A little Serenity for the Soul

     You always hear of people giving up all their time and money for a good cause, but never do you think you'll come in contact with one of them. I volunteered at serenity springs this week and was thoroughly impressed. Terry DeGaw, owner and director for Serenity Springs Sanctuary, gave me a tour of the complex and the expressed her feelings towards why she does what she does. She said that she has always had a love for animals but felt compelled to save the lives of those that had been tortured or left to die. Her favorite are the pot bellied pigs and farm pigs. They treat her as if she was their mom. She said something that reminded me of Carol Adams view on animal names. Terry said "I give all the pigs names, not that they know their names,..." Adams states that "In the Hebrew Geneses, the animals do not speak their own name to Adam; rather, they are given their names by this first man. Language, for the Hebrews, was becoming a purely human gift, a human power" She does not exploit her animals but tries to give them a serene atmosphere where to spend their life. Every now and then when the chickens would lay eggs and leave the unwanted ones there, she will use them. Immediately after she mentioned this, she asked me if I were a vegetarian. I quickly giggled and said "No." This is an image of Self most animal conscious people share. Pollen wrote in his article An Animal's Place that its a mutualism that some animals have with humans. Her main source of income to sustain the sanctuary is from donations. She works pretty much alone or with volunteers, with no paid staff.
     After the tour, she put me to work. The pig pens were just cleaned so there was just a lot of yard work. I raked part of the grass and garden. Next, I tilled the garden so it would be softer and easier to plant flowers. I also got rid of a couple weeds. I am planning on going back in the summer to be able to do some feeding plus more interaction with the animals. 
     I learned a lot of things from this experience. I've always believed in the safe treatment of animals but never have I done anything about it on a large scale. This class has taught me to question humanities moral and ethical institutions. We create this in an anthropocentristic view, manufactured to give all power to humans. We use the dualism of "human/animal" to benefit ourselves while hurting the sustainability of animal culture. I do believe that the idea of "predator/prey" is important to the sustainability of our ecosystem. "objects to the suggestion that all human and nonhuman predation violate animal rights—, which even animal rights philosophers agree with" (Warren, 2000). I do not agree with the mass over production of animals to supply food that people still throw away. It is wasteful which pollutes the environment and leads to a double-loss.
Terry says this is something she will be doing until she cannot walk anymore. It is her passion and goal to create a more caring and aware environment that can better animal rights.

Big Bacon from Serenity Springs

a video by Dartse on Flickr.

Progressiveness Happening at Serenity Springs

Being that I am a vegetarian and have strong opinions about what human and animal rights mean to me, I was very excited to head to Serenity Springs Sanctuary and Animal Shelter. I didn’t know this place even existed until I looked it up online, and when I did I was instantly drawn in. Not only do I agree and have the same kind of philosophy as Terry, but the lifestyle that was shown to me was something I think is hard to find. From what she does with the animals and how she treats them to the removed environment and nature she surrounds herself with, it gave me hope that there are people out there who not only believe in the same way of life that I do, but live it fully. What I got out of this trip was more than I thought I would. I was expecting to have a certain confirmation of my lifestyle choices through the lens of the treatment of the animals, but I wasn’t expecting to be so drawn in to the motives and way of life of the people who are so dedicated to keeping a shelter like this going. It really did show me a more progressive way of how shelters should be.

In keeping of this idea of progressivism, I feel like the biggest contribution I can make is donating money, and more importantly time, to organizations like Serenity Springs. While I believe volunteering is great in general, I feel that giving to places that are offering alternative options to whatever cause are ways that we can not only help the issue, but change it for good. Ironically, Mason and Finelli state, “While alternative, “human” animal agriculture is growing in popularity and may be preferable to factory farming, virtually all animal agriculture involves a substantial degree of animal suffering and death” (170). I consider myself to be very health conscious. Yes, I do eat all organic, however, I realize that just because something says it is organic doesn’t mean that is the best thing for you. This statement reaffirms this fact for me. When going to the shelter I asked this question many times- if animals are raised in an environment like this from the time they are born and then eaten when they die naturally, is it okay to eat meat? Though I personally wouldn’t do this, I do feel it would be okay.

When putting this shelter in context of the Francione reading, its hard to say, personally, if this shelter would be considered keeping the animals as a property or person. On one hand, I can see why someone could assume that the shelter was holding these animals hostage as property. Looking at the situation through the lens of Francione, the animals are still being treated as if they need to be taken care of-as if we are better than them and we are caring for them simply for our own self-righteous satisfaction. He would argue that if the animals are in fact equal to humans, why do we feel the need to take them in to “save” them? He might also question our intention behind why would do this. However, I can also see the other side of this. One could, ironically, relate this to certain views in feminism. Some people believe that women should have the same rights as men in every way possible (like Francione) while others believe women and men are different and should have different but equal rights. I can see how animals could be treated in this way as well. By giving them different but equal rights that doesn’t mean we have to dominate over them and think of ourselves as better. It just means that we are treating them in ways that are beneficial to them without lessening them to something lower than humans. I feel in this way, Serenity Springs healed animals in a way that was helping them become the best they could be. Because of this, I feel as though Terry’s efforts are coming from a proactive, and again progressive, state of mind.

