Hartmann+Exam+-+First+Half



Thomas Hartmann Sustainability Problems Exam - First Half


 * 1.) Identify ways that corporations are a sustainability problem; referencing at least four examples from films you watched this semester.**

The first way that corporations are a sustainability problem is because their single and ultimate goal is for profit. //The Corporation// describes how corporations are legally bound to make their stock holders a profit, regardless of the consequences. For example, corporations do not take into account externalities such as pollution and greenhouse gas emissions when making decisions. As a result, corporations have no regard for sustainability and environmental protection because there is no economic benefit to it.

Corporations are also a sustainability problem because they harm everything from workers, consumers, animals, and the environment. For example, //The Corporation// described how many workers that are employed in factors for large corporations must deal with layoffs, long hours, low pay, and dangerous work conditions, which includes exposure to dangerous substances. Further, corporations often sell products that are dangerous to humans and the environment, which may result in health problems such as birth defects and cancer.

//The Corporation// also describes how corporations fit the description of a psychopath, which makes it impossible for them to be environmentally sustainable and caring for human health. For example, Monsanto did not show concern for human health and environmental protection and refused to admit guilt when it produced rBGH (Bovine Growth Hormone), which was found to cause infections and contaminated milk, and Agent Orange, which was used to deforest large areas of land during the Vietnam War and caused serious long and short term health problems to those exposed to the chemical. Even when corporations admit dangers, they trivialize the risks, which dangerously skews public perception.

Finally, corporations have too much influence on both politicians and consumers. For example, corporations often do the research that is required to establish regulations, which results in weak regulations. With regards to consumers, //The Persuaders// shows the surprising extent to which advertisements by corporations can influence the way we think and convince us to buy their products. For example, Apple has essentially created a cult of followers that are loyal beyond reason.


 * 2.) Describe how science can be a sustainability problem; referencing at least four examples from films you watched this semester.**

Although science is certainly part of the solution to sustainability, it is also the source of many sustainability problems. For example, many new technologies use a significant amount of energy, which contributes significantly to global warming. For example, while vehicles and aircraft make it easy to travel large distances, the amount of fossil fuels that they consume and the amount of pollution and greenhouse gases that they emit are an environmental problem. //Do the Math// describes how the growth of our economy, which is enabled in part by scientific and technological progress, is causing more carbon dioxide to be emitted than the earth can handle.

Similarly, science has allowed us to extract too much fossil fuel from the earth too quickly. For example, hydraulic fracturing, horizontal and deep water drilling, and extraction fo oil from the tar sands of Canada and Alaska are new technologies that are both sustainability problems in themselves and enable constantly increasing fossil fuel consumption, which is also a sustainability problem. As a result, almost all aspects of life today involve the use of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. //Do the Math// describes how science could allow us to extract enough fossil fuel to emit 2,795GT of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is many times the maximum amount suggested by scientists.

Science has also contributed to the sustainability problem of overfishing, which is drawn out in //The End of the Line//. With scientific fishing techniques such as bottom trawling, fish detectors, specialized nets and hooks, and oversized fleets of fishing vessels, it has become too easy for humans to overfish.

Further, science has developed all of the chemicals that are used daily such as fertilizers, pesticides, radioactive materials, hormones, and other toxins. //Homo Toxicus// describes how this has resulted in many unexpected human health consequences, such as a weakened immune system, cancer, and asthma. Further, the use of the chemicals can lead to dependence on them. For example, the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and antibiotics often leads to resistant versions of these pests.


 * 3.) Describe ways that mainstream media is a sustainability problem; referencing at least four examples from films you watched this semester.**

Mainstream media is a sustainability problem in the biased information that it often conveys and in the advertisements that it presents to potential consumers. Critical media literacy is a skill that most people do not have, which makes it easy for corporations to influence the message presented by media without the general population realizing the truth. This idea is drawn out in //The Corporation//. Because the ultimate goal of corporations is to make a profit, they will go to any extreme, including misleading advertising, in order to maximize profit.

//The Persuaders// extensively describes some of the techniques that advertisers use to convince consumers to consume more. For example, the film explains Clotaire Rapaille’s idea that markets focus on reaching the reptile mind inside of use because it is what ultimately determines whether or not we will buy a product.

