Is Trade Really Free?

I was really inspired and delighted by the trip to Goshen and getting the chance to meet and talk with some wonderful people. Kudos and a big Thank-you for taking time out of their presumably busy schedule to talk to a bunch of students. I was really interested the fair trade talk. I must admit I was not totally abreast on the meaning of the word in it's entirety. It is funny how things are expressed differently in the city and I come here and there is an official word for just paying people what they are worth for the product in which they create. I was really interested in this talk on fair trade because for those who do not know I went to the Bahamas for Christmas, yes I had to say it again; however in light of our family vacation, my husband and I have been toying around with the idea of buying a home there to retire or possibly live there in the winters and spend our summers here in the states. This has been going on for the past 11 years in which we have visited. Did I say all this to give you insights to our visions and goals, quite the contrary! This particular visit, we made some monumental movements and steps towards really exploring this option. We sought out Realtors and car rental and traveled by bus throughout the island leaving the tourist part. Even as I write this I am really disheartened at some of the things in which we found. Once you leave Free port (tourist) and travel into the native settlements there is a really different landscape. I noticed that natives were walking and riding the bus for miles to set up these shops in order to sell their merchandise. The sense of oppression I saw has me repressing depression because it reminds me of slavery. It really hurt me to go to the grocery store and spend $10 for a gallon of milk because it is imported from the US and then taxed knowing if I was having reservations with paying it in the words of a native "how do you think we feel"? As a result of this whole EE introduction, I literally cried seeing the devastation of the island in the native settlements where they were clear cutting and degrading the land to make the tourist part look good. I found out that there is no plan for recycling, and green initiatives have yet to reach Free port ie trash. I wrestled with a feeling of helplessness realizing that yes I went there for fun and pleasure, yet there are people who live there and are suffering for my pleasure. Tourism is the number economic push followed by imports primarily of concrete. It is something when you look at the vast array of American business which have set up shop and then are really exploiting the natives because they can not afford to live in their own land, are working for these companies but are struggling. I agree with Myron when he referred to the economic dance requires that a decent wage for decent work in order to make a decent living.

Toxic Times

Growing up in a farming community that utilizes mass quantities of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and various other -icides, when one actually takes the time to think about all aspects of the sprays and chemicals, aside from the advertised benefits for crop yield, there are many scary side effects that could and are happening from their usage. It is true that one application of Roundup may be beneficial for one farmer on a 40 acre field, but what about the other miscellaneous additives that are used on surrounding fields and the run-off that mixes them all together. Many citizens don't think about the long term ramifications of these harmful substances conglomerating underneath the surface, filtering into our drinking water. Agriculture in and of itself isn't bad; it is needed to sustain the tons of food that must be manufactured for our world. On the other hand, the synthetic chemicals and sprays that are utilized to reach new heights in crop production and yield should be thoroughly tested before allowed to be spread across vast acres of prime real estate. Obviously there are multiple other forms of toxic contaminants being infiltrated into the soil and air from other sources, and I cannot merely point the blame finger at other individuals. Each and every person has his/her impact on the planet, but there are sources of toxic chemcials that are blowing/leaking/pouring these harmful substances into the atmosphere, the soil, and the water that should look a little farther into the future and decide what kind of world they want to leave behind for their children.

Fish Kill Discussion -
As a Native American attending the town meeting, I would first of all consider it an honor to even be able to speak my opinion, especially since my tribe is considered a minority, though generations ago we were the first inhabitants before the white people made us move to the reservation. The fact that the owner of the paper mill was willing to made amends for the chlorine spill that killed vast amounts of our staple food source was surprising and reassuring. Other tribes throughout the area have not been as lucky. The treaty we signed with the white people six generations ago assured us that we could still fish in the river for our food sources, as well as our traditional ceremonies honoring the fish and the spirits that continually bring us our means of survival. As the years have progressed and the white people have become more dominant, the fish supply has significantly dwindled. Sometimes the fish taste a little different than they should, and some of our tribe have become sick, but this has only lasted for a little while. Now, with the fish kill, we are concerned that another kill of this magnitude could potentially threaten the very existence of our tribe. What would be do or where would we go if the fish become so contaminated that we cannot fish anymore? Much discussion, sitting around a campfire, smoking a peace pipe, and eating fish from the river with the white business people may make them more inclined to see things our way; the way of the world before we knew what chlorine and toxic substances were.