This also reminds me of Singers arguments. When walking through the shelter I couldn’t deny the constant state of peacefulness the animals were living. Even though many of these animals were injured or hurt, I could see that they knew they were being cared for. It reminded me of when I meet people who have chronic diseases or are disabled in some major way yet they most of the time have the best outlooks on life. Singers’ ideas mirror many of Francione’s, and when I was at the shelter I noticed just how much my way of thinking is not like theirs. My immediate thought was that these animals are so lucky that they are in a place like Serenity Springs. However, as I sat down to write this blog, I realized this way of thinking contradicts what these philosophers have to say. These are just a few of the many animals out there that have been “caught” in order to be “saved”. As contradictory as it is to the philosophers, when I spent time at the shelter I couldn’t help but feel that the people at Serenity Springs are doing way more good than harm to these animals.

-Alek Trail

A turn Around Project

At first when I herd we had to go to a farm for class it made me upset because I did not want to go do nothing extra for a class. One of my friends in class told me she was going to Serenity Springs Animal Sanctuary. I decided to tag along with her because I wanted to get it over with and I defiantly had no interest in going but I went because it was for a grade. We left around 10:30 am on a Saturday (April 23rd) and got there at 11:45 am that same day. It was five of us there helping out. My objective of the day was to do what I needed to do for the grade and leave as soon as possible. I hated the fact that I was their and would never of came if it wasn’t for it being a grade and new I would never come unwillingly.

When we got their we met Terry and then went on a tour of the place. We started with the horses then moved on to the donkeys and then to the pigs. She even had pony’s their as well. The tour took about an hour and a half but only because she was telling us a little history about the animals. The more she told us about their history and were she got them and saved them from and the more I seen the animals I started to feel glad about coming. I started to get attached to the horses out of all the animals. I fed a horse a cookie and after that he kept following me trying to get more. At a point I was moving the cookie around in circles and the horse with his head would do circles too. In that very moment when the horse kept following me and made that relationship with me it amazed me and made me realize how beautiful life is even in a horses perspective especially coming from a abused horse. After that moment I was very excited to be their and was glad that I came. I liked the way Thomas Hobbs stated in Lindsey Clarks “Animal Rights” “speech or language is the connection of names constituted by the will of men to stand for the series of conception of the things about which we think. As a name is to an Idea or conception of a thing, so is speech to the discourse of the mind. If some brute animals, taught by practice, gasp what we wish and command in words, they do so not through words as words, but as sign; for animals do not know that words are constituted by the will of men for the purpose of signification ”.(17) what happened in my moment with the horse was explained in that very quote because I did not care what the horse was doing at first because I felt I couldn’t understand what he wanted just because he couldn’t speak. When he showed me with his signs he was giving me it made me realize more of what he wanted and also appreciate the horse more then it just being an animal. If animals could talk I think we could appreciate them more and also have more respect for them then what people do now and wouldn’t treat them the way people do.

After the tour we racked some leaves for her and then went and helped Terry feed the animals. I was doing most of the work for Terry by feeding the animals since we were their I wanted to be at the most help I could be to her so she could have a day off basically. We fed the horses and the donkeys first then went on feeding the pigs. The more I stayed their helping and feeding the animals the more I wanted to stay! Their were these blind horses I was feeding and it made me a little upset because the horse had to rely on his other senses to find the food we gave him all because some people back then felt they wanted to abuse the horse were it cant see no more just for their pleasure. It made me realize that even as a animal it still suffers like a human. it feels pain just like us and even gets happy just like us. “there may be many differences between humans and animals, there is at least one important similarity that we all already recognize: our shared capacity to suffer. In this sense, humans and animals are similar to each other and different from everything else in the universe that is not sentient"(121 Property or Persons).”

After we were done their and ready to go I realized that the whole trip their was a very big success and also opened my eyes in animal abuse about knowing the deep impact of it more then what I used too. I was glad I came and I love what Terry is doing with the animals in trying to help them. I’m actually coming back (willingly) next month to come and help terry again with the animals and she also told me that next time I come back I can ride one of the horses!

Service Learning Project at Serenity Springs

After becoming a vegetarian this year, I was very excited to hear about Serenity Springs Animal Sanctuary. I was eager to learn more about the organization the day that the sanctuary was mentioned in class. After class, I immediately got on my computer, checked out their website, and emailed the lady who runs the sanctuary. A few days later, on Saturday April 23rd, we were there. "We" being me, as well as 2 other students from class, and 2 other friends of mine. We left Denton around 10:30 am, and arrived at serenity springs around 11:45 am. I had decided my objective was "to expose myself to the life that free animals can have, to fully understand the capability for love to be shown to all types of animals, to distinguish further how I believe animals should be treated (as property, or persons?), to learn to take active part in things that I believe in, and to apply these principles to other objectives in my life." The trip to the sanctuary was extremely impacting, and I believe my objective has been achieved: I can't wait to return to Serenity Springs to volunteer again.

