How, according to Ishamel, can we save the world? And according to you?

Ishmael says that, in order to save the world, we have to revert to the leaver culture. "You must spit out the fruit of that forbidden tree. You must absolutely and forever relinquish the idea that you know who should live and who should die on this planet." This means that we have to control our population, and allow evolution to continue. It is a huge thing to accomplish, and would take a revolution.

I agree with Ishmael on the end goal of the change. But the amount of change in the human thought process would have to be so immense, that it would take a revolution similar to the Enlightenment. Such revolutions have happened many times through human history, and have completely shaped the progress of the human race.

QQC #4

Quote: "Hunter-gatherers lead a very grim life."
Question: Why is it that we think that life would be so grim?
Comment: People see our luxuries of today and think that it would be impossible for anyone to live without them. However, in the book Hatchet, a boy survives for months and lives almost comfortably at times. I think that people are prejudiced towards the difficulty of that way of life, especially when they have never personally experienced it. Our possessions are not actually that essential to our life, and life goes on when you lose things.

QQC #3

Quote: "Certainly a lot of people all over the world have learned that it doesn't pay to mess with people with white faces."
Question: It is just the whites that are in taker culture?

While it seems that caucasians were the first to assimilate into taker culture, other peoples with darker skin were also becoming Takers. All around the world, the agricultural revolution was taking place. The Whites were mainly just the first to enact this culture, and the most famous. The mark of Cain can never be confirmed, because it is so vague in the Bible. Now, almost every culture on the planet is a taker culture, covering all races and ethnicities.

Interview

D = Dane
S = Interview Subject

D- So, our class has been assigned a project involving researching how to save the world. The classes have been divided into groups of four, and each group is responsible for researching a specific global issue. My group is studying the effects of over population. I would like to ask for your opinions on our issue, and the global status.
S- Okay.
D- How pressing of a problem do you think over population is?
S- Well, over population is essentially the root of all of our problems, isn’t it? If we had less people, we would have less trash, more space, and fewer mouths to feed. It is an important problem to rectify, but it will not be a fast of an easy solution.
D- What sort of solutions do you think there could be?
S- I don’t really know. Maybe governments could place value on having less children, and make birth control more accessible. But that would take generations to actually have an effect on the problem. Maybe we could live on mars. Since there is no immediate solution, we will all have to try to live frugally in order for the Earth to support our population.
D- Do you take steps to live that way?
S- Most of the time, I try to be environmentally conscious, but it isn’t easy to live a completely different lifestyle.
D- In what ways do you modify your lifestyle?
S- Well, I try not to use as much stuff. I recycle things when I can, and the things that I buy are usually organically grown or are made to be environmentally friendly. It’s not much more than the average person is doing these days.
D- Do you feel that the average person could be doing more?
S- Everybody could always do more. But the limit is what people want to do. I could give up all of my luxuries and eat only organic food with no packaging, and live off of the land. But people have adapted to living this way, so they will have to adapt to living any other way.
D- Okay, thanks for your time.
S- No problem.

QQC #2

Dane

Quote: "That's the premise for your story: The world was made for man."

Question: Does our culture actually say that the world was made for man?

Comment: I see what Ishmael is trying to say, but he had a pessimistic stereotype of our culture. Our culture is constantly fluctuating, and each person had his own perception of the modern culture. I myself have never believed that the Earth was made for humans. In fact, I believe just the opposite. In the Bible, it is stated that men are to be shepherds, or caretakers, of the Earth. Essentially, from my interpretation, this means that humans were made for the Earth. The Bible, our mythology, says that it is our purpose to care for the Earth, and ensure the well being of our environment, and so ourselves as well. As people stray from this command, their interpretations of it may also change. They could claim that, because we are the shepherds, the sheep are ours to do what we please. However, I do not believe that was the intent in the writing.

The Creation of Man

Dane

There are two parts to this issue: the creation of life, and the creation of man. First I will address the creation of life. When life came to be, man did not yet exist. This is proven by fossil records and the Bible as well. Life, as stated in the Bible, was created in an instant by God. Science says that, in the early years of Earth, after the crust had solidified, carbon, nitrogen, and other materials were fused into the first cell in some unknown but miraculous event. Both describe the same event. This cell multiplied, and over time, formed more and more complex organisms. Possibly guided by God, these cells formed the many different plants and animals by finding different ways that they were able to survive. Then is the creation of man, or more appropriately, the separation of man from the rest of the animal kingdom. The Bible tells the story of Adam and Eve. When they are created, Adam and Eve are carefree, innocent and naked. They are the same as the animals. Then, Eve eats from the tree of knowledge. Knowledge gives them consciousness of their bodies. It also allows them to perform acts of charity and also acts of sin. This symbolizes the difference between people and animals. Science supports this, through micro evolution. Micro evolution is a highly proven and accepted faction of the evolutionary theory that supports the evolution of a species to adapt to its environment. This is what changed the early, primate-like humans into modern, intelligent humans. This is also supported by fossil records.

