Purpose:
The purpose of this video is to show how Capitalism is the most powerful organizing force when it comes to the flow of people, resources and information. In this video, we show how our view of nature has been transformed by capitalism. We show that when things in nature like forests and wildlife get caught in economic development, they turn into woods and livestock. This information can be found in our book in chapter 6 on pages 74 and 78-81.
Rational:
When we started this project, we tried to figure out a good way to show how capitalism has changed the way we see nature. We start this video off with showing nature before and after economical development gets to it. The first set of pictures to be shown is forests turning into woods for logging. We then move on to pictures of cattle and how they go from living in the wild or free roaming to being penned up in buildings to control how they mature and grow to certain ages and weights for the greatest economic gain. The next few slides show rivers being dammed up to be used for hydroelectric power sources and mountains being mined for their coal deposits. Both of these depictions show how we use nature for energy purposes, but as a tradeoff, we scar the land and destroy habitats for animals and plants.
We then transition into further description of each depiction about how capitalism changes our perspective of nature. There are many reasons for why each product of nature is used and, in turn, destroyed for profits. Hydroelectric power, although destroys rivers and land around the rivers, provides hundreds of thousands of people with electricity to run their homes and businesses. Mountaintop mining, although literally taking the tops off mountains and destroying habitat for animals and plants, provides coal which provides electricity to millions of people every day. Livestock has been domesticated in the fact that we control how much they eat, when they eat, where they can walk or if they can walk around at all. Every part of these animals life is controlled by farmers. They even have a specific time when the animal should be butchered to sell for food. All of this is controlled by the economic value for the animal. We also say a few things about genetic engineering and how that has changed growing crops. We mention about how genetic engineering allows us to create crops that are more resistant to disease and ones that can grow in more unfavorable climates and conditions.
Our goal for this video was not to be for or against any one specific topic, it was to inform the viewer about how capitalism uses its power to change and transform nature to be used for economic growth. This, in turn, transforms our understanding of what we thought nature to be. From untouched mountain and river regions where people go to seek refuge from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, our views have been changed by what we see everyday where developments where we live are built on those once untouched places.
Compare/Contrast:
1) We used the thoughts from the mountaintop removal debate in class to talk about how it affects landscapes and habitats from that area and how it is beneficial for providing electricity from coal for millions of people.
2) We used some information from the book about how cattle are raised. This tells about what specific tactics are used to raise cattle and why they do it the way they do. Things like keeping them penned up to limit the amount of exercise they get so they don’t lose a lot of weight that the farmer wants them to gain.
3) We mention a little bit about genetic engineering and how we create crops that can withstand disease. The crops that are being genetically engineered are the ones that are in the highest demand.
4) We used a little bit on land conservation with the mountaintop removal on how those sites can undergo reclamation and be used to build houses or buildings for shopping centers or other businesses.
5) From the debate on animal rights, we tied in the points they made on how the animals are being treated when raised. A point that was made was that some places have the cattle penned up while other places let the cattle roam free.
Sources:
1) "Clearcutting." Lewis & Clark, Portland, Oregon USA. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
This article tells about logging and how it is being used to create products for everyday use but how it destroys the forests and landscape around the British Columbia area.
2) "The Ecology of Dams." The Effects of Dams. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
This article describes how when dams are built, they are used for different purposes like for irrigation or hydroelectric power. It also tells us how these dams disturb and destroy the life and ecosystem from the river so we can use the water for economic use.
3) "Livestock farming -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
This article tells a little bit about how different kinds of livestock are raised. They talk about raising pigs, cattle and chickens, all of which we used in our video. It describes the livestock’s life from birth, how and what they are fed, and how they keep them on the farm, whether they are free grazing or usually penned up in a building.
4) "Reduced Impact Logging." Rainforests. Web. 12 Nov. 2009.
This article is about more logging, but this says that instead of just tearing the forests down, they are also replanting trees that they cut down for paper or other product use. With new technologies, the paper companies are using the wood pulp more effectively and efficiently to use as much of the wood product as possible.
5) "What Is Mountaintop Removal?" Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
This article describes what mountaintop removal is and what it does to the ecosystem and environment around it. It explains how it destroys the mountains and can be costly for people living around the area in that it can destroy homes and ways of life.
6) Hull, R. Bruce. Infinite nature. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2006. Print.
We used the book to find some background information and to get started with our video.
