Basic Environmental Orientation

YOUTH FOR EARTH ALLIANCE

Environment

Overview

• Review of Story of Stuff Concepts• Basic Environmental Principles• Development of Human Societies• Current system in Crisis• Different kinds of Environmentalism• The correct environmental Principle

Review of Story of Stuff Concepts

• materials economy = extraction to production to distribution to consumption to disposal.

• system in crisis = linear system and we live on a finite planet and you can not run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely

• People live and work all along this system. And some people in this system matter a little more than others; some have a little more say.

• Government and Corporation

• extraction = natural resource exploitation = trashing the planet.

• If everybody consumed at U.S. rates, we would need 3 to 5 planets.

• So, my country’s response to this limitation is simply to go take someone else’s! This is the Third World, which—some would say—is another word for our stuff that somehow got on someone else’s land.

• And what about the people who live here? Well. According to these guys, they don’t own these resources even if they’ve been living there for generations, they don’t own the means of production and they’re not buying a lot of stuff. And in this system, if you don’t own or buy a lot of stuff, you don’t have value.

Extraction

• “production“ = we use energy to mix toxic chemicals in with the natural resources to make toxic contaminated products

• one of the “beauties” of this system = the erosion of local environments and economies here ensures a constant supply of people with no other option. Globally 200,000 people a day are moving from environments that have sustained them for generations, into cities many to live in slums, looking for work, no matter how toxic that work may be. So, you see, it is not just resources that are wasted along this system, but people too. Whole communities get wasted

• Move the dirty factories overseas. Pollute someone else’s land!

Production

• Production = “selling all this toxic contaminated junk as quickly as possible.” The goal here is to keep the prices down, keep the people buying and keep the inventory moving

• externalizing the costs = real costs of making stuff aren’t captured in the price

• So, who did pay? People in the third world and poor communities = paid with the loss of their natural resource base. These people paid with the loss of their clean air, with increasing asthma and cancer rates, etc

Distribution

• golden arrow of consumption = heart of the system, the engine that drives it. It is so important [to propping up this whole flawed system] that protecting this arrow is a top priority for both corporation and government

• Our primary identity has become that of consumer, keep the materials flowing = designed

• “The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.”

• Planned obsolescence is another word for “designed for the dump.”

• Perceived obsolescence convinces us to throw away stuff that is still perfectly useful.

ConsumptionDisposal

Batayang Prinsipyong Pangkapaligiran

Ang tao ang sentral na usapin at pinakamahalagang bahagi ng kalikasan.

• Ang lahat ng bagay ay magkakaugnay

• Tao ay di hiwalay kundi bahagi ng kalikasan

• Batay sa pangangailangan ang relasyon ng tao sa kalikasan

• Taglay ng tao ang kamulatan at kakayahan na pagsilbihin ang kalikasan sa kanyang pangangailangan at na pangalagaan o sirain ito.

• Malaking responsibilidad ang nakaatang sa tao

Ang tao ay walang humpay na nakikipagtunggali o nakikipag-ugnayan sa kapaligiran

• Ito ay nakabatay sa patuloy na paggamit ng tao sa kalikasan – sa kanyang pagkuha ng kanyang pangangailangan

Ang relasyon ng tao sa tao ang nagtatakda sa relasyon ng tao sa kalikasan

• Paigting na pagsasamantala ng mga uring nasa itaas sa mga uring nasa ibaba = paigting na pagsasamantala ng uring nasa itaas sa kalikasan

• Makikita ito sa kasaysayan ng pag-unlad ng lipunan at pagsulpot ng uri

oAlmost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.o1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricityoNearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their nameso1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitationoAccording to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty.oIn 2005, the wealthiest 20% of the world accounted for 76.6% of total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5%:oAbout 0.13% of the world’s population controlled 25% of the world’s financial assets in 2004.oFor every $1 in aid a developing country receives, over $25 is spent on debt repayment

Ang pag-unlad ng mga lipunan sa daigdig at

pagsulpot ng uri

Sistemang alipin

Primitibo komunal

Agricultural Societies

Industrial Society

Sistemang pyudal

Sistemang kapitalista

Hunting and Gathering

Primitibo Komunal

• walang uri• rekursong pangkalikasan ay

komon• Paggamit sa kalikasan batay

sa pangangailangan

Lipunang Alipin

• pumasok ang uri• nagkaroon ng pag-aari • umunlad ang produksyon• sa pagkakaroon ng mga alipin lalong lumakas

ang produksyon na naglikha ng labis na produktong inangkin ng mga hari/panginoon

• Relasyon ng panginoon sa alipin, nakabatay sa pagsasamantala sa alipin upang pagsilbihan ang interes ng panginoon

• Ganito na rin ang naging relasyon ng mga naghaharing uri sa kalikasan – bilang rekurso na magsisilbi sa kanyang interes

Lipunang Pyudal

• May uri: Malalaking panginoong may-ari ng malalawak na lupain sa itaas, malawak na magsasakang namumuwisan sa ibaba

• Nakabase sa agrikultura • Humusay ang produksyon at pamilihan• Nanatiling pagsasamantala sa uring nasa

ibaba ang namamayaning ugnayan ng mga uri upang pagsilbihan ang interes ng makapangyarihang uri

• Ganito rin ang namayaning ugnayan sa pagitan ng naghaharing uri sa kalikasan

Lipunang Kapitalista

• Lumaki ang pagitan ng mga uri• Lumawak ang produksyon hanggang

sa kasalukuyang yugtong monopolyo kapitalismo

• supertubo at sobra-sobrang produksyon ang tampok na katangian

• Maaksaya at madumi ang katangian ng produksyon. Nanatili sa iilan lamang ang kita o benepisyo ng produksyon, sa pamamagitan ng pinaliit na pasahod at sobra-sobrang produksyon.

