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Week 8: Book Review #2

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion

by Jia Tolentino

“ The choice of this era is to be destroyed or to morally compromise ourselves in order to be functional”

Trick Mirror is a powerful collection of essays by Joa Tolentino that come from inspiration in her daily life as well as observations she has had along the way. It is an examination of capitalism and feminism and how the former has influenced and created a sort of diet version of the latter. It goes over certain revelations Tolentino has formed about her upbringing in evangelical Houston and contrasts it with the “chopped and screwed” rap culture. Tolentino is critical of how capitalist culture has driven millennials to having to “scam” or abandon their beliefs, to have to survive. The most somber aspect though is that it doesn’t present an alternative. Maybe there isn’t one. You either stay with your morals and are crushed by a society all clawing to climb over each other, or you climb and push others down to be crushed. She compares drug culture and religion as both being ways to try and achieve the same “perfection”. In all, it was not the kind of book that I would read normally but I definitely could draw lessons from it and it helped me to realize a few ways that I was contributing to the moral wasteland. The other day I ordered from domino’s instead of the pizza guy on the corner who doesn’t deliver and costs more. I don’t buy my produce at farmers markets. But each of these choices are done with the idea that it will help me stay on the razor thin margin my pay scale provides me. Forget buying a house, I would just like to be able to afford movers next time my apartment raises my rent and I have to move again. In a way I think that’s why Tolentino provides no solution, because there’s no way forward without compromise. To address the questions, it sort of changes celebrityhood for me in that it makes these people seem like the ones driving the capitalism. It doesn’t matter to them, they get millions some of which they will put into “global causes” but most of which they will keep and use to provide for their family for generations after them. They have the money to support the pizza guy on the corner, to pay the author directly for a book, to buy vegetables from a co op that last half as long and cost three times as much. All the while, pushing products that we “need” but can’t afford to obtain in a moral way. The way this book contributed for social change for me was to help me slow down for a minute and think about decisions I make and the impact that they have. We have been trained to go faster and faster, more efficiently, higher production because everyone is competing for the same jobs and same money. If this book report was a race, the person who paid Amazon for the same day shipping would be the winner, giving more money to a company who would not put it into this country or give it back to their employees. You are destroyed or you conform to capitalism and drive the destruction. Tolentino lays out different ways that we are being pulled from our moral and ethical center so that maybe we will think before acting the next time we are presented with a dilemma, but does not provide comfort that our decision will be the right one.

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Week 11: Coronavirus Memes Part 2

Seriously I feel like I was called to this lol

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WEEK 11: Coronavirus Memes

Also covering work from home and zoom, which are both covid related in a way. Hope you enjoy!

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Week 7: Homecoming by Beyonce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8qvx0HOlI

“Homecoming” by Beyonce was so much fun to watch and really does not come across as your typical documentary. It highlights the thought and creative direction Beyonce put into her Coachella performance, and reminds me of the mid-2000s when bands would put out concert DVDs. As someone who has gone to Coachella in the past, I could feel the crowd noise and the collective awe wash over me as the Queen made her entrance. But this was more than a concert. It was a highlight of southern black culture. It was a story of a woman who put in months of hard work after having twins so that she could give the performance she thought her fans deserved, one that told the story of where she and millions of other people came from, and what was important to them. At a festival highlighted by bands like Radiohead or Coldplay, teeming with “influencers” who generally look and behave the same and come from the same area, she saw it as her moment to bring her culture to Coachella and to present it in a way that did not pander to the mainstream crowd. The story is told through the concerts as well as traditional documentary style filming of the practices that went in beforehand, as well as some journaling of Beyonce and what she went through as she tried to prepare. She was originally scheduled to perform the year before and had to step down because she was pregnant. So in the time that she had to get ready for next year she reached out to dancers, marching band members, step team people, of all different shapes and sizes, from predominantly black schools to join her onstage. They all gathered on a bleacher that rose up like a pyramid, at least 100 people choreographed, dancing, playing instruments. I think the biggest revelation that has come since is Coachella’s responsibility as one of the leading World festivals to highlight different cultures and races with who they choose to have perform and headline. This year would have been Rage Against the Machine, a band that is heavily political with some Hispanic roots that fits its alternative leaning history, Travis Scott, a more modern rapper who also comes from Houston, and Frank Ocean, an elusive, openly gay rapper. Coachella has begun to book hispanic acts as well as Korean groups. But as far as Homecoming goes, Beyonce brought to light a culture and a way of life that many people outside of my social sphere grow up in and made it look incredible, significant. It showed that anyone could perform, thin or thick, gay or straight, the most inclusive and significant display of race and orientation that had happened at Coachella up until now. I have been three times and it still is unlike anything else I have ever seen there.

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Week 6: Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7knN2TXQPzw

The Family

The Family is a documentary based on a series of books by Jeff Sharlet on a group of political figures bound by religion that use their beliefs to influence politics in the United States and around the globe. It examines the issues of abuse of power and separation of church and state while also touching on the issue of American interference in world politics and racial inequality. The group, known as The Fellowship, often comes off as a cult, reciting answers that seem coached and putting up a facade of being nothing more than a bible study group.

