The collapse of Enron was perhaps the most spectacular financial scandal in the last century. Enron was – on the surface – one of the most stable and powerful businesses in the market, but they used a marketing system known as Mark to Market, this allowed them to manipulate their projected gains in money and essentially allowed them to make up their profits and gains. I could spend a very long time detailing all of Enron's crimes, but it is far more succinct to say that Enron was a company heralded by many as the most innovative company in the world, but it simply got too greedy. One instance of the CEOs of Enron got too greedy was that they had preposterous ideas such as trading bandwidth and even weather. How on earth one can think that there would be a market in trading weather is far beyond me, it is also indicative of an excess of hubris, an excess shared by nearly all the CEOs of Enron, Jeff Skilling in particular.
Jeff Skilling was thought to be one of the most creative and intelligent businessmen in the world. I find it hard to disagree with that statement; Skilling certainly was intelligent, as well as creative. Skilling's fatal flaw was that he had certain insecurities (at one point in the film, they mentioned that he was a perfect example of a nerd who had transformed himself into something new, and was determined to make a difference), and that in order to compensate for said insecurities, he puffed up his ego to the point where there was practically nothing left but ego. It is always disappointing to see somebody with so much natural talent go to waste, as is the case with Jeff Skilling. He is currently serving time (24 years) in a federal prison in Minnesota.
I feel that the main way that Enron connects to Global Ethics is that in most of the other documentaries we've watched, humans have been exploiting the planet, and indirectly harming other humans, but in Enron, humans were clearly exploiting other humans the same way so many other companies exploit nature. The point is that corporations are designed to value profits more than anything else, whatever the cost. Other businesses do it daily and nightly, they are draining the planet of it's resources and beauty in order to make a buck. Enron simply brings this point home by illustrating to us that it can effect us directly as well.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
The Architecture of Sustainability
Instead of writing a long-winded essay in which I make tortuous connections between all of Hawken's points and Mcdonough's presentation, I have opted to focus on just three points, and I will make very solid connections to each.
1.)Replace nationally and internationally produced items with products created locally and regionally.
William Mcdonough's project in China resulted in an exemplary model for this point. He moved the farmland to the roofs of the buildings, and by so doing maintained the towns folk's ability to locally produce food. Mcdonough's plan spared the townspeople from dependency on external sources of agricultural products and allowed them to produce their own products which they could help distribute to others.
2.) Create objects of durability and long-term utility whose ultimate use of disposition will not be harmful to future generations.
Mcdonough's project in China once again exemplified this quality. The building plan Mcdonough created for the Chinese town would not only not be harmful to future generations dwelling in the city; it would be beneficial to the city's future inhabitants by providing a sustainable source of food and possible economic income (through exporting agricultural products).
3.) Engage in production process that are human, worthy, dignified and intrinsically satisfying.
This is the most important way that Mcdonough fits Hawken's criteria for a sustainable business. All of Mcdonough's projects follow the trend of an emphasis on sustainability, so they immediately qualify as being worthy. We, as a species, face a gargantuan challenge; the issue of global warming, and any conscious, sustained (pardon the pun) effort to confront this problem also immediately qualifies as being dignified, and, to any normal person, intrinsically satisfying. The idea that Mcdonough is doing this to benefit other people (indeed, the entire species), makes it a very human effort, and a very worthwhile one at that. Mcdonough's work gives hope to those who are cynically-inclined, such as myself. They shine as beacons of light in a world of ecological and intellectual darkness.
1.)Replace nationally and internationally produced items with products created locally and regionally.
William Mcdonough's project in China resulted in an exemplary model for this point. He moved the farmland to the roofs of the buildings, and by so doing maintained the towns folk's ability to locally produce food. Mcdonough's plan spared the townspeople from dependency on external sources of agricultural products and allowed them to produce their own products which they could help distribute to others.
2.) Create objects of durability and long-term utility whose ultimate use of disposition will not be harmful to future generations.
Mcdonough's project in China once again exemplified this quality. The building plan Mcdonough created for the Chinese town would not only not be harmful to future generations dwelling in the city; it would be beneficial to the city's future inhabitants by providing a sustainable source of food and possible economic income (through exporting agricultural products).
3.) Engage in production process that are human, worthy, dignified and intrinsically satisfying.
