Weekly Statement 5

Levester Williams

Reed-Esslinger-Payet, GSI

Leopold Takes on Consumerism…

To consume has now become the basic instinct for humans. Advertisements saturate our minds with constant images of these we should do or become. We are no longer individuals for ourselves, but a component of a collective entity called Consumerism. Our choices are based upon the everlasting images flickering on any electronic communicator or branded on any products. It seems as if the “corporate advertising (or is it the commercial media?) is the largest single psychological project undertaken by human race” (Lasn 19). To remove yourself or to decide to from the self-absorbent quality that advertising has in your life, one must place yourself in a context outside of the “advertising world.”

Leopold has submerged himself into the nature; therefore, his thinking and actions are submissive to his experience and love of nature. He is cognizant of the actions that must be taken to actually enjoy things beyond our ideal consuming society:

They explained that their watches had run down, and for the first time in their lives there was no clock, whistle, or radio to set watches by. For two days they had lived by ‘sun-time,’ getting a thrill out of it. (Leopold 113)

Two college students venture into the wild being deprived of everything that basically connects them with their consuming society. There is no distraction between them and nature. Therefore, they are able to feel their natural sense of freedom. They are free from the anxiety of the never-ending obligations to society. In nature, they are individuals who are able to make the decision for themselves without advertisements imbuing their minds with decisions or decisions from parents.

According to Rapaille, the American cultural code—“the unconscious meaning we apply to any given thing…via the culture in which we are raised” (Rapaille 5)—for money is proof (Rapaille 124). Therefore, mistakes have much psychological effects in our minds due to the pressure to work for recognition in a consuming society. Leopold states that the two college students “represented complete freedom to make mistakes” (Leopold 113). Being insightful and collected Leopold knows new experience in nature forces one to realize such freedom in nature. When I went into woods by the river near a small waterfall with my best friends, I felt all life’s stresses vanished at that moment. All I could notice is the engulfing beauty in nature. My natural sense came to me, and I enjoyed skipping along the rocks racing my friends to the river. I enjoyed the thrill I climbing the three-story waterfall with no equipment, and the water incessantly splashing onto my face. The roaring of the water momentarily washed away any connection to my consuming society.

Works Cited

Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America. New York: Eagle Brook, 1999.

Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1987.

Rapaille, Clotaire. The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People Around the World Live and Buy as They Do. New York: Broadway, 2007.

Weekly Response #5

Yu-Jen(Chris),Tsai
Section:005

Weekly Response #5

The quote I picked is from the chapter Chihuahua And Sonora from Sketches Here and There. The title of the little section of the chapter is called “Song of the Gavilan”; at the beginning of the passage, Leopold talks about all the natural sound effects created by the great nature including noises formed by the river while interacting with objects around it like the rocks, the roots and so on. The reason why the author uses the word “song” for the topic is that because he viewed every elements in the nature as an instrument, which is mentioned in the quote I selected “There are men charged with the duty of examining the construction of the plants, animals, and soils which are the instrument of the great orchestra.” By “orchestra”, I believe Aldo meant by the “natural world” in that he talked about how the “song” the river creates is destroyed due to the human’s misuse. “The life of every river sings its own song.”; this makes me recall Trumpey’s lecture on the comparison between the production and the consumption in our society and how it effects the industry. Every resource on this planet has its own “song” and has the right to be protected and it is up to us to decide what happens next to them.

Following the first half of the quote “…the great orchestra. These men are called professors. Each selects one instrument and spends his life taking it apart and describing its strings and sounding boards. This process of dismemberment is called research. The place for dismemberment is called a university.”(153) This second half of the passage delivers the message that professor Trumpey has been stating in the consumerism lecture, which is there are always people who realize the beauty and preciousness of nature that they will do whatever it takes to preserve them. On the other hand, others consume for personal purposes. “Consumption is complex” Professor Trumpey said. The complexity consists of social issues including community, work, freedom and the quality of life. So how can we reach the balance between consumption and production? That will be the vital question for all “Homo Sapiens”.


Work Cited:


Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. Pg. 153

Trumpey, Joseph. Art Design Perspective 3: Technology and the Environment. Stamps Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI. 7 and 12 Oct 2009. Lecture.

Response #5 - Sally Volkmann

“Like ions shot from the sun, the week-enders radiate from every town, generating heat and friction as they go” (Leopold 165).

In this quote Leopold talks about how human recreation has become a danger to the environment because of our forms of transportation. The amount of roads grew with the amount of car owners. The roads made the wilderness more accessible and tainted it. I related this idea of traveling and depleting the environment as we move to the idea of hunters and gathers (Trumpey 2009). From Trumpey’s lectures he has defined hunters and gatherers by the way they prey on many species and are always on the move. As “week-enders” they are part time hunter and gatherers; they travel to another place once they have depleted something from their permanent residence. This depletion may not necessarily be natural resources or a food supply like traditional hunters and gatherers. Instead “week-enders” living in an urban environment may have depleted the fun, adventure, spontaneity, simplicity, fresh air, and wild vegetation from their lives.

The “week-enders” generate heat by all the carbon they are emitting; their carbon footprint creates a denser cloud coverage which traps the sun’s rays in our atmosphere (Trumpey 2009). I thought it was interesting how Trumpey pointed out how there was a drop in the USA’s temperature when the air traffic was restricted after 9/11. The friction the “week-enders” create is on a social level which I can relate to.

