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Transcendentalist Reputation

The Transcendentalists were not, and still are not often taken very seriously. During their time this was because of their disaffiliation with the church, today it is because of their alignment with the “hippie” stereotype. Today, the view of Transcendentalism has become so muddled by time that is has been even been thought to be a branch of atheism. This misconception is a result of a misunderstanding wherein the Transcendentalists were publically against the church and its corruption; most specifically pertaining to the views of the Unitarian Church. They advocated instead for a view of religion that saw God as a sentience that was primarily within, as well as around and above every living thing. What is widely taken as the primary doctrine of transcendentalism is the concept of a universal Over-Soul. This Over-Soul, from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay of the same name, is God, and is viewed as the connection between all things. God and the Over-Soul display this connection throu...
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Environmental Responsibility After Life

The environmentally degrading effects of supporting the 7 billion people that this planet is home to have been widely studied. Not only are the resources needed to sustain present human life becoming scarce and hard to come by, but the human degradation of the environment is magnified to detrimental levels. However, this is only half of the problem. The overpopulation issue is one that our society will always be handling the ramifications of; the problem will not go away as the third-world develops or the baby boomer generation dies. In the U.S. alone, more than 76 million people are projected to reach the average life expectancy by 2042 . The resources needed to support and the environmental consequences of supporting the dead are arguably comparable to that of the living. Modern day traditional funeral practices have many environmentally impactful aspects. Land use and deforestation for cemeteries and burial grounds are of a significant level of concern. Natural places are being al...
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Indigenous Peoples' Economic Exploitation in Farming Practices

Based off the documentary film Black Gold The film “Black Gold” is a documentary following the people involved in the trade of coffee. This includes the CEOs of corporations, managers of franchises, wholesalers, and stock brokers. Not to mention the most important and also most overlooked producers; the third-world farmers that are the source of the coffee trade. A sad but obvious truth regarding environmental principles is that those in third-world developing countries are dealt the short end of the stick when it comes to environmental cleanliness. The same apparently reigns true in the realm of economics. Though those peoples that farm the coffee beans themselves are inarguably the most important players in the coffee trade game, they are those who reap the least reward of the immense profit that the market generates (coffee is the second most traded commodity in the stock market). The coffee prices (those that were used as an example and basis for the film) are determined by the ...
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From Nature to Creation

In his book, From Nature to Creation, Norman  Wirzba argues that one must learn to live and see the world in a similar way that God does as its creator: “as good and beautiful, and as worthy of being cherished and celebrated”. He then explicitly outlines the starting point for doing this as “developing an imagination for the world as created, sustained, and daily loved by God.” This may be done by expressing the qualities that God ebodies and imposing them upon the world and God’s creatures residing in it. This involves humility and sympathy; having a pathetic (invoking pathos) relationship with knowledge. It involves honesty, attentiveness, and patience with the complexity of the world. It involves selflessness to not exploit the world in any degree as an expendable commodity. Most importantly, Wirzba says, is love. “We cannot properly know or live in the world if we do not share in the divine love that brings it into being and that sustains it and leads it into its perfection.” ...
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Carbon Tax

Based off the article "How Carbon Tax Works" by Sarah Dowdy There are two primary methods that are advertised as an economic way to reduce carbon emissions. The first is cap and trade, which is currently put in place to regulate sulfur dioxide emissions. In this method, an overall cap is put on the amount of emissions that are allowed, and industries may buy and sell emission allowances. The second method is the carbon tax. The carbon tax puts a price on the carbon itself. The tax may be applied at the level of the consumer, the producer, or the manufacturer. Places that have implemented a carbon tax have done so at the level of the consumer. My problem with this is that it is not adequately addressing the issue of pollution because it is not directly attacking the source. Consumers in an area where a carbon tax is being administered may not have a choice but to live in that area that may not have access to clean energy. The increased price of energy to the individual consum...
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Limits to Growth

Based off the essay "Limits to Growth" by Donella and Dennis Meadows In Limits to Growth, the central point of discussion is the lack of arable land. This relates to the fact that they view the primary issue with a large and increasing global population as the scarcity of food that will come with trying to feed them. This is widely accepted as the main concern of overpopulation. However, they neglect to mention the fact that overpopulation is an issue because of a worldwide lack of resources, that is, not only food. They mention briefly at the end of the excerpt about the increasing need for fresh water. There is also the need for fresh air. Both fresh water and fresh air will become less plentiful resources as the population nears carrying capacity, due largely in part to the fact that the globe is compensating for the excess population by trying to produce more food, and polluting the air and water resources in the process.
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Population Bomb

Based of Paul Elrich's essay, "The Population Bomb" In Erlich’s Population Bomb, possible “solutions” to the population problem are introduced. These solutions (which Erlich makes a point to note were suggested by not him, but his colleagues), were what most rational people would consider extreme. In any discussion about population control, “extreme” measures must be considered. The degree of extremity is often exaggerated due to the fact that human lives are being essentially bargained for; any solution that is proposed will be considered harsh because the entire point is to lead to an overall decrease in the human population. There are two categories of solutions; prezygotic and postzygotic. Prezygotic measures are less extreme, and decrease the population growth rate by decreasing the birth rate. One such measure discussed in the reading is introducing a chemical into the water system that would lead to sterility. The book also suggests a postzygotic measure (involv...
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