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.
Solis, Hilda. “Environmental Justice: An Unalienable Right for All.” Human Rights 30 (2003): 5-6. JSTOR. Web. 13 February 2014.
“The Tragedy of the Commons” written by Garret Hardin explains how the human population is degrading the environment. When Hardin refers to commons he is talking about a resource that is owned by no one and used by a group of people. Some examples of commons include the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the oceans we fish. The tragedy is that people don’t look at the bigger picture; the over use of commons for our own personal benefit leads to the destruction or extinction of these commons. For example if one fisherman wants to fish the oceans as much as possible that’s fine, but now imagine if every fisherman wants to fish the oceans as much as they can, this is one example of a common being destroyed by the human population. The fishing lab we did the other day is a good example Tragedy of the Commons. Every student was placed into groups of four, each group received a bowl (which represented the ocean,) and 20 M&M’s (which represented 20 fish; salmon.) Ms.Engen told the class it was a competition but what she did not say is that if we catch all our “M&M’s” we will not receiv...
Hardin, Garrett. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 162, no. 3859 (Dec. 13, 1968): 1243-48.
The Tragedy of the Commons typically results in resources being over used and depleted (Khan). Let’s say that there are 10 mines being used to dig out iron. Nine of the mines are privately owned, but the tenth mine is open for the public. That tenth mine is going to be over used and depleted to the point where there is no iron left. The other mines and the rest of society will use that one public mine rather than use their own to gather the iron. This occurs with lots of resources. Another great example could be woods for both logging and hunting. If there are public woods where no permits are needed to hunt or chop down trees for lumber, then the society will completely destroy that public ground due to
Wenz, P.S. (1995) Just Garbage: The Problem of Environmental Racism. In Pojman, L.P. (Eds.) Environmental Ethics: Reading in Theory and Applications. (4th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
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.
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.
William F. Baxter exemplifies this anthropocentric viewpoint. In his book People or Penguins: The Case of Optimal Pollution, he argues that society should respect and attempt to preserve environmental balance only if the benefits to humans outweigh the costs. Baxter claims that, since there is no normative definition of “pure” air or water, society should aim for a level of pol...
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.
Ostrom (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.
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.
We all belong to the same world and all of us have the same responsibilities towards the world and its environment. This fact might be hard to digest, but if we continue to pollute the Earth at the current rate, all of the world’s ocean waters will become one-hundred-thirty percent acidic. This means that the ocean will be unable to sustain most of its marine life and only a few creatures will be able to survive in the water. A big population of people think that they do not or have few responsibilities towards the environment. People think that the governor of a country should take steps to help the environment. They leave it to scientists since they have the technology to prevent pollution, or that is what most people think. There are more responsibilities to the world each individual has than most of realize. The amount of negligence and ignorance of humans towards the Earth is taking a heavy toll.
...dearly-held, unconscious collective assumptions may impede our chances for survival. Or, as Poliakoff, et. al., noted, “fundamental changes in technology are adopted… only when they provide real advantage” (810). Are human beings inherently selfish, or are they capable of rising above that? Will we use this power we have developed to help ourselves, or to attempt to help the world? “Why can’t we achieve a better balance between people, resources, and the environment? … The complete answers to these questions lie deeply within the complex realms of science, philosophy, religion, economics, and politics.” (170). The answers may be complicated. The truth is, industrialization has changed our relationship to the environment. It has enabled us to hurt it far more than any other species, but it has also given us the ability to help. The power of choice now lies with us.