QQC Ismael #1 - Dane

Question: What is the purpose of the sign above the gorilla?
Quote: "With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?"
Comment: The sign offers a question that is impossible to answer. It confuses the reader, because its meaning is unclear. This gets the reader thinking about the relationship between humans and animals, inciting a thought process that supports the message of the book.

Let them Eat Cake

Let Them Eat Cake
By: Dane Barland, John Gonzales, Alfonso Maytorena, and Priscilla Montes
Photography and edited with Photoshop

This photo depicts the darkest times of the French Revolution, with the peasants and sentry revolting against the nobility, and the nobility’s ignorance towards them. They are foolishly unaware of the death that awaits them as the peasants set them up for their own decapitation. The reason for this gruesome set? The unfair taxation unleashed upon the peasants because of the kings’ greedy intentions. The taxes were targeted only on the poor, which completely demolished Frances’ economy, which is why the lower class revolted so violently against the oblivious aristocracy.
Marie Antoinette was first to be killed by the guillotine. After the revolution, Robespierre sent anyone who disagreed with him to the guillotine. Charles Dickens showed the guillotine as a prime tool for revolting against the monarchy in his book, A Tale of Two Cities, which took place during the 18th century with King Louis XVI as monarch.
The background displays the darkest times of France. Alfonso and Priscilla, portraying the monarchy of the time, are ignorantly eating cake, something only they could afford. Christian, the executioner, is happy to finally be able to kill a noble. Isa, a peasant, casually looks up at the guillotine in anticipation of the execution as she knits. This displays how commonplace this gruesome death penalty was in 18th century France. Having finally been sentenced to death, Dane displays a face of surprise and terror with frosting all over his face.
The team constructed the guillotine from scratch using wood, rope, and aluminum foil for the fake blade and wood for the base. We wanted the scene to take place in France, and replaced the bland and gray classroom background with a picture of a French cathedral in Photoshop.

Revised Research Question

How was Dickens trying to caution the British government by writing A Tale of Two Cities?

Quote Question Comment

Quote: "It must burn"

Question: Why did the French Revolutionaries burn down everything in their path?

Comment: They hate anything to do with the royalty and the rich. They congregate and form a mob and enter the mob mentality, which compels them to kill and destroy anything in their path. They also want to destroy all traces of the corrupt monarchy that made them work and starve while they lived lavishly in their huge estates, like the chateau that belonged to Monseigneur of the Marquis. When they killed him, they wanted to rid all traces of him fron their town, and when some people wanted to save the mansion, the civilans watching the blaze said, "It must burn."

Annotated Bibliography

Citation: Frey, Linda S. and Marsha L. Frey "Civilians in Wartime Europe, 1618-1900: Civilians and Warfare during the French Revolutionary Wars" from Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Europe, 1618?1900. Daily Life Online: Exploring Everyday Life Past and Present. Greenwood Publishing Group. 12 February 2009. .

This source was extremely helpful because it went into great detail about what life was like during the French Revolution for the commoners. It covered topics from the daily lives of peasants to the global implications of the French Revolutionary war.
It was difficult to read at times, and extremely long as well. It provided far more information than was necessary, so we had to find the subtitles that fit our needs best. However, the parts of the article that we did read were immensely helpful in our search to understand the French Revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The book takes place during the French Revolution, 1775, in London, and is centered around Lucie Manette, who cared for her once imprisoned and broken father. Three men, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Mr.Stryver, all wish to marry her. Meanwhile, tensions grow in France, and Nobles are being assassinated. Also involved are Mr. Jarvis Lorry, who is a banker at Tellson's bank, Mr.Cruncher, who is a messenger and robs graves, Mr. Defarge, who runs a bar and is investigating the murder of Monsieur the Marquis, and Madame Defarge, who knits Mr. Defarge's findings into patterns that only she can decipher. In France, there were tensions because the Lords lived lavishly while the peasants starved to death.
Possible Research Question: What were the similarities and differences between everyday peasant life in France and England?