The tour of the property was amazing. I had never seen pigs like these before. Potbellied pigs are so adorable! I didn't even know there were so many kinds of pigs! They all had such unique personalities. One of the most memorable moments of the tour, was when Terry got a pig to sit for a cookie. Just like a dog! Pigs can be trained to do tricks?! To my surprise, pigs are extremely intelligent. This memory is now a staple of my vegetarianism. I can't believe I used to eat pigs! Terry said that they are as smart as 2 year olds! I like how Mason and Finelli state in "Brave New Farm?", "The animal factory pulls our society one long, dark step backward from the desirable goal of a sane ethical relationship with the natural world and our fellow inhabitants"(159). Serenity springs animal sanctuary is a small way of stepping forward. I believe that Terry has an ethical relationship with the abused animals, and have decided that this is my view of where our relationship with animals should stand. If we can do anything to stop torture to our fellow earthlings, we should help them because we, ourselves, would want to be helped.

Francione might argue that Serenity Springs is still keeping the animals as property, but at the same time, I argue that Serenity Springs is healing the animals and working towards their recovery. Saving, rather than killing the animals. This is recognizing a very important component of Francione's argument. "Although there may be many differences between humans and animals, there is at least one important similarity that we all already recognize: our shared capacity to suffer. In this sense, humans and animals are similar to each other and different from everything else in the universe that is not sentient"(121 Property or Persons). This was very clearly illustrated to me when we were on our tour, and one of the potbellied pigs got one of his tusks stuck in the fence. His wailing, screaming, crying... is something that I can still remember very vividly. The sound made me want to cry, to help, to do something to stop the pig's pain. Clearly, it was hurting him very badly. He was trying to escape from the fence, but no matter how much he pulled it just pulled more on his tusk and hurt him even more. Terry took her clippers and went to the rescue. The pig managed to break free right before she could get to him. Another eye opening moment for me. Wow. Pigs really do cry. Pigs really do feel pain... just like we do. I felt like this should have been obvious. They are animals. Why could I never fully see them as sentient before? "Animals are self aware and have interest in their lives" Francione states. Just like we do. Peter Singer agrees in "All Animals are Equal", "If a being suffers, there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration. No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that it's suffering be counted equally with the like suffering... of any other being. If a being is not capable of suffering, or of experiencing enjoyment or happiness, there is nothing to be taken into account"(163). (Francione also discusses the principle of equal consideration in his argument). As well as the suffering component, I don't think that anyone on the trip to Serenity Springs could have denied the happiness expressed by the pigs when being fed, or when simply lying, or rolling around happily in the mud. As Singer believes, We should not discriminate animals by choosing some to love, and others to abuse. We have to stop eating meat and supporting these industries. Serenity Springs Animal Sanctuary is a vegetarian organization.

Helping out was definitely one of the best parts of the trip. We raked up leaves in her yard, and helped to feed the animals. It was nice to just be able to do something for Terry, because she spends all of her time caring for the animals, as if they were all her own children. She has made financial sacrifices, something that many people would not do, in order to save the lives of abused farm animals. I was happy to be able to give her a donation at the end of the day, which Terry mentioned will be used to help pay for veterinary care. As a part of my objective, to learn to take an active part in the things that I believe in, I also promised Terry that I would be coming back to volunteer again next month. I will be returning at the end of May/ beginning of June with a group of friends. The final part of my objective was to "apply these principles to other objectives in my life". I have decided through this transformation of self, that exposing myself to new ideas makes me more able to understand my own feelings, and sharing my own feelings with people who disagree. Not only with vegetarianism, but with other things too. I need to learn to listen to other people's opinions, have experience, knowledge, and action behind my own opinions, and use that as leverage to understand, and share. Taking action in your own opinion, however, is a big part of being able to have opinions. So I have decided to connect this to voting. I am going to work harder on solidifying more of my opinions and values, so that I can give to them and support them politically, and financially.

The experience was so much more than what I can say, or explain. Blind horses, another with a hurt foot, a pig with a broken tongue... I'm so glad that these abused animals are now in good hands, getting help. Serenity Springs Animal Sanctuary represents a rescue that we all have a duty to recognize and take part in as fellow sentient inhabitants of this earth.

immigration across the world

The reasons for Central American’s that migrate to the U.S. is because of the better economic opportunity’s they have. Also it’s a better way of starting a new life even if it is from scratch because of the more wealth there is on this side. Other immigrants come because of the disasters that happen in their countries or also because of the refugees that are being a burden on them especially when they are putting their lives in danger. Others migrate because of the new technology coming into play now and as other countries start to grow lower rates other developing countries grow higher in populations. Its also a lot of people migrating because of the global warming. Theirs people leaving other countries because of the sea levels that are rising that are covering more land and then going to have less space for people to stay. Also political repression is the reason for immigration as well so they try and get away from that.

