After reading my Liberal and Civic Studies 121: Culture and Civic Responsibility self-assessment again, my worldview has expanded immensely. Not only do I have the previous knowledge of the racism that goes on in our communities around the world, but also I now have the knowledge that some of these racial issues previously learned, are linked to the environment. This new worldview that includes a certain responsibility for our environment was shaped by what I learned in Liberal and Civic Studies 121 about civic responsibility. I have come to learn that all of the Liberal and Civic Studies classes are linked in some way, which help form my worldview and widen it each semester when I learn something new.
My worldview has recently expanded to include knowledge of the environment and how the tragedy of the commons is just part of the web of systems thinking. Before starting this class, I understood that we had finite resources on our planet, but the magnitude of this wasn’t put into perspective until learning about the commons. In the article The Struggle to govern the commons by Thomas Dietz, Elinor Ostrom and Paul Stern, they emphasize how important it is for us as a community to not take advantage of the finite resources we have on Earth. They say: “As the human footprint on the Earth enlarges, humanity is challenged to develop and deploy understanding of large-scale commons governance quickly enough to avoid the large-scale tragedies that will otherwise ensue”(216). To ensure that we as humans don’t abuse the amount of resources we have, we all must understand that we are living in a world with finite resources and an infinite population. With everybody in communities working together, we can help each other to understand the co...
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...llution in the oceans. I feel that after all I have learned this semester, I have become a better person. I want to educate my future students and their families on how we as a community, can better our environment. With a better understanding of what we, humans specifically, are doing to the environment, people in the community can have a better grasp of what they can do to help. But, without this understanding and knowledge of what is happening in the environment, humans will continue down this treacherous path of dirtying our own homelands.
Works Cited
Fritjof Capra, Werner Ulrich. "Systems Thinking for Environmental Responsibility." The Environmental Responsibility Reader. London: Zed, 2009. 123-36. Print.
Thomas Dietz, Elinor Ostrom, Paul Stern. "The Struggle to Govern the Commons." The Environmental Responsibility Reader. London: Zed, 2009. 206-16. Print.
I will begin this report with a summary of this great book and delve deeper into the thoughts that the literary family has of it. I will then go on to explain its importance in the development of environmental policy and impact, and end with my thoughts regarding the material and the interaction among social and environmental values and impacts presented by the author Michael Pollan.
It is a melancholy object to those who travel through this great country to see isolated corners of this fair realm still devoted to protecting the environment. The wretched advocators of these ideals are frequently seen doling out petitions and begging at their neighbours’ doors to feed their obsession, which keeps them in the contemptible poverty that they so richly deserve.
Murray, Iain. “Cap and Trade: A System Made for Fraudsters.” Cases in Environmental Politics. Ed. Norman Miller. New York, NY: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Whether an organization is domestic or international they have social responsibilities to the communities they operate within and to the shielding of the world. Caterpillar, Inc. is one such company that puts social responsibility at the top of their priorities. They have an abundance of engineers and technologists working on solutions to improve on sustainability. According to the 2012 Sustainability Report (2012), “at Caterpillar, we always ask ourselves, ‘What do our customers need? What does the world need?’ World Resources Institute (WRI) asks those same questions about the communities it serves, and truly delivers some amazing results” (p. 19).
Rudel, K. Thomas, J. Timmons Roberts and JoAnn Carmin. 2011. “Political Economy of the Environment.” Annual Review of Sociology 37: 221-238.
At the beginning of the semester, I thought that environmental justice was justice for the environment, which is true to a point, but I now know that it is justice for the people. Only when there is a people that have been wronged, usually using the environment as the the method of delivery, does it become an environmental justice case. Environmental justice ensures that all people, regardless of income level or race, have a say in the development and enforcement of environmental laws. It acts on the philosophy that anyone living on and in the land should have a say on how it is treated and used. Sometimes when developing legislature, the populations in mind are not all affected equally, and if said population
Systems approach is based on the fundamental principle that all aspects of a human problem should be treated together in a rational manner (Healy, 2005). I have divided this essay into relevant sections that cover an overview of systems ideas, general systems theory and ecological systems theory. This assignment will also include Germain and Gittermans life model, and it will be related back to the case study that has been provided. Limitations of systems theory will also be discussed.
Ostrom (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.
Ryan, D. P.–J. (2001, 12 07). Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. Retrieved 06 27, 2011, from National-Louis University's PT3 Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to use Technology.: http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf
The development of environmental regimes involves a five-fold process. The first process is the agenda setting and issue definition stage, which identifies and brings attention to an issue to the international community. Secon...
Wilcock, D. A. (2013). From blank spcaes to flows of life: transforming community engagment in environmental decision-making and its implcations for localsim. Policy Studies 34:4, 455-473.
* Daily, Gretchen C., ed. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997.
A few years ago, Time magazine published a special issue entitled "The Century's Greatest Minds." It was the fourth in a Time series on the 100 most influential people of the century, this particular issue focusing on "Scientists and Thinkers." On the cover, Albert Einstein is pictured on a psychiatrist's couch, hands crossed over his chest, a depressed look cloaking his face. Dr. Sigmund Freud, seated in a chair near the couch, pen and pad in hand, is leaning in toward Einstein, excitedly waiting to perform some bit of psychoanalysis on the saddened scientist. A framed picture of Jonas Salk rests on the side table; a portrait of John Maynard Keynes hangs from a nail in the wall. In the background, resting atop a bookshelf, is a stone bust of Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. She finds herself in quite excellent company not only on the cover, but in the interior of the magazine as well.
As human beings we have a responsibility to protect ourselves, each other and our environment. The term environment refers to a complex set of social/cultural conditions that affect an individual or community. However, there are events and processes that occur in the environment that human beings have no control over. Environmental science, the systematic study of processes and materials in our environment, identifies temperature, precipitation and humidity as a few natural conditions. Natural conditions force us to be reactive, while things that we can control, such as consumption and waste, allow us to be proactive.
Many people assume that the environment is not in danger. They believe that as technology advances, we do not need to worry about renewing natural resources, recycling, and finding new ways to produce energy. They state that one person in the world does not make a large difference. In reality, each individual's contribution greatly affects our environment. Our natural resources are slowly disappearing, and we must work together to save them and the Earth from ruin.