This is the most important way that Mcdonough fits Hawken's criteria for a sustainable business. All of Mcdonough's projects follow the trend of an emphasis on sustainability, so they immediately qualify as being worthy. We, as a species, face a gargantuan challenge; the issue of global warming, and any conscious, sustained (pardon the pun) effort to confront this problem also immediately qualifies as being dignified, and, to any normal person, intrinsically satisfying. The idea that Mcdonough is doing this to benefit other people (indeed, the entire species), makes it a very human effort, and a very worthwhile one at that. Mcdonough's work gives hope to those who are cynically-inclined, such as myself. They shine as beacons of light in a world of ecological and intellectual darkness.
Monday, 6 October 2008
Global Warming and the Second Coming of Jesus.
In the article "Waste Not", we learned about the gargantuan output of rubbish, toxins, and pollutants in recent years. My project is about the religious indoctrination of children, and the harmful effects it can have on society. At first, these two topics seem as unrelated as you can get, but upon close inspection, it is possible to establish a solid connection between the two. For the sake of convenience, I used total carbon emissions as an indicator of waste (the two are closely tied, but it is easier to find evidence regarding carbon emissions than waste output).
For those of you who have ever watched Jesus Camp (a frightfully brilliant documentary by the way), there is a particularly worrying scene in which a home schooled child is discussing global warming with his mother, attempting to prove that it is a lie. He is but one of the 1.1 million other home schooled students, 30% of whom are educated at home to provide religious teaching(1). Religious ideology and sustainability seem to run contradictory to each other, because there is in all religion the belief that there is an afterlife, there is also the quiet yearning for the afterlife. There are some crucially important environmental implications when 25% of Americans believed that Jesus would return in the year 2007(2). I submit that the yearning for the return of Jesus, and the belief that there is another life after this one creates and reinforces the idea that we needn't worry about sustainability, because we won't be here long enough to be concerned with it.
I have found a graph of the total carbon emissions released state by state which can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/30/business/20080601_ENERGY_GRAPHIC.html
I have also found a map of the political affiliations of the states in the same year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2004_US_elections_map_electoral_votes.png
As well as a map detailing the bible belt of the U.S.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BibleBelt.png
The republican party has a reputation for its conservative and religious affiliations within the United States (it is very difficult to get elected in the U.S. if one does not pander to some religious group or another, for the Christians comprise of approximately 33% of the vote). Notice how 4 out of the top 5 emitters of carbon emissions are republican states, and notice how the most concentrated area of consistently high carbon emitters overlaps with the bible belt. The states guilty of the most carbon emissions seem to be the republican ones. I feel that this indicates that there is a correlation between religiosity and waste output.
In conclusion, I believe that religion, and religious instruction of children plays a major role in the levels of CO2 output in the United States (one of the world's larger CO2 emitters). Religious instruction influences environmental sustainability because the child is not only taught that the current climate crisis is a lie, but also that Jesus will return soon enough, so there is little need to focus on creating a sustainable future. Education and raising awareness is the key to solving global warming, but we must extend this philosophy into the realm of religion in order create the most change possible.
References:
(1)http://nces.ed.gov/nhes/homeschool/
(2)http://www.beliefnet.com/story/208/story_20828_1.html
For those of you who have ever watched Jesus Camp (a frightfully brilliant documentary by the way), there is a particularly worrying scene in which a home schooled child is discussing global warming with his mother, attempting to prove that it is a lie. He is but one of the 1.1 million other home schooled students, 30% of whom are educated at home to provide religious teaching(1). Religious ideology and sustainability seem to run contradictory to each other, because there is in all religion the belief that there is an afterlife, there is also the quiet yearning for the afterlife. There are some crucially important environmental implications when 25% of Americans believed that Jesus would return in the year 2007(2). I submit that the yearning for the return of Jesus, and the belief that there is another life after this one creates and reinforces the idea that we needn't worry about sustainability, because we won't be here long enough to be concerned with it.
I have found a graph of the total carbon emissions released state by state which can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/30/business/20080601_ENERGY_GRAPHIC.html
I have also found a map of the political affiliations of the states in the same year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2004_US_elections_map_electoral_votes.png
As well as a map detailing the bible belt of the U.S.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BibleBelt.png
The republican party has a reputation for its conservative and religious affiliations within the United States (it is very difficult to get elected in the U.S. if one does not pander to some religious group or another, for the Christians comprise of approximately 33% of the vote). Notice how 4 out of the top 5 emitters of carbon emissions are republican states, and notice how the most concentrated area of consistently high carbon emitters overlaps with the bible belt. The states guilty of the most carbon emissions seem to be the republican ones. I feel that this indicates that there is a correlation between religiosity and waste output.