People in the U.S. are starting to get upset with the idea that theirs is starting to be a lot of immigrants in the U.S. because of the fact that it is making global warming worse. Also for example in California they passing them laws were the police can ask now with no limits were a persons proof of being a U.S. citizen is. I think it would be a very big and hard challenge to try and stop immigrants from coming to the U.S. It’s just to many loopholes in the system but it would defiantly be something great to try and progress in.

Polluting Our World

In the article, Shell Refuses To Pay For Nigeria Oil Spill Pollution by Arthur Max, the author explains that the Shell company does not want to pay a 100 million dollar fine that was imposed because of the pollution of the Niger Delta caused by the companies oil drilling. The reason for why Shell does not want to pay the fine is because they feel that the majority of the pollution has been caused by rebels. In the youtube video, Nigeria: 50 Years of Oil Spills, the host, Fareed Zakaria explains the same thing the article says, but he also explains how these types of Oil spills have been happening for the past 50 years and over 550 million gallons have spilt onto the Nigerian costs. According to reports the majority of the oil spills have been caused by rebels not by malfunctions.

In the article by Summers, he explains how most pollution is made in cities or countries that people don't really care about. He believes that the poorest countries ends up getting polluted. "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that"(Summers, 224). Nigeria is a poor country that no one really hears about other and is lost in the media because of other things that occur in the world. People tend to not pay attention to things that don't affect us in a manner which we can see and feel ourself.

In the article by Figueroa, he explains and talks about the many Environmental Civil Rights courts. He talks about how there are many laws protecting the environment and people still believe we need to do more to protect it. Figueroa talks about distributive justice, which is considered the just process. He also talks about the participatory justice, which he explains to be when everyone cooperates to help the environment become its best. And he also talks about the recognition justice which he says is considered the social and cultural Justice. This type of justice has to do with our beliefs and what us, humans, believe we need to do to protect our environment.

References:

http://www.worldweatherpost.com/2011/01/27/shell-refuses-to-pay-for-nigeria-oil-spill-pollution/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z3UfehL5JU

Food Deserts and Agribusiness

The following are videos on Food Deserts in America. Food deserts can be easily related to the hunger problem in the Global South. Big businesses are taking over, and terms like "economic equality" and "equal opportunity" are nonexistent within these small town food deserts of America. Currently, Michelle Obama is attempting to make change in these small towns. Communities themselves are also taking initiative for their own health, and starting community gardens. See the videos below for more on food deserts. Take action, because as stated by a youth in one of the videos "Give back to your community, because without your community, what do you have?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hL6jDyKqMk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g-X8GNBYCM

The quote above by the youth in the community garden in the Chicago Food Desert documentary clip is so much more profound than it seems. "Give back to your community... because without it, what do you have?" Coincidentally, we are dealing with an issue much larger than just our community. We are dealing with our planet. And without our planet, what do we have? Mistreating, misusing, abusing, and taking advantage of our fellow earthlings is not going to help us sustain our planet long term. We need everyone's interconnected community's cooperation and resources in order for the future to be bright. As stated in one of the videos in class this week, "Humans do not share resources well." We often believe we are doing what is most economically efficient, but even more often we are choosing the least ethical option, as well as the most economically, and "earth" destructing option. The truth is, we have plenty of resources, we just don't have farmers. The farmers have all been displaced by Agribusiness. Unfortunately this is causing even more hunger, because these once locally usable crops are becoming export crops, leaving none left for the locals. We send aid, but this throws them into a pit even further because "If you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day. However, if you give a man a fishing pole, he can eat for a lifetime" (also American aid forces them to lower their local food prices). Our "aid" funds are being used for our own economic agribusiness gain. Everything here is interconnected. How does it relate? In Mississippi, we saw in the video that it is hard to find healthy food in low income areas. As stated in the video "Farm workers have been replaced by machines...", even the textile workers. Now the number of people below the poverty level is increasing, and these people do not have access to a supermarket or healthy foods, just like those who were displaced in the global south. Farmers in the global south are also displaced from their land due to agribusiness, move to the cities, and find it extremely difficult to survive due to lack of funds, and ability to do what they were skilled at doing. Shiva calls this "Corporate Hijacking", coincidentally directly causing "the emergence of food totalitarianism, in which a handful of corporations control the entire food chain and destroy alternatives so that people do not have access to diverse, safe foods produced ecologically"(Shiva 17). As stated in the Chicago video, "Separating people from land and food is disempowering." The "fish out of water" effect is an indirect driver of the malnutrition. The urban migration of local farmers with land due to institutional injustice, is causing there to be a lack of farmers accessible to maintain local community crops. The malnutrition problem in these Food Deserts are also related to the corporate hijacking in such a way that we can see the effect that fast food and big industry businesses are having on lower income family health in America. Fast food is a direct driver of malnutrition in food deserts, as lack of food/agribusiness is a direct driver of malnutrition in the Global south. The farther the grocery store, the higher the obesity rate: a proven direct driver. Thus, just as local community crops need to be maintained in these hungry countries, community crops need to be maintained and utilized in food deserts of America. These community crops will also encourage biocultural conservation. People will be able to maintain their local cultures, their community bonds, and all of their unique qualities of grouping with others. Doing work together whether you live in a foreign country, or America, is healing to the indigenous of the area. Ironically there is a shot of bread being fed to pigeons at the start of the Chicago video. As preciously produced grains are being thrown at birds, many are starving for the opportunity to have one good meal a day.

