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Part One
“Civilized to Death—Animated book summary” (video, 11 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGV6zJoaf60Links to an external site.
“We and the ancient Mayans share the same environmental concerns”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/dec/20/ancient-mayans-environmental-concerns-apocalypseLinks to an external site.
“China: Its environment and history”
https://www.neh.gov/divisions/research/featured-project/china-its-environment-and-historyLinks to an external site.
“European deforestation: History and consequences”
https://climatetransform.com/european-deforestation-history-causes-countries/Links to an external site.
“Native Americans barely had any impact on the environment for 14,000 years, then the Europeans arrived”
https://www.newsweek.com/native-americans-impact-landscape-europeans-1483235Links to an external site.
“How colonialism spawned and continues to exacerbate the climate crisis”
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/09/21/how-colonialism-spawned-and-continues-to-exacerbate-the-climate-crisis/Links to an external site.
Part Two
GPCC, Part One, “Introduction: The Consumer, the Laborer, the Capitalist, and the Nation-State in the Society of Perpetual Growth”
Part Three
“Commodification” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/commodificationLinks to an external site.
“The story of water” (video, 4 minutes) https://storyofstuff.org/movies/the-story-of-water/Links to an external site.
“How the commodification of water for profit fuels a global crisis”
https://www.theinertia.com/environment/how-the-commodification-of-water-for-profit-fuels-a-global-crisis/Links to an external site.
“A critique of market-based medicine”
https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/50015/a-critique-of-market-based-medicine/Links to an external site.
“The commodification of the wellness industry”
https://jezebel.com/the-commodification-of-the-wellness-industry-1848179889Links to an external site.
“Right to food” http://www.righttofood.org/work-of-jean-ziegler-at-the-un/what-is-the-right-to-food/ Links to an external site.
“Housing is a human right, not just a commodity”
https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2019/03/housing-human-right-not-just-commodityLinks to an external site.
Discussion post – answer the discussion question with in-text citations of sources.
Part One
What is a “commodity” and what is “commodification”? Describe an intangible commodity (such as an idea, writing/literature, music, A.I.) and how it became a commodity. Describe the tangible commodity water as an example of commodification and its environmental and social repercussions, as conceptualized in “The Story of Stuff” and discussed in this week’s “water” assignments.
NOTE: For our course, a “commodity” is anything tangible (physical) or intangible (not physical, such as an idea) that’s intended to be sold for a profit. It may be gathered or hunted or bred (past tense of breeding) extracted or processed/manufactured or invented/created (including intellectually only, such as an idea) or performed or rendered as a service (whether tangible or intangible such as consultation, counseling, teaching, coaching).
“Commodification”: the process of converting anything tangible or intangible that previously wasn’t intended for profitable sale into something that’s now intended for profitable sale; or creating something new, whether tangible or intangible, that’s intended for profitable sale.
All that counts is the intention to sell something tangible or intangible for a profit.
For example: Should food, shelter, healthcare, and education be commodities or not (entitlements/human rights)?
What are the critiques of healthcare (including “wellness”), food, and housing as commodities?
Part Two
What is the critique of GDP (or GNP)?
How does the critique of GDP pertain to last week’s “The Story of stuff”; “The Litter Myth”; and “Affluenza”; as well as this week’s assigned textbook chapter?
What are the component indicators of the GPI? How is GPI arguably a better alternative to GDP (or GNP) as the measure of progress?
Part Three
Why should we not overlook the environmental degradation that began much before the advent of capitalism, yet how has environmental degradation changed with the beginnings, consolidation, and transformations of global capitalism? What lessons might we learn from that comparison?
According to GPCC, what is the “culture of capitalism”; what are its components; and how is the culture of capitalism a “society of perpetual growth”?
How does the “society of perpetual growth” compare to the ideas expressed in “Civilized to death?” How are our answers to that question shaped by the fact that we ourselves—our lives, consciousness, identities, values, aspirations, and more—are molded by our existence within the culture of capitalism? What lessons might we learn from that comparison?
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