toxicology

Oh toxicology, what memories! I can remember my laboratories in university applying different doses of chemicals to plants to see determine what level of exposure would be toxic and which would not. Quite fun, most of the time. It also reminded me of conducting risk assessments for sites that were so contaminated that there is no feasible way to clean it up. That was depressing.
Some of the most frustrating things that I found while working, in essence, with toxicology and with the readings was not necessarily the science. Scientists are trying to determine what is a safe exposure, because we have learned over the years that chemicals are quite dangerous. What really annoys me is that we continuously find new chemicals to replace the old dangerous ones and that we assume that they are safe after 10 years of tests and then begin using the new "safe" ones excessively. We brag about how great they are and then are shocked 20 years later to learn that they are not as wonderfully great. Will we ever learn? One of the most disheartening parts of my former job was also the economic side of it. Being a little bit of an environmentalist I wanted to clean up the contaminants immediately. I hated to wait for the time when the client was willing to pay for the clean up (mainly when the ministry was starting to breathe down their necks). It seemed like everyone recognised that the contamination was bad...but spending the money to clean it up was worse.
FISH KILL/TOWN HALL ROLE PLAYING
I think every mayor would have loved to have a town hall meeting like we did. Everyone was so civil, willing to listen, and our industry owner responsible for the spill was unbelievably willing to take responsibility and assist with compensation for loss of income.
Looking back, I think that I would have been supported to start imposing stricter environmental regulations on the industry, and therefore all industry in the town. There did not seem to be any disagreement from the pulp and paper mill owner or the chamber of commerce. We could have become the environmental leaders of the world!
Unfortunately, I do not believe all mayors are that lucky. Court cases that I have read suggest otherwise. I can understand the fine line that all mayors have to walk and do not envy them. Obviously they need to look after the health of their community: economic, social, and physical health. However, what everyone notices the most is the economic health, in other words the economic health is the most visible the quickest. Therefore, politicians are, in some ways, forced to focus primarily on that. And if they want to do something good for their community, they need to follow that system. As much as I complain about the current Prime Minister, I do think that he believes he is doing something good for Canada and that if he does focus on environmental concerns he is going to lose the economic powerhouses of Canada and completely ruin the country. I think it is short-sighted, but that is what most people notice and if he wants to be re-elected he has to focus on the short-term, noticeable health indicators: economics. I do not envy any politician their job.

Blog about Class and the Fish Kill

I was pretty pleased with our short discussion on the fish kill. I thought it was a challenge being the preacher because I want to be able to empathize with everyone, but also be able to let the public know what is right. What is right is the paper company getting rid of their harmful ways, paying for clean up, and bettering the community around them. I thought I would suggest maybe some classes and youth groups being able to visit and learn about the problems of environmental degradation, but that was sort of mentioned in the discussion. I think we should have a debate though with people switching their characters around too! Great class today!

origins of cap and trade?

First of all, I love the trip to Goshen today - thanks grad profs for arranging all those very interesting meetings! It was great to hear all of the different perspectives and what different people with different careers can do to help the community and the environment. I thought the most interesting part of the discussions we had was listening to how very practical and by the books the mayor had to speak. Every time he was asked about vision A, for example, he answered with practical aspects only of what would have to happen to reach vision A. We read so much theory (and utopian theory at that!) it is a nice change to have a conversation about how the visions of these visionaries come to play in a city the size of Goshen.