We are not being more economically wise through agribusiness. We are destructing agriculture, cultures, and the planet. As stated in the "Future of Food" documentary, "A lot of identities are at stake, we need to protect the seed and the cultures". Shiva, in The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply speaks of the urban migration, and "stolen harvest" in this quote, "It is being experienced in every society, as small farms and small farmers are being pushed to extinction, as monocultures replace biodiverse crops, as farming is transformed from the production of nourishing and diverse foods into the creation of markets for genetically engineered seeds, herbicides, and pesticides"(7 Shiva). Is this "natural"? What are we creating? Isn't this worldview not more mechanistic? We are losing the intrinsic value of our biocultural diversity, and trading it in for monocultures, and genetically modified/engineered/chemically tampered "food". Shiva goes on to discuss the myth of "free trade", which really only causes gains for the rich, and destroys the local, and national markets (7 Shiva).

Shiva suggests Food Democracy, to combat this food totalitarianism. "We have to reclaim our right to nutrition and food safety. We have to reclaim our right to protect the earth and her diverse species. We have to stop this corporate theft from the poor and from nature"(18 Shiva).

New York Time's Steakhouse Review

In the New York Times’ review of the famous Steakhouse, Bruni explains how this extraordinary food served at Robert’s was served in a strip club. Keeping the class discussions in mind, one can clearly see how much gender, food, and discrimination are so closely linked together. Here, for instance, men look at a huge slab of meat differently then any woman would. Because steak is seen, in our society, as tough and manly men want the best cut, the most expensive and the best tasting. Women on the other hand are seen as delicate creatures who might or might not eat steaks or even meat for that matter. If they do, aren’t they more concerned with calorie intake then if it taste good? And if so, why are they this concerned about counting calories? This is one example of the male gaze. When thinking about what exactly the male gaze is this article is a great example. What is interesting is how both men and women do it in the exact same ways. in keeping with this theme, it is ironic that strippers are the ones working at the strip house. Men see what is perfect as the one way, and the women realize this perfect woman and want to be her. Yet is it the men who have come to define what this perfect woman is or is it the women themselves? Looking at this issue from a linguistic standpoint, the fact that this is even called the MALE gaze gives men the power to determine what exactly a man is.

Bruni states, "The prices of some dishes, pumped up to reflect the entertainment on hand, might also be called topless." The fact that men think that the more expensive the stake the better is a clear reflection of how a great cut of meat feeds into their own identity of being a better man. Yet, would any of these men be proud or high class if they were to go home with one of the strippers? Probably not. The women on stage, however, are probably considered the equivalency of a hot dog at best. It is sad that the animal has now become a higher standard in the man's eyes than the person. On the lines of the class discussions, who then be considered the animal? Would it be the woman on stage that is less of a priority for the man's reputation, or would it then be the expensive stake feeding into the man's persona of who he should be to be a true man?

Another theme running through this article is the sense of dehumanization of not just the women, but of the steaks as well. Just as the men see these women as just strippers, they see the steaks as just food and not a once living and breathing animal. There are many reasons for this however they all come down to one basic thing. People in today’s world are used to being strong, hiding their feelings, and not taking responsibility for their actions-these are all feminine attributes. When someone can look at something as it truly is, and not what is on their plate or on the stage, it gives them a sense of guilt. When reducing something that is as valuable as a woman or an animal to something that is merely an object, it takes away the guilt one might feel and legitimizes it so they can follow through with their actions. It makes it easier. With this ease it no longer is the subject's fault or problem, but naturally the problem gets placed on whatever the object is. In this way, dehumanization directly results in a naturally formed hierarchy system in the man's world.

To see the full article go here

By: Alek Trail

Meat: To Eat or Not to Eat

The vegetarian debate is one of the most controversial issues in environmental circles. Not only in environmental circles but in our society. There are plenty of pros and cons when it comes to animal meat consumption. The main three pros include: (1) it's hard to find an overweight vegan; (2) it's better on the environment to raise crops than animals; (3) farms breed animals just for consumption. In this video it talks about the reasons to become a vegetarian. Some images may be graphic.

