Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Ishmael Chapter 9 "Limitless Growth"


Tree of Knowledge
Growth seems like an enduring theme throughout our class discussions. In Eaarth, McKibben discusses how we need to change that mentality in order to save earth and be able to survive the new conditions.  Ishmael goes on to build on how our mentality of growth came to be, through a lot of mythology.

Summed up, Adam is the cultivator of our culture, tempted by Eve (life). He then eats from the tree of knowledge, which more than allows for his distinction between good and evil. The fruit gives Adam the power to deem what is given the opportunity to live and to die. He then has two sons, Cain ( the farmer) and Abel ( shepherd). Cain kills Abel, setting up the replication for takers to kill takers in order to expand.

Cattle
The above culture foundation, is what we continue to build on. Move farther out, grow more crops in order to keep ourselves growing. The other thing which Ishmael touched on was the idea of curbing our population and how we keep this on the agenda for tomorrow. Which I believe is a metaphor for how we respond to the urgency of sustainability and how we keep pushing it for the agenda of tomorrow because what continues to matter is our continuous growth.

The last thing he touched on, that is near and dear to my heart. The growth of an abundance of resources to support different areas. Ishmael gives the example of agriculture in Nebraska supporting the food system of some country in Africa. Which is true, developing countries devote masses of land in order to supply to the needs of both luxury and necessary foods for developed countries. Take a read here,and see how we have to increase agriculture by 60% because the world is still starving.
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 22, 2017 at 9:01 AM

    You're absolutely right. We put so much on the back burner so we can continue our never ending need to continue the expansion of our civilization. We can't as a society seem to leave nature alone.

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2017 at 12:16 PM

    That is really interesting about the next agricultural revolution; I have heard that there is actually enough food for everyone in the world to have more than enough calories. They claim that the problem is one of poverty, not food supplies. I would have to research them both to know which is more accurate; I am not really sure! It is an interesting discrepancy though.

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  3. UnknownFebruary 22, 2017 at 12:42 PM

    Thank you for the link on agriculture. That is really interesting, especially since reading Eaarth made industrialized agriculture seem like the enemy.

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