My Dad and Brother are “week-enders” during any hunting season. They can be considered modern hunters because they hunt with semi-automatic weapons and spend obscene amounts of money on clothing and devices to help keep them warm in their blinds. We live in a very urban city with strict gun laws and very few wild animals. The urban sprawl of Saginaw has depleted the prey that the men in my family seek to hunt. They are “week-enders” who create a friction on the highways that head north, on the local ecosystem of northern Michigan, and of the surrounding community where they hunt. They appropriate a segment of land and the animal population for ingestion every hunting season (Trumpey 2009). The main goal is to harvest the animals for consumption. I really related to Leopold’s observation of the hunters around his duck marsh about the trigger happy hunters; “that he is already overfed in no way dampens his avidity for gathering his meat from God” (Leopold 166). I agree with Leopold and always make sure to point out the heaps of venison still sitting in the outside freezer as my Dad and Brother pack the car full of their consumer goods to go bring back more food that will go un-consumed.

The idea that the people are what moves can parallel to the migration of the animals that the hunter and gatherers deplete. Some people do migrate in a sense. There are the “snow birds” and waves of college kids and families flock to warmer climates during the “tourist season.” A few spring breaks ago I was in South Carolina during the end of tourist season and was talking with a few locals. The guys were relishing and reflecting on their experience during tourist season. Since it was on a beach they had preyed on girls to hook up with. Knowing that they’d be leaving in a week or two so they wouldn’t have to deal with any of the commitment or consequences of a relationship. It sounded like the locals were equating the other girls to prey. Perhaps the locals were locals of vacation places are more like part time pastoralists because they prey on fewer species (not all people go on vacation to beaches) and are stationary (the “prey” comes to them every spring). The locals are consuming these tourists eagerly and then throwing them away with out much thought as the new flock rolls in. While I’m sure there are nice local girls these boys could date and get to know they too are like overfed hunters who are more into “recreation” for the thrill and adventure of seeing something new.

Citation:
Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1949.

Trumpey, Joseph. Art Design Perspective 3: Technology and the Environment. Stamps Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI. 5 and 7 Oct 2009. Lecture.

weekly responce 5

“These things, I say, should have come to us. I fear they have not come to many.”(p.110)


I believe that Leopold speaks about the idea of evolution. How we as a people and society have become what we are today, due to our ancestors and their past. I also feel as if Leopold believes that we as a human race have made many strides toward a general progression. We now are in charge of the lives that we live. We have become the “captain of our own ship”. We now rule the world. This quotation illustrates this belief, in a rather egocentric way.
I believe that this quotation can also be applied to my own personal experiences. I think that when it comes to the production-based/ consumerist based world that I am currently a part of, I realize that many of the things that I take for granted, in the form of food and other natural resources, are all items of scarce value to people who are far less fortunate then I, living in other countries. This also directly relates to many of the discussions held in lecture, as well as in discussion. Many of the slides presented in class, are intended to show the amount of natural resources that we as Americans, and as individuals consumer, annually and daily. In comparison to the amounts used by people in other countries, the difference is remarkable. Where we may think that we are entitled to these resources, it is quite unfair seeing as how, many people are less fortunate, and are forced to live with much less. Hence; the main concept behind this quotation is the idea that although we have been given many things, these things promised to us, have not been given to everyone.

world changing response 5

Conserving energy is one of the main topics discussed in lecture so far. In the section called "Green Power"(p.170) under the sub category called "Solar Power", it is stated that new materials are being created, which allow making various products powered by the suns energy alone possible. By using these thin, yet strong organic-plastic solar panels, it is now easy to apply this product making almost anything now created to be powered by natural energy. One question still remains in my head, as I read this. If we are now able to make almost anything powered by the sun, why aren't we seeing more of the products that we use on a daily basis with the same features? Why are al things that are powered by the suns natural energy still so expensive, and not easy to get for an affordable price for the average consumer?In a time where conserving energy is such a major concern, why are we not developing cheaper methods, in order to make most, if not all new products being made, able to be powered by the suns natural energy?

Leopold has many brilliant ideas and opinions on consumerism and how we treat our “natural” land. “A roadless marsh is seemingly as worthless to the alphabetical conservationist as an undrained one was to the empire-builders. Solitude, the one natural resource still undowered of alphabets, is so far recognized as valuable only by ornithologists and cranes.” (107) This quote expresses how preservation and consumerism are equally important to different parties, yet neither is ever satisfied with what they have. The consumerist always wants more production and technology, where the conservationist wants the opposite.  This quote also discusses how people may view an untouched or preserved portion of land as useless. However, to wildlife and organizations/ individuals who are trying to keep part of this world natural, it is a great thing. One of the first things I thought about after reading this quote was how much paper I carelessly use and how wasteful I am. This is a connection because if an area of land with a lot of trees is preserved, then the consumer is not gaining anything since the trees cannot be cut down and produced into paper. Since technology has advanced, paper is becoming less and less of a necessity because many uses of paper has been taken over by computers and the internet. For years and years, environmentalists have been trying to preserve trees and wildlife, yet our fast pace world hasn’t changed our selfish wasteful ways. I think that our society has gotten used to everything being available to us whenever we want it that we don’t realize the harm we are casting upon the natural environment. It’s almost as if consumerism has brainwashed us in some way and we are too selfish to sacrifice an ounce of our comfort to do something good for the environment. I think that one of Leopold’s main ideas is that if we can slow down and appreciate nature, wildlife and our planet, we will truly understand how important it is that we preserve and stop destroying it.

 

Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1949.