 

It is easy to understand that if your diet lacks meat you are less prone to gaining weight. When factories process their meats, they add many preservatives that contain fattening ingredients. Also there have been studies that have led some scientist to believe that these preservatives contain chemicals which can lead to addiction to meat products. The factories that contain these animals give off bad chemicals that are not good for the environment. The book "Animal Factory" by David Kirby talks about how the shift from family farms to factory farms have led to the increase in environmental harm. Also, in Mason and Finelli's "Brave New World" it states that factories harm "...the atmosphere, polluted by fossil fuel use and methane gas, generated by the immense numbers of ruminant farmed animals, adding to global warming..." He uses this to show that the factories aren't to concerned about the damage done to the environment but are more concerned about maximizing their profits.The most important pro I mentioned was that raising and breeding animals SIMPLY for food consumption is species-ism. It is proven that animals feel pain and do suffer from mistreatment. The utilitarian view is that we as a society need to look beyond our own personal wants for tasty treats and begin to start treating animals just as we treat ourselves.

Even though, there are some pros for meat consumption. These include: (1) Organic foods are more expensive; (2) malnutrition can result from not having a balanced diet; (3) "the circle of life" allows organisms to live and eat off each other. Many families are not wealthy enough to buy organic foods. If a parent had to choose between spending more money on foods that don't contain meat products or feeding their child a bologna and cheese sandwich, I believe they would choose the latter. According to the food pyramid to the right, if you were to cut out meat products you will be loosing 25% of your daily nutritional diet. The major pro for eating meat is that it is part of "the circle of life." All animals eat one another in one way or the other. In the Lion King, Mufasa explains the circle of life.

Mufasa was explaining to Simba what many people have come to agree and live by, we all are part of a cycle that lives and eats off each other. This cycle is evident in all parts of the environment from the antelopes who eat the land, to the lion who eats the antelope, and finally to the land that is enriched by the lion's dead carcass.

Pandora and The Modern Thought

     In the movie Avatar, there are several environmental concepts portrayed. The master narrative in the film is that all life is connected through their spirit and their energy. The Omaticaya people believed that all life on Pandora was dependent on each other and the Tree of Souls. That connection allowed the people to live amongst the land and animals. The humans that were on Pandora came to dig up priceless rocks to sell on Earth’s black market. The leader of the humans, Parker Selfridge, didn’t care too much about the natives of Pandora or their land. He said sarcastically that “…you throw a stick in the air around here and it’ll land on some sacred fern.”  That leads me to believe that he and Colonel Quatrich were believers in Anthropocentrism. To them humankind is far more important than anything else. Dr. Grace first wanted to study the wildlife on Pandora to understand how they were connected. She studied the planet with an atomistic view. She took samples of plant life and studied the Omaticaya people independent of each other. She later realized the paradigm that the whole planet was connected through some sort of “electrochemical communication” that allowed the plant and wildlife to interact with each other.  Dr. Grace was trying to explain the Planet Pandora to Parker by using reductionism. She compared Pandora to something he could understand, like synapsis in the human brain. Even then, he did not want to understand. Jake Sulley, the main character of the film, set out to Pandora to take his brother’s place in the Avatar Project. He viewed his self-narrative as one individual, distinct from any group, and not reliant on anyone. When he entered the avatar machine for the first time and Dr. Grace wanted to help him, he refused. He said he was tired of people telling him what he could and could not do.

     Although the planet is made up of living organisms, the idea of Pandora is also mechanistic in the fact that the planet is a network of energy that is borrowed. When you die your energy is returned back to the planet to reproduce other organisms. The five assumptions about the structure of being, knowledge, and method from Merchant’s article(48-50) on radical ecology stand true for Pandora: (1) matter in Pandora is composed of particles; (2) there is a natural order in Pandora where everything has an identity; (3) knowledge and information can be abstracted from the Tree of Souls; (4) over a period of time, Dr. Grace studied and analyzed different plants and wildlife on Pandora (5) humans were able to affect the balance of nature on Pandora by interacting with it. Another concept that can be obtained from Avatar is the dualism between the humans and the Omaticaya people. To the viewers the humans are portrayed as evil compared to the Omaticaya people as good. A connection could also be made between the American Settlers versus the Native Americans. The Humans, like the settlers, came seeking land and resources plowing anyone or anything that stood in their way. I think Avatar was made with many underlying themes that can be connected to different environmental issues. If you watch it closely you’ll be able to see the similarities in how our society treats the environment and how the humans treated Pandora. Hopefully many people will watch this film and come away with a different outlook on environmental issues.

Avatar's Meaningful Wilderness

In the Avatar movie, there is a company from the United States that has gone to a planet named Pandora, because they have found a special rock like substance called Unobtainium, that the company would make a lot of money from. The American people have found that there is a tribe, called Na’vi, living on and around the tree that is on top of the Unobtainium and want them to leave and move somewhere else. The Na’vi tribe did not want to leave because they believe that the tree was very special to them, and it was their home. The company owner didn’t want to just run them off the tree by attacking them with weapons because it would make his company look bad, so he had hired some scientist who knew about the Na’vi people in order to try to bond with them, using Avatars, and to try to convince them to move homes on their own.