In conclusion, I believe that religion, and religious instruction of children plays a major role in the levels of CO2 output in the United States (one of the world's larger CO2 emitters). Religious instruction influences environmental sustainability because the child is not only taught that the current climate crisis is a lie, but also that Jesus will return soon enough, so there is little need to focus on creating a sustainable future. Education and raising awareness is the key to solving global warming, but we must extend this philosophy into the realm of religion in order create the most change possible.
References:
(1)http://nces.ed.gov/nhes/homeschool/
(2)http://www.beliefnet.com/story/208/story_20828_1.html
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Baldwin's Intent
I believe that the author's intent in “Stranger in a Village” is to illustrate the cultural gap between America and the rest of the “white” world. This is described perhaps most vividly in the 14th paragraph, where he says that there is an abyss that divides the people of the village and the people back at home, and that abyss is “the American experience” (I assume that he is referring the to civil war, and the history of segregation).
“There is a dreadful abyss between the streets of this village and the streets of the city in which I was born, between the children who shout Neger! today and those who shouted Nigger! yesterday—the abyss is experience, the American experience. The syllable hurled behind me today expresses, above all, wonder: I am a stranger here. But I am not a stranger in America and the same syllable riding on the American air expresses the war my presence has occasioned in the American soul.”
“There is a dreadful abyss between the streets of this village and the streets of the city in which I was born, between the children who shout Neger! today and those who shouted Nigger! yesterday—the abyss is experience, the American experience. The syllable hurled behind me today expresses, above all, wonder: I am a stranger here. But I am not a stranger in America and the same syllable riding on the American air expresses the war my presence has occasioned in the American soul.”
The case against religious indoctrination.
My inquiry question for my senior project will probably be something along the lines of: "Why are children the main target of religious indoctrination? Do they suffer from indoctrination? Is it unethical to indoctrinate children?" It is a very broad, quite controversial question, but it is one that I feel must be addressed. I would like to explore why religious education of young children has such a profound impact on the child's psychological development (As the old Jesuit once said: "Give me the boy for seven years, and I'll give you the man"). I would like to find out whether religious education of young children (ages 7 or younger) has a negative or positive impact on the child's mental health. I would also like to learn about the reasons why children are so willing to take in what they hear on faith, and not question it. That seems to be my senior project question in a nutshell. Please ask any questions you may have, I'll be happy to answer them, I feel that this is such a large topic it is difficult to fully describe it, or even to know where to begin, so I'll leave it to the reader to alter the focus of this discussion.
Monday, 15 September 2008
Science Park Revelations
After reading the assigned article about the Hsinchu Science Industrial Park, several things struck me as being particularly shocking. I was shocked to discover the quantity of toxic waste that had been illegally deposited in rivers. I have heard many stories about China's rapid industrialization coupled with weakly-enforced environmental regulations resulting in ecological and environmental damage, but I never considered the possibility that such things could occur somewhere as near as the Science Park.
The more I think about it, the more I realize how similar the rise of Chinese industries is to the construction of the science park many years ago. In both scenarios we see the flaunting of environmental regulations in order to make way for the lucrative benefits of large companies and industries. In a nutshell, what stunned me is how we are told every day about the countless ecological crimes committed by Chinese industries, yet I had never heard about the atrocities (perhaps that is a bit too melodramatic) that occurred in the Science Park. The large-scale use of female workers also struck me as being morally wrong, as well as shocking, for very similar reasons. I had previously considered the use of female and immigrant workers on a large scale to be problems associated with far-off countries, such as shady businesses along the U.S. - Mexican border, I had never thought about it as being so close to home.
To be honest I cannot really provide a detailed analysis at the moment because I am still in the process of coming to terms with these revelations myself. The article really hammers home the fact that the problems of far away countries may not be quite as distant as they seem...
Aled
The more I think about it, the more I realize how similar the rise of Chinese industries is to the construction of the science park many years ago. In both scenarios we see the flaunting of environmental regulations in order to make way for the lucrative benefits of large companies and industries. In a nutshell, what stunned me is how we are told every day about the countless ecological crimes committed by Chinese industries, yet I had never heard about the atrocities (perhaps that is a bit too melodramatic) that occurred in the Science Park. The large-scale use of female workers also struck me as being morally wrong, as well as shocking, for very similar reasons. I had previously considered the use of female and immigrant workers on a large scale to be problems associated with far-off countries, such as shady businesses along the U.S. - Mexican border, I had never thought about it as being so close to home.
To be honest I cannot really provide a detailed analysis at the moment because I am still in the process of coming to terms with these revelations myself. The article really hammers home the fact that the problems of far away countries may not be quite as distant as they seem...
Aled
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