My Ishmael: Blog Post #1

1. The first rule Ishmael has for identifying if someone is from your culture is whether or not your food is owned. He claims that if our food wasn't under lock and key that people would not work. His other rule is that people in your culture feel that their race is flawed and doomed to suffer. Do I agree? Yes I do. Why? Because we all live on the same planet - and whether we like it or not we all have to share it.

2. I agree with Ishmael when he says that humans expect certain things to be difficult. It doesn't puzzle or confuse or amaze them at all. Human's inherent flaw is not being able to overcome flaws. So no I don't agree with Ishmael because humans are not born without flaws, they are.

3. Ishmael's takers and leavers explanation is very relevant to American culture. The idea of all day labor to receive lock and key food originates from 1 small society a long time ago that spread it all around. Today in America we work all day to buy a surplus of food while hunter gatherers work a small portion of the day to receive just the food they needed to survive.

Sustainability in Society

I. What does it mean to live sustainably?

First I'd like to start with the dictionary's definition:

1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.
2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).
3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.
4. to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.
5. to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation.
6. to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life.
7. to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds.
8. to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval.
9. to uphold as valid, just, or correct, as a claim or the person making it: The judge sustained the lawyer's objection.
10. to confirm or corroborate, as a statement: Further investigation sustained my suspicions.
(Dictionary.com, "sustainable," in Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Source location: Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sustainable. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com. Accessed: February 23, 2009.)

What do I think it means? In terms of your lifestyle living sustainably can mean two things: environmentally healthy and balanced. For example you are living sustainably by reducing your impact on the environment. You can do this by recycling, driving less, etc. This is the more common interpretation. On the other hand I also think it can mean living a balanced life. balance exercise, family, friends, and fun! Once you can balance these things out (like not over doing one) you'll probably be pretty happy.


II. How much freedom and independence do you have as a 14-16 year old in our society?

I'm going to say not all that much. It actually varies by family: some can have very strict invasive parents who carefully monitor you while others may have parents who are much more careless and allow more freedom. The law in our country restricts a minor from participating in certain activities such as drinking, driving, drinking and driving, voting, smoking, gambling, etc.

III. As a 14-16 year old, how can you currently live your life more sustainably?

Well you can do the two different types of sustainability described above. Reduce your impact on the environment by throwing things in the blue bin instead of the black, riding your bike instead of being driven in a car, unplugging things, etc. You can also interpret it as balancing your life and reducing stress!