This is almost the exact same thing that the cows go through today. If we put a stop to it 70 years ago, why can’t we do it today?
People now a days are so selfish, they only care about issues right in front of their face. In an article that Andy read to us called "The Singer solution to world poverty", Peter Singer offers a scenario. “Bob is close to retirement. He has invested most of his savings in a very rare and valuable old car, a Bugatti, which he has not been able to insure. The Bugatti is his pride and joy. In addition to the pleasure he gets from driving and caring for his car, Bob knows that its rising market value means that he will always be able to sell it and live comfortably after retirement. One day when Bob is out for a drive, he parks the Bugatti near the end of a railway siding and goes for a walk up the track. As he does so, he sees that a runaway train, with no one aboard, is running down the railway track. Looking farther down the track, he sees the small figure of a child very likely to be killed by the runaway train. He can't stop the train and the child is too far away to warn of the danger, but he can throw a switch that will divert the train down the siding where his Bugatti is parked. Then nobody will be killed —but the train will destroy his Bugatti.” He now has to make a decision. Save a kid that he has never met, or save his life’s saving. When this issue is presented right in front of you, it forces you to do something about it. The majority of the world does not donate to charity, or send money over seas to save a kid. Most of us don't even give a couple of cents to the homeless. But if more people were presented with the issue right in front of their face, by videos, literature, or just talking to a friend about it, I know that it would make a difference.
I feel like this food unit has just wrapped up the whole year. People go through life, not knowing shit. Not even what goes into their body. People poison their bodies with alcohol, drugs, and dead corpses, not even knowing what they're doing. In an earlier post I said that some people take Animal Cruelty as a joke, but maybe that’s what we need to do more of. It can raise awareness in people and maybe they will actually WANT to do something about it. For example, in the song "Cows With Guns" by Dana White, one of the lines is "But then he [the cow] was captured, stuffed into a crate, Loaded onto a truck, where he rode to his fate...Cows are bummed". It kind of made me laugh at first, but when I thought about it, it's pretty fucked up. It's true that cows are literally stuffed into a small area, where they are uncomfortably taking a ride to their painful death. If more people took the time out to think about things, maybe listen to some songs, read some books, or watch some films about strong subjects, they would be aware of what they are doing, and could even stop.
If people just understood that Animals are living on the same earth that we are, they have families just like us, and their lives are very similar, maybe even better. In A Mother's Tale, by James Agee, the author shows us that Cows live the same way that we do. They have families and friends. They have curious minds and probing thoughts. They're just like us, yet we're not the ones being slaughtered by the thousands, the cows are. In “A Mothers Tale”, One cow survives the long painful trip to his death, and actually comes back to the farm where they lived, where he explained the trip; “the men had gotten just as many of us as they could into the car he was in, so that their sides pressed tightly together and nobody could lie down, they slid the door shut with a startling rattle and a bang, and then there was a sudden jerk, so strong they might have fallen except that they were packed so closely together… They never let them [The Cows] out. And they never gave them food or water. They never even cleaned up under them. They had to stand in their manure and in the water they made.” Back in the 1940’s, the Holocaust was in full affect. Thousands of Jews were killed, in the same fashion that the animals were killed. But the resemblance to the holocaust, and the animal cruelty of today, is scary.” The [Jews] were packed [into a train car]... sometimes up to 150 occupants. No food or water was provided, while the freight cars were only provided with a bucket latrine.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_train). This is almost the exact same thing that the cows go through today. If we put a stop to it 70 years ago, why can’t we do it today?