The Na’vi people would do anything to protect their home, which was in the wilderness and did do everything they could to protect it. In a scene of the movie, the scientist, Dr. Grace Augustine, explains how the tree connected with all the other trees in that forest and with the Mother tree; she continues explaining how all the trees connections was just like our brain is connected together and how everything works together. She also believed that by removing the Unobtainium that the whole system would change and maybe even die. In Cronon’s paper he explains two beliefs, the romanticism view, I believe connects with the movie greatly because the Na’vi people had great feeling for the place they lived in and didn’t want to leave the place. It was sacred to them and had much special meaning to them and didn’t want some people to come in and put machines there and destroy their home. The place was sublime and they Na’vi people did not want that to change because they knew that the planet would not be the same if part of it was tore down, only for some company to make lots of money, they didn’t care about that at all.

In the company’s point of view, which was more modernistic they believed that the Na’vi people would not lose anything. They believed that the people would be able to move trees with no problem so they would be able to continue with their mining project. The American company only though about its instrumental value and how much money they would make with the Unobtainium that was there. They company believed that the forest/planet was very big and that they would be able to live some where else with ease and that there would be no damage in the forest at all. The only person who actually though about the value of the tree to the Na’vi people was Dr. Grace and after getting attached to the Na’vi people Jake became close with the people and understood the meaning of the tree to them.

Now day we only see nature as somewhere we go to relax, but as Cronon asks, “But is it?” Is nature really nature? Or is it just something us humans have created for people to make money. In history there have been many incidents were people were kicked out of their lands because a company wanted to go build there or wanted to use it for its resources. I believe that it is very rare to find a place where people would go to relax or to enjoy “nature”, that hasn’t been touched by humans or that there isn’t building there like hotels and resorts. What we call “nature” is not really natural because we, humans, have destroyed many things and built many things that change everything and maybe that’s why we are having environmental problems these days. We should think about what nature really does and why its here on earth before we destroy something.

Avatar Midterm: Cluster 1

In the movie “Avatar”, Cameron depicts what life would and could be like with a different master narrative. He does this by revealing a fantasy world that a certain species, the Na’vi, live in and how they view and use the world around them. Simultaneously, Cameron is showing what “real-world” influences have on the Na’vi and their land. It couldn’t be a better way of showing how much the two ways of thinking contrast each other. He does a great job of using this contrast in a way that makes the viewer think about how living their everyday lives are affecting the planet.

Many philosophical views are embedded throughout the film to give the viewer a chance to either emphasize or question certain points for themselves. An example of this being the obvious fact that the land the Na’vis live in, coincidentally called Pandora, is one with extremely feminine characteristics. As Collard states, “As for Pandora, so maligned in the patriarchal version of her myth, she too is the Primitive Matriarch, all-giving, all-knowing, and loved by all. Hidden in her bosom are numerous earth spirits that correspond to human emotion- joy, love, sorrow, loneliness” (Collard 10). This idea of femininity can be see clearly in the healing ceremony scene when Grace is being brought to the tree. Not only do the vibrancy of the colors effect how one feels when they look at this scene, but also the dialog that is used. They refer to nature and the life source from the tree as “Mother” or “All Mother”. By the way the Na’vi are sitting for the ceremony they are emulating people sitting in a sanctuary in church. This is symbolizes to the viewer how important their “mother”, or earth, is. This gives nature a religious or spiritual undertone to how these people view nature and the world around them.

One can also see the dualism quite evidently throughout the film. One example of this is the scene in which the humans come into the Na’vis’ land and start destroying it for selfish reasons. In this anthropocentric way of thinking, the humans don’t care who, what, or how they are destroying the land. The only thing they want is what is under the Na’vis’ sacred tree and they don’t see anything wrong with making this happen no matter what. In this scene, the colors the opposing forces have make it quite obvious what is happening. The Na’vi and their land are again, vibrant and colorful. As the definition of femininity states, their land is delicate and pretty. When the humans come in you can see that their colors are almost opposite. It is filled with greys and browns and even their shapes represent ruggedness and strength. Because of these qualities, this side is seen as more masculine and tough. This clear dualism mirrors the linking postulates that occur throughout the movie. On one hand we see the delicate forest people as weak and unable to maintain themselves. Then we have the strong and bold humans going after and getting what they want. This idea goes well beyond men versus women- it bleeds into many issues in society today. One example of this is America versus other countries and how as Americans we are entitled to get what we want. We live the American dream by working hard and getting rewarded for it.