The story is told at times through dramatization, but as it progresses is done more through interviews with politicians and religious groups. The screen often flashes documents with sentences highlighted with religious overtones or that read “confidential”. It traces the groups involvement with politics in Africa and Russia, while also revealing its involvement in the possible Russian interference with the 2016 election.

The new story revealed in this film is of the group itself. Prior to this I had never heard of them, and from what the film suggests that is what they would like. It follows the Coe family and their actions as the head of The Fellowship, follows part of Sharlet’s time in one of their compounds, as well as reveals that they currently have a secret compound blocks from Capitol Hill. It brings to light some of the significance of the Prayer Breakfast, which is put on by this group every year.

As for impact it’s hard to tell at this time. The series hasn’t been out a year yet, and there are other more pertinent matters currently underway or that have been underway. The primary elections, the impeachment process have understandably put the revelations of this film in the background of most people’s minds. And if this group has survived 80 plus years its hard to imagine that this film is going to deter them from how they currently operate.

Some of the ways that this group operates in other countries is totally reprehensible for the agenda they push. Sharlet says that since conservatives failed to stop gay marriage in America, that this group has focused its efforts in Africa and Europe. The group uses faith as a means to endear themselves to other people so that they can retain influence. Often times this is used to push legislation especially at the state level, where populations are more easily swayed by faith. A discussion with an African American group shows that this is often done at their expense or to keep them complicit, and that is why it is mainly white men. 

Abuse of political power has never been more hotly debated than it is now. When we elect someone we are electing them to act with the best interest of the people who elected them, but The Family shows that some people who are elected are brought in to serve the interests of a shadow organization pushing an agenda that constituents did not sign up for. It shows that groups are willing to circumvent democratic means to gain power. And it makes you wonder just how many groups like this are out there.

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Week 5: Project Drawdown

Jake Dante

Project Drawdown

Project Drawdown is an expansive collection of solutions and figures that aim to provide us with the blueprint to reducing our carbon emissions through many different avenues and areas of everyday life. It is as simple as recycling or as intricate as providing developing nations with biogas ovens to replace wood or coal burning stoves. It was collected and developed by Paul Hawken, an environmental activist as well as an entrepreneur and business consultant among other titles. Hawken has dedicated so much time and research to providing us with solutions, a contrast to the mainstream media which is sometimes more concerned with fear mongering and highlighting the consequences of our emissions in order to scare us into making more “green” choices. In the worst cases some media outlets even deny climate change. Drawdown is more than just a book: it is a project that coordinates research and works with other groups to kick off the fight against climate change and give us feasible actions we can take to do our part as well. At times I found this book to be overwhelming, that it was so much information and sometimes about things that I have never heard of or that I couldn’t just head to a hardware store or garden center to achieve. But if anything else in spite of those feelings it gave me somewhat of a sense of hope because so many options were highlighted, a sense of relief that somebody cared enough to fight for a sustainable future. One of the solutions highlighted is concentrated solar power, which has luckily picked up more steam, and through research I found that one of the most vocal advocates for solar energy in Hollywood is Edward Norton. Edward Norton began a project back in the early 2000s of providing solar energy to low income areas, where large power plants are usually located because of low property value and high demand. These plants produce increased emissions further lowering the quality of life. In the first year of his outreach program, called “Solar Neighbors”, he provided solar energy to almost 100 houses, and got celebrity friends like Brad Pitt, Danny DeVito, and Larry King to switch to solar energy as well. I do not own property yet unfortunately and probably will not for some time, but I am happy to say that my parents home is powered by solar and I have had friends who have homes that have also switched to solar energy.

One Project Drawdown Fellow that stood out to me was the Climate Careers organization, which seeks to help people find potential employers who are working to advance climate goals and research. I think that their goal is absolutely scalable because as the conversation advances the need for environmental consultation and environmental based organizations will grow, and with this growth will come jobs. I think a lot of people are interested in working towards fixing what we have done to the environment but sometimes it is hard to find work. It’s hard to find work period. But if you work to cultivate people’s interest in environmental policy and research then more people will find rewarding, realistic work in these fields.

One review I read on Science Mag’s website said that they thought Project Drawdown had an expansive collection of data and solutions, but without much analysis and I tend to agree. It would be good to have more voices, possibly even dissenting ones, to lend outside credibility to what Hawken has gathered. While it does well in making the solutions straightforward and breaks it down to the exact numbers, I would have liked more input from people active in such fields.

I think the solution that surprised me the most was Telepresence, mainly from the cost to implement compared to the money it could possibly save. I think that with how technology has advanced many companies are already capable of eliminating some of these business flights. Many could come forward and say that they have limited the number of business flights to reduce emissions and it could encourage other companies to do the same. As for which solutions I will implement, I think I could at least start with installing LED lighting and low flow fixtures, in addition to things I already do like recycling. Overall, Project Drawdown has really highlighted a lot of work that can be done and given concrete numbers associated with the steps we can take.