People now a days are so selfish, they only care about issues right in front of their face. In an article that Andy read to us called "The Singer solution to world poverty", Peter Singer offers a scenario. “Bob is close to retirement. He has invested most of his savings in a very rare and valuable old car, a Bugatti, which he has not been able to insure. The Bugatti is his pride and joy. In addition to the pleasure he gets from driving and caring for his car, Bob knows that its rising market value means that he will always be able to sell it and live comfortably after retirement. One day when Bob is out for a drive, he parks the Bugatti near the end of a railway siding and goes for a walk up the track. As he does so, he sees that a runaway train, with no one aboard, is running down the railway track. Looking farther down the track, he sees the small figure of a child very likely to be killed by the runaway train. He can't stop the train and the child is too far away to warn of the danger, but he can throw a switch that will divert the train down the siding where his Bugatti is parked. Then nobody will be killed —but the train will destroy his Bugatti.” He now has to make a decision. Save a kid that he has never met, or save his life’s saving. When this issue is presented right in front of you, it forces you to do something about it. The majority of the world does not donate to charity, or send money over seas to save a kid. Most of us don't even give a couple of cents to the homeless. But if more people were presented with the issue right in front of their face, by videos, literature, or just talking to a friend about it, I know that it would make a difference.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Industrial Food
For the last few days in class, we have been watching videos, and talking about industrial food. Where it comes from, how it comes to be, etc. It has really interested me because my whole life i have wondered about what i eat, where it comes from, if its really as good for me, or bad for me as people say. The first thing that caught my attention was when Andy started talking about how different foods can affect your mood. I have always felt like that, but thought it was only me. So i went into depth on that thought, and did a few informal experiments. I tested which foods made me feel good and which made me feel sluggish, lazy, and sometimes even grumpy or angry. I decided that light meals like chicken, turkey, pizza, sandwiches, fruit, salad, vegetables and foods of that nature made me feel fine. But fried foods, beef, ham, pork, rice, foods with a lot of carbs, made me feel like shit. I was feeling good about my self because i had been eating well, and exercising well too. Everything was good until i saw the videos in class, and read the websites that Andy had posted.
"Our Daily Bread" really got to me. I thought that because of the chicken, and good meats i had been eating, I was feeling better, but after watching that video, it really made me angry, and now when i eat it, i actually feel bad. I feel that everyone should know what people do to living, breathing animals, just so we can be full. After going to the Meatrix website,I actually felt that it didn't tell people what they needed to know. They kind of made a joke about it and I just think they could have been more informative, because people need to know about what they're really eating. They want to know.
"Our Daily Bread" really got to me. I thought that because of the chicken, and good meats i had been eating, I was feeling better, but after watching that video, it really made me angry, and now when i eat it, i actually feel bad. I feel that everyone should know what people do to living, breathing animals, just so we can be full. After going to the Meatrix website,I actually felt that it didn't tell people what they needed to know. They kind of made a joke about it and I just think they could have been more informative, because people need to know about what they're really eating. They want to know.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Grocery Store and Habitual Food
In my family, going to the grocery store is a rare occasion. Most of our food comes from leftovers or something that I was craving and just went out to get. we rarely have fruits or nuts much to my dismay. I have tried multiple times to get my parents to buy me some "natural" food but it always seems to be forgotten. It's also hard to eat healthy in a world like the one we live in. The only foods that are cheap are the junk food and fast food. If you want to eat healthy for cheap you actually have to go to the grocery store and pick out what you want, go home, make it, then you can eat, and hardly anyone really has time like that.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Healthiness
In order to live a good and meaningful life, there are certain non-materialistic things you must have, or will at least help. You need mental, emotional, and moral health. It also seems to help if you have physical, social, and spiritual health. In class, we have been doing many activities to test the theory that in order to live a good and meaningful life you must have those things. We rolled on top of each other, played tag inside, and outside, we put each other through therapy sessions, and more. What I have decided is that when you are physical, you are much happier, but it also bleeds into the mental, and emotional health, because you feel better. This weekend, I did nothing but play basketball and just walk around. I was out the entire time just being social and having a good time. I honestly felt like I was high off life. It was such a good feeling that I actually wanted to do homework. Everything is connected. My theory goes as follows: If you are physical, you feel mentally and emotionally better because you feel good about yourself and that you are actually doing something useful in your life. Not only do you feel better about yourself, but you feel like you want to do better, like me wanting to do my homework. That’s moral health. That also bleeds into social health because you want to do good for people, and to make friends because you feel good about yourself and you want people to see it. But to top it all off this all leads into spiritual health—Everyone wants to believe in something, and wants to know that their life has some meaning to it, that’s it’s just for no reason. That its for a greater good, that they were put on earth for a reason. If you enjoy life more, because of the healthiness I talked about, you will want to know the actual meaning of things, and that’s where religion ties in. There are many things that help to make life better. Some people find fake reasons to make themselves “think” that they have meaningful lives, but if you just take time to do the simple things you know you should do anyway—be physical, eat right, etc. your life will be meaningful, and you will feel better.
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