I also thought it was great that Myron is doing so much to support fair trade for his business. The roast-his-own coffee idea was great! It's super to see local business owners doing unconventional things like that. Although, his answer to Maddie's question that food bought locally is technically fair trade because it was purchased in the United States where we presumably have laws to protect the workers was a bit questionable... one has to do a lot of research in this country to find out if they are buying supplies from companies who pays migrant workers in cash and gives them no benefits or protection and treat them very poorly. There are a lot of companies who abuse the availability of cheap, disposable labor in this country.

The readings for last night were great! I loved reading about the Pigou and Coase theory-- sounds like the beginnings of Cap & Trade to me! I found it interesting that the reading mentions that Pigou and Coases's environmental economic theories are often criticized because there were problems with the practical applications of them (in Europe, for example). Cap and Trade has been tried and there are clear problems (like Annie Leonard says in the Story of Cap and Trade), but does the United States examine these problems and learn from them? It doesn't seem that way... I don't know how much the plan was tailored to work better than the already failed cap & trade policies in Europe. This is something I'd like to know more about.

Also, the Buddhist economic plan is wonderful. Imagine a world where we practiced "economics as if people mattered..." (Steiguer, p177). It seems that Ten Thousand Villages are practicing these kinds of economics. And Electric Brew as well. Also, Rachel's Bread in Goshen is quite people conscious! I hope this idea spreads....

Quite a hopeful day!

natural primer reading

i really liked the Natural Primer reading (not in small part due to the fact that economics is doesnt make sense). the idea of using backcasting, instead of forecasting, is something i have always wondered why people dont just do. looking into the past to guide you into the future can only go so far before it becomes useless. just because something didnt work before doesnt mean it wont work now, and conversely, just because something did work before doesnt mean it will work again. forecasting seems to be seeing a problem and looking at previous solutions to follow again without giving much thought to where we'll end up. it just seems to me that if the problem is similar enough that you can compare possible solutions chances are if you have the same problem again the same solution will not fix it permanently. but if we look forward to where we want to end up our chances of coming up with an appropriate solution are much better.

i always love reading about how things are connected. how doing something in one place affects what happens somewhere else. it makes me think back to what Fritjof Capra said "we cannot understand our problems in isolation." nor can we hope to fix our problems in isolation. if we try we only end up with a problem somewhere else.

Sustainable Development

The reading for Monday talks a lot about environmental justice again, and it brings in a lot of the realities of environmental economics, and how we as a westernized society are favoring a certain group of people while degrading our environment and injuring many people of this world who have to deal with our environmental selfishness. I like how Mr. Schumacher talks about Buddhist Economics because I think that this is a way that we can start working together to manage the resources that we have left, and work towards a sustainable future. I believe that we have to start doing something now by integrating our economy into this equation, and working towards a better set of ethics.

I like the article called Natural Step Primer a lot because it talks about sustainable development, and I think that that they really hit the nail on the head here with what we need to do for the future. They define sustainable development in the article as being “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This reminds me of the Seventh Generation company that holds its philosophy in preserving the Earth for seven generations to come. This is the way that we need to run our economy.

They also mention in this article the problems we are having because we are not being sustainable and that we all have the same fate because of our lack of awareness and action towards taking care of our environment. There are going to be drastic changes that come because of our limited fossil fuel resources, but I do not want to get to that point. I want to start now and fix some of the problems that we have created, so that my children and grandchildren will not ask me why I got to experience such beauty in the natural world and they did not. I am willing to give up things that I personally enjoy such as decreasing the length of my showers and their frequency, because water is going to become a huge problem of the future. I will be willing to give up my car, because it is not a "right" in my opinion. I think a lot of people feel that they are entitled to things, and this runs on our materialistic culture as they discussed in the economics section. We are going to have to eliminate this, and learn to work together as Mr. Schumacher mentions in his Buddhist Economics theme, or things are just going to continue to get worse.