A second example from //The Persuaders// is the very careful, almost manipulative, word choice in advertisements that persuade us to think of a specific idea and that will eventually lead to greater consumption of a specific product. This constant promotion of overconsumption leads to sustainability problems such as the depletion of natural resources and pollution.

The problem of overconsumption is also described in //What Would Jesus Buy?// For example, the film describes how advertisers in the media take advantage of the guilt that parents feel if they do not buy gifts for their children. Also, the film describes how the idea created by the media of “keeping up with the Jones’s” only strengthens the urge that people have to keep up with people who are wealthier by consuming more.


 * 4.) Describe how the advertising industry is a sustainability problem. Discuss the environmental implications of “communication for commerce,” the effort to create emotional connections between consumers, commodities, and companies, and the cultivation of “loyalty beyond reason” (//The Persuaders//). Also discuss whether sustainability advocates should borrow techniques from the advertising industry to advance their message.**

The advertising industry is a sustainability problem primarily because it promotes overconsumption. Advertisers always promote ideas such as more is better, bigger is better, and faster is better, which almost always results the consumption of less sustainable and more environmentally damaging products. For example, this includes larger trucks, SUV’s, and Hummers and larger televisions that require more resources to produce, consume more energy, and produce more waste after they are used. Further, because many people are beginning to ignore advertisements or avoid them altogether, advertisers are going to further and further extremes to get their message across by weaving them into all aspects of life.

The idea of “communication for commerce”, which takes ideas such as emotional connection with products or companies and loyalty beyond reason is linked to environmental problems through the changes in consumer behavior that it causes. For example, the emotional connections that advertisers attempt to create contribute to misconceptions about what a product is. For example, //The Persuaders// uses Volkswagen owners to show how cult-like following of a product tends to give people a narrow view of what a product is that does not include ideas such as the fuel efficiency, safety, or longevity of the product. Further, the idea of loyalty beyond reason only strengthens the attitude-behavior split in humans, which makes it more difficult for people to do the sustainable or environmentally friendly thing in addition to knowing that it is the right thing to do. Loyalty beyond reason also creates the idea in people’s minds that they need rather than want a certain product, which increases consumption and removes all other considerations such as sustainability and the environment.

If the techniques used by the advertising industry to increase the consumption of their products are so bad, should sustainability advocates also use them? One argument is that sustainability advocates must take advantage of these techniques because otherwise, it would be impossible for them to successfully get their message across and influence a large enough audience to make significant progress towards sustainability. Although these techniques are sustainability problems when applied to consumers and products, they are sustainability catalysts when applied to citizens and sustainability problems.


 * 5.) Discuss how Internet communication and other forms of new media are sustainability problems, as well as a means to sustainability solutions.**

Internet communication and other forms of new media are both sustainability problems and ways to become more sustainable. On one hand, the internet makes it significantly more convenient for consumers to shop for products. This increased convenience, which is essential in society today, increases the likelihood that someone will buy a product that they do not need and would have otherwise not bought or that someone will buy more of a product that they need. Further, the internet makes many more products available to consumers, which further increases consumption.

The internet has also caused people to become addicted to things such as portable electronics, social media, browsing the internet, and computer games. Not only can these addictions be harmful to human health, but it also increases electricity consumption and electronic waste. For example, the number of smart phones and tablets that are lost or thrown away is incredible. Further, the internet has led to the spread of electronic currency, which is obtained from “mining”. A very large amount of electricity is required to “mine” for this electronic currency, which is essentially a waste of energy.

On the other hand, the power of the internet to spread ideas and to transmit information with very little energy is part of the solution to sustainability problems. For example, social media spread ideas more quickly and reach a wider audience than traditional forms of media such as newspaper and television can. It also eliminates the need for media companies to act as a middleman in transferring information from its source to an audience by allowing the sources of information to communicate directly with the public.

Further, the internet reduces the need for physical items such as paper and vehicles for transportation. Documents, transactions, and shopping can occur online. This reduces the need for paper, which helps to reduce deforestation. It also reduces the transportation required for people travel to and from a store, which both reduces fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.