Joel Seigle
Section 5
Derrick Jensen’s view on hope is unique and inspiring. The word Hope was a main phrase used heavily by Obama and his campaign in the last election, yet Jensen is telling me that hope is bad. He claims that hope is what holds us back from changing what we think is wrong. “When we stop hoping the situation will somehow not get worse, then we are finally free—truly free—to honestly start working to resolve it.” (Jensen) Hope gets in the way. It makes us “essentially powerless.” (Jensen)
It’s hard to take Jensen’s interpretation of the word hope to heart. Hope is something you learn to have. My mother, grandmother, rabbi, president have all told me to have hope, why now should I stop? The points Jensen makes about pulling away from hope and moving toward love does seem to make sense. When one loves they really care. If they really care then they will do something, not just hope it gets done. “I’m in love. With salmon, with trees outside my window, with baby lampreys living in sandy streambottoms, with slender salamanders crawling through the duff. And if you love, you act to defend your beloved.” (Jensen) In this class I believe one of the goals is to make us aware of issues that hopefully we will fall in love with. When this happens we will do what it takes to fix the issues we care about.
There are big problems in the way we treat the world we live in. As seen by low score in my carbon footprint, I don’t treat the world in a correct manor, and I know I’m not alone. Its scary to think that while looking at a graph of the world population such as the one from lecture. Billions of other people are out in the world trashing it just like me. As the numbers rise more people are going to need to give up on hope and start taking action themselves. Only then will things change.
Brought up during the last lecture, Professor Trumpey made it clear how uneducated our class was on identifying a poison ivy plant, yet 80% knew the icon of a high end car manufacture. We live among both however the natural one was indefinable to most. I find it amazing that such a low number of people knew what poison ivy looks like. I remember learning as a kid to not go near toughs plants because you would end up itching yourself for the next week. It was one of the main lessons before playing in the woods. If people cant identify it then they obviously don’t spend enough time outside. There should be no better space to be than the naturally created. The more people change their behavior and see what the environment has to offer, the more people with loose hope and begin to love.
Works Cited
Jensen, Derrick. "Beyond Hope." Orion. Web. 21 Sept. 2009. .
I found the Derrick Jensen Article very interesting. What I think he means by “hope is bad” is that hope won’t get us anywhere. It is not an action or a step in the right direction toward changing anything in the world. it’s quite the opposite. I think he means maybe hope is the first step to helping but once we realize that hope really doesn’t do anything, action is the only other option. My creative work can benefit from this question because unless my work is conveying the message I want it to, it’s kind of pointless. There is no point in making something that isn’t going to get a reaction. Just like how hope isn’t going to change anything in the world unless it goes a step further. Action and hard work needs to happen in order to make something successful or make something better (the environment). I don’t think hope is bad, I think it’s an important emotion to be hopeful, but in terms of saving the planet or drastically changing something, it is a bad idea. I feel that even if people say they don’t believe in hope, they still do to a certain extent because they HOPE what they are DOING to help the environment works. So I think that this is a word that can swing both ways, but I agree in the sense that by hoping to do something, nothing will change unless action is taken.
ReplyDeleteDuring the lecture on Wednesday the 16th, many interesting points about our culture were brought up. I found it very eye opening that barely anyone in our class could identify such a well-known plant, yet we all can recognize the logo for an expensive car. It’s true that we notice material things which are important or valuable to us, like cars and clothes and barely pay attention to environmental things which are equally if not more important. Another interesting topic from the lecture was discussing the American Dream. I believe the American Dream has changed so much even in the past 10 years. I feel like our culture cares about status, money, fame, things that ultimately don’t matter. I think it’s sad that we need to be entertained by “things” and make ourselves feel important by buying items rather than enjoying what we already have.
Works cited
“Beyond Hope” by Derrick Jensen
Trumpy, Joseph. Art Design Perspective III Lecture
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ReplyDeleteThough hope is seen widely as optimistic and can help many people through difficult times, Derrick Jensen shows the side of hope that is not so positive. When people hope, they aren’t doing anything to make any changes. Some people even might use hope to mask the fact that they really just don’t care. Where there is hope there is most likely thought that the changes will come from someone or somewhere else and that’s when things will change. Unfortunately more people who just hope the less there is that gets done. Jensen discusses how when we can finally untie ourselves from just hoping we will finally be able to realize that it is not enough and finally take action.