Another thing that is interesting is how both sides have a patriarchical way of thinking. The movie makes it very clear how different these two sides are in how they act and the way they think. However, both sides seem to have a system that places its members into levels and groupings. It would seem at first that this way of thinking is more an American way of thinking-those who work harder deserve more. However, even in the society that seems to not think this way they have this, though it may be for other reasons. Regardless of the reasonings, however, both cultures rely on their leader for guidance, and in a way doesn’t that make both sides guilty and somewhat contradictory? It is ironic that though two different societies have two different paradigms they can still be so similar. There are many parallels between the two worlds, but because they can't understand each other they naturally think the other is bad. For instance, they both are wanting the hometree, but for different reasons. From their points of view the reason that is not their own is bad. However, when one can see that both groups are wanting the hometree for separate reasons that will benefit their society the “bad guys” don’t seem as bad.

by: Alek Trail

Avatars meaning behind just being blue

They say that you don’t really love something until it’s gone, the dualism between humans as the master and Mother Nature as the inferior being that is being destroyed is portrayed in the film Avatar. An avatar show, what is the master narrative of our time is that we must conquer or kill the land and animals in order to have absolute control. The film show a different race called the Na’vi (the blue people not the annoying little fairy in Zelda) and their entirely different ways of life compared to humans, the Na’vi respect and take care of nature and nature respects the Na’vi and gives them what they need to survive an example of symbiosis. Jake who is a Marine in the movie that becomes a Na’vi by going in to a thing called a avatar, after spending time with the Na’vi he starts to become ecocentric and sees the beauty in nature instead of just wanting to use the planet Pandora for resources he develops a ecological conscience, and is able to truly see what we as humans are doing to the world around us. 

   One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Jake plugs himself into the ancestral tree asking for help somehow but Neytiri tells Jake the tree has no opinion it just observes and will listen but will not do anything, that although the tree holds together a system of life around Pandora it does not choose sides even though the Na’vi are trying to save the natural planet of Pandora and the humans are destroying the planet the tree just watches everything the tree is thinking like a mountain. Although avatar takes place in Pandora it greatly represents what we as people are doing to the land around us, out narrative self’s have become so focused on money and fame that part of our master narrative is that we must be Anthropocentric , the Na’vi have the right concepts in order to live with the environment not kill it. We as a people must take a stand and have communities that respect nature instead of destroy; Avatar showed millions of people that all life is precarious life that just because something is there today does not mean it will be their tomorrow. Aldo Leopold got to witness the death of nature though the eyes of a wolf, just like Jake saw the death of nature in the tree, and both realized that there is a land pyramid that dirt is not dirt but the thing that gives life to everything. 

  In order to change the narrative self we need to change what we think we need to know what “the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men.”(Leopold Thinking Like a Mountain pg 2)  and if avatar is any indicator if we as people don’t start to understand and live with nature we will soon miss the thing we didn’t know how much we loved.

avatar

This film started with Jake being brought to Pandora to be subbed in for his brotherbecause his brother died. They asked him in only because he could still be transformed into anavatar because he has similar traits to his brother and link to it. They have a paradigm on theavatar and are trying to learn more about them because they are fascinated with what they areand also because they have to try and get them to move so they won’t die. Jake is the one thatgot closest to the avatars because he has a self narrative that separate him from the otherhuman avatar people and even has a better self narrative then all of the real avatar people.Even the tree of life (sacred tree) chose him and actually is the reason why he stayed alive anddidn’t get killed by the chief’s daughter. Jake is actually the heroic ethic for both the humansand the natives (avatars). He was chosen by the humans to try and resolve the conflict for themby using colonialism and getting them to trust him and to do as he says so they won’t end updead. As the movie went on he was chosen to be the problem solver for the avatars whenconflict came upon them against the sky people (humans).

This movie has a great master narrative in the life of the avatars. For exampleeverywhere they step in their jungle it lights up under them in color. Even with the exoticanimals they have. Also a great example of this is the tree of life when it chose Jake and alsosaved him because it knew he was somebody special and there’s no other way to explain thetree of life. Even with the way they ride any animal you have to be connected to it so you canbe one with the animal and maneuver it. That’s shows great purpose of life and natureconnecting together. Jake is on the human side but ends up changing side not because he is atrader but because he wanted to chose the side that was doing right and not stay with theanthropocentrism side. There is nothing wrong with anthropocentrism but parker and theCornel where abusing it and pushing it too far. They didn’t care anything about the “bluemonkeys” and were just trying to get the anubtainium from under their home. They didn’t careabout the avatars lives or them beautiful home tree or nothing around it they were going to killthem and destroy anything that stands in their way of their anubtainium. They only cared aboutthemselves and didn’t care if they destroyed someone else’s culture they just felt they haddualism over them and were better privileged then them.

Jake used truncated narratives from his human life style he had from being a marine andtook it with him to the avatar stage and because what he had learned from being a marine as ahuman actually helped him and kept him alive when he was an avatar and also helped himadapt to being a avatar much faster than it would took them scientist that were avatars. Hewas a world-traveler in the avatar stage because he was their letting go of what he was andwas learning and became more of the avatar on the inside then just being an avatar look alike. A perfect example of this was in the end of the movie when the chief’s daughter picked up Jakes body and he looked at her and said I “see” you. What he meant by that is he was more like her and the avatar people on the inside then just looking like one.