• Sa ugnayan, pinaigting pa ang pagsasamantala ng makapangyarihang uri sa uring api at sa kalikasan.

Yugto ng Monopolyo Kapitalismo

The Goal of Corporate Capitalism:--to maximize short-term private financial profits

• To maximize means to make as large as possible.• Short-term usually means over the next financial quarter, the next

fiscal year, or at most the next few years.   Rarely is a time horizon of decades considered. 

• Private means personal, and often secret (as opposed to public, social, and open).

• Financial means measured in units of money, in terms of commercial value.

• Profits refers to the results or outcome sought.  Economic profits are what remain of revenues (or gross income) after all expenses are paid.  Hence, it is easily seen that profits can only be increased by expanding revenues or by decreasing expenses (or both).

Environmental Crisis

• Rapid destruction of the environment:

• Direct result of rapid, unchecked appropriation of resources for the benefit of a few.

environmentaldestruction

environment plunder

Capitalism as root cause of crisis Characteristics of capitalist

production Production for profit Anarchic Wasteful and pollutive Monopoly on production,

resources, capital Division of the world –market,

raw materials and war

Iba’t ibang Pananaw sa Suliraning Pangkapaligiran

IMF-WB, WTO, ADB, UN atbp banko at bansang kapitalista

sobrang populasyon ang sinisisi sa pagkasira ng kalikasan

Hipokritong pagkalinga ng kapitalistang bansa sa sariling likas-yaman habang sinisira nito ang likas-yaman ng mahihinang bansa

Iniiwas ang usapin sa tunay na isyung ang sobra-sobrang produksyon at konsumpsyon ng mayayamang bansa ang dahilan ng pagkasira ng kalikasan

Political parties, environmentalists, at kahalintulad na grupo Kakaunti ang rekursong natural

o likas-yaman

Isinusulong ang under-development bilang ideal para sa preserbasyon ng likas-yaman

Ecocentric

Pinalalabo ang hindi malusog na kondisyon at epekto ng pagka-atrasado, tulad ng kahirapan at pagiging bulnerable sa pagsasamantala ng mayayamang bansa

Militanteng repormista Pag-pressure sa kapitalistang

politiko sa pamamagitan ng civil disobedience at iba pang militanteng pamamaraan tungo sa reporma bilang solusyon sa suliraning pangkalikasan

Inililigaw ang isyu sa tunay na problema, na walang iba kundi ang matinding pagkagahaman ng kapitalistang bansa sa likas-yaman

Ecofeminists

Nagsusulong ng spiritual at feminist na ideya tungo sa pagbabagong aktitudo ng tao sa kalikasan

Nakatutok sa pagbabago ng aktitudo ng indibidwal at nakaiwas naman sa mga gawain ng kapitalistang bansa at multinationals

Racketeer na NGOs Ki-ni-criticize ang mga

gobyerno at malalaking neogsyante sa pagkasira ng kalikasan.

Sa kabilang banda ang kanilang ki-ni-criticize din ang kanilang nilalapitan upang hingan ng pondo

Pakunwari lamang ang kritisismo upang makahingi ng pondo

Repormistang neo-liberal Tugon sa isyung

pangkapaligiran ay pagmumulat sa mga politiko at pag-la-lobby para sa reporma tungo sa pangangalaga sa kalikasan

Inililigaw ang isyu sa tunay na problema – matinding pagkagahaman ng kapitalistang bansa sa likas-yaman

Ang tamang pagtinggin sa usaping

pangkapaligiran

Paano ba nagsimula na magkaroon ng interes ang tao na pangalagaan ang kalikasan?

Sa kalikasan nanggagaling ang pangangailangan ng tao at batay sa karanasan, nalaman niya ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa kalikasan na nagdudulot ng pakinabang at ang nagdudulot ng perwisyo

Nakita ng tao na patuloy na nga ang pagkasira ng kalikasan na tumampok sa pagpasok ng kapitalismo at monopolyo kapitalismo

Dekada 60, ipinasok

ng sistemang kapitalista

ang environmentalism

• Isyu sa environment ay usaping pang-ekonomiya at pampulitika

• Ang paninindigan para sa kalikasan ay paninindigan para sa inaaping malawak na mamamayan na pinagkakaitan ng patas na karapatan sa paggamit sa likas-yaman

• Ang pakikipaglaban para sa kalikasan ay pakikipaglaban para sa tunay na kaunlaran, sa kapakinabangan ng malawak na mamamayan

Sa madaling sabi, taglay nito ang sumusunod na katangian:

• Kontra monopolyo-kapitalismo• Makamamamayan• Progresibo at siyentipiko

System in crisis!• We should all recycle. But recycling is not enough.

Recycling will never be enough = it doesn’t get to the core of the problem

• But the good thing about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention.

• There are people working here on saving forests and here on clean production. People working on labor rights and fair trade and conscious consuming and blocking landfills and incinerators and, very importantly, on taking back our government so it is really is by the people for the people.

• All this work is critically important but things are really gonna start moving when we see the connections, when we see the big picture. When people along this system get united, we can reclaim and transform this linear system into something new, a system that doesn’t waste resources or people.

Some people say it’s unrealistic, idealistic, that it can’t happen. But I say the ones who are unrealistic are those that want to continue on the old path. That’s dreaming.Remember that old way didn’t just happen by itself. It’s not like gravity that we just gotta live with. People created it. And we’re people too. So let’s create something new.

Thank you.

The struggle for the environment is a struggle for the people.