ReplyDeleteI partially agree with this article. I do think in many cases when people realize that hope is holding back change, some will finally engage in the saving process that needs to take place. I do believe though, there is much more to taking action then just letting go of hope. Many people make excuses, or are just ignorant on the issues and have not really tried to educate themselves about issues that need to be addressed. In class we were asked to label the countries in Africa but most were unable to label even 5. This isn’t necessarily because people don’t want to know, but because most people haven’t been there and have not had opportunities to learn that information. Since it isn’t waved in our face it doesn’t get burned into our brains like many materialistic products or places in the United States.
In the world today, there are many groups and advertisements that do focus on “going green”, but in the past it was never as important. Many people focus on what comes to them rather then what they have to look for. In lecture, we were asked to identify the Mercedes Benz logo and a Poison Ivy plant. Most people were able to identify the Mercedes Benz logo but many could not tell that the plant was Poison Ivy. There are many billboards, ads in print and on television for cars such as Mercedes Benz, but there haven’t really been very many plants with labels or signs that advertise different kinds of vegetation.
Jensen, Derrick. "Beyond Hope." Orion Magazine May 2006. Web. 12 Sep 2009.
Trumpey, Joseph. Art Design Perspective 3: Technology and the Environment. Stamps Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI. 14 Sep 2009. Lecture.
I was really inspired by and found “Beyond Hope” extremely thought provoking. Jensen defines “hope” as a longing for future condition over which you have no agency or control. In this way hope is bad and it is only through giving up hope that you kill the self that hopes. You die to live like you have never lived before, untouchable, rules don’t apply because they really don’t exist and in a sense you actually are reborn and live the way you were meant to. You live with the knowledge that you have the power to take action and when you realize this you will try your hardest to achieve what ever ability it is you discovered you can do.
ReplyDeleteJoe said, “it sucks being an ect.” and that really struck a cord in me – it DOES suck being an etc. and I want to become more than that. I want to be an artist who makes a change.
I really enjoyed learning about the Norwegians’ Hippo water roller invention! For my own studies gathering water (and other household chores) is mainly the reason the female youth in many African countries can not go to school OR the responsibilities of the housework interfere drastically with their study time.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough I care about the earth very much, whenever I hear an environmentalist preach I cannot help but roll my eyes, and sit there and think “please tell me something I did not already know.” Despite this stereotype, Derrick Jensen’s article “Beyond Hope,” really caused me to reflect on my own actions and how I conceive the issues regarding environmental concerns.
ReplyDeleteI always perceived hope and optimism to be the same thing. However, Jensen explains that these are two very different things. He discusses how we are all taught that hope is the light at the end of the tunnel and a future condition. Then he explains that this concept of “hope” is really nothing more than a “secular way of keeping us in line” (Jensen). Hope is leading us into an unrealistic future state. Due to our poor actions on the environment thus far, how can we possibly assume that things will get better? When Jensen spoke publicly about his article he surveyed the audience to conclude that the common definition of hope is a, “ longing for a future condition over which you have no agency.” (Jensen) This essentially means that you are powerless and have no control over what happens.
This made me realize that no one wants to take responsibility for what happens to our planet. We all just sit and pray that someone will take care of things for us. This article made me consider that hope is like a higher power. No one knows it really exists but we all hope it will save us one day when we really need it. Jensen proclaims, “ False hopes blind us to unlivable situations, and blind us to the real possibilities” (Jensen). From this step forward we must all stop hoping and start doing work. He explains, “that when hope dies action begins” (Jensen). Jensen also says that people often ask him, “If life is so bad why don’t you just kill yourself?” he says that he knows in his heart we are all screwed but he still enjoys life. This made me realize that I also have the same mentality. The difference between Jensen and I is he at least tries to help the environment. In the meantime I just sit there in fear and try not to think about the future and how one-day starvation, famine, and ultimately self-destruction will occur. This goes back to his idea that if people allow themselves to fear the future, they might actually realize how truly desperate the human race is becoming.
Overall, this article was very eye opening. In lecture we have discussed how to close the loop of intergenerational remote tyranny. As design students we must always incorporate our ideas with the future and how our work will be perceived in years to come. It is important to consider if it will help guide us towards a better future or just sit there on a wall and look pretty while the world falls a part. We have also discussed access to energy and power. This discussion encouraged me to get involved with the city life, which encourages public transportation and an overall more economic way of living.
Works Cited
Jensen, Derrick. "Beyond Hope." Orion Magazine May-June 2006