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Week 6: Gun Control

Gun control is a seemingly endless debate in the United States. One president will enact stricter regulations, the next will ease them, and so on and so on. It seems like most people who cling to their second amendment rights have no interest in changing anything because it hasn’t affected them personally yet. And I add yet because it seems that every year more and more people decide that their only option is to hurt their classmates and the way our system is enforced in so many states provides them with ample access to weapons that allow them to hurt people quickly and with great efficiency. There is no reason whatsoever that you or I would ever need to fire 30 rounds in 30 seconds. A normal person does not need to own 5 guns. And yet growing up with family in the midwest I have seen gun cases or gun racks on the wall, without locks, and this hasn’t seemed strange to me even though I grew up in California. I’m not positive if my parents ever owned a gun. I used to believe that I wanted to own three: a pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun. I have always enjoyed shooting and I think that people should have the right to defend their home. However I have always and will always vote in favor of gun regulations. Rigorous checks, magazine restrictions, you name it and it should be enacted. Every gun should be registered, every person thoroughly vetted, and all private sales should be outlawed. To return to the purpose of this post, I can’t imagine what the students in Parkland went through. I don’t want to be able to imagine it. And it’s hard to tell them where to go from here because if they continue it could essentially mean resigning themselves to re-living this tragedy for the rest of their lives. Some survivors have already committed suicide. Who’s to say that more could not find the same fate if they spend each day bringing themselves back to that day: the sounds, the blood, the fear. Reliving your nightmare. I would hope that the NRA is reaching its twilight. I imagine guns becoming less popular in the next 20-30 years as millennials become heads of households and tell their kids of how they grew up hearing of school shooting after school shooting, some of whom could tell their kids they survived but their classmates did not. I would not claim to have become more active. Because of my line of work, I have to keep strong opinions off of social media. I have not written my congressman or signed a petition. In California, gun control legislation usually passes quite easily. And I have always voted in line with higher restrictions. But I also have friends who are not in favor, and I think I could do more to discuss with them, but the political climate as a whole is so polarizing right now that many people are very much set in their ways.

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Week 4: Me Too Movement

The #MeToo movement was a sweeping wave of women and celebrities alike sharing their stories of sexual assault. The hashtag had existed since the mid 2000s but became what we know it as now in 2017 when Alyssa Milano urged people to use it in the wake of the discovery of Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behavior. It took off right away, and became an effective way for women to share their stories or find comfort in other survivors. It let women know that they were not alone and that other people might be able to relate with what had happened to them. Living in LA where news about actors is circulated among groups of friends and social settings regularly, I watched and discussed regularly who had been accused, what they had been accused of, and how many women had accused them. It really opened my eyes to what types of behavior could be considered inappropriate: comments, any form of touching without consent, and how fluid consent can be. The sheer number of women as well was truly disturbing. The celebrities who came forward helped to make the problem seem like something that did not just affect less strong women, but all women. They risked their image, sponsorships, and possibly high paying roles because of the narrative that would follow them to productions. But their strength inspired many women who looked up to them, and helped to encourage others to come forward with their stories as well.

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Finding Solutions

This week we were asked to read about some programs and people who have implemented solutions to environmental issues facing us as a global populace. The articles and people we read about provide hope and examples of how anyone anywhere can make a difference if they put their mind to it. From Melati and Isabel getting plastic bags banned in Indonesia before they turned 20 to Fionn Ferreira figuring out how to remove plastics that are unfilterable before 20 as well, these people set the example that change can happen and that anyone is capable of starting the conversation on climate change and sustainability programs. I think that the person highlighted that had to overcome the most to get to where they are is Kelvin Doe, a boy from Sierra Leone that had to go through garbage to find spare parts to create generators and radios. Most people can only dream of becoming an engineer, but he is self taught. One project that really resonated with me was Boyan Slat and his plans and actions to remove plastic from the ocean. As someone living in California, the ocean is near and dear to me and the thought of less trash in the water and on the beaches is something that I can get behind. If I was to start a movement to combat plastic pollution in the ocean, I would try and build support with like minded people, show up consistently to do work to fix it, and make sure that my actions and the way I lived were in line with the values that I tried to show to others. On Drawdown I read about bioplastics, and how they could reduce our carbon emissions and stem the production of harmful plastics. Drawdown estimated that 90% of plastics could be plant based, but that limited land dedicated to growing bioplastic and issues with separation from other non-bioplastics in waste disposal are big hurdles to implementing that.

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Eco-Teen Spotlight: Fionn Ferreira

For my spotlight I chose to highlight the work of Fionn Ferreira, a teen from the Irish countryside who has been working on using ferrofluids to remove micro plastics from water. Microplastics are plastics that are too small to be removed by usual filtration means. Microplastics are found in soaps and body washes as well as in our clothing, and make their way to our waterways through washing machines and our drains. At the 2019 Google Science Fair Fionn showed over 1000 tests that these ferrofluids removed about 87% of micro plastics. The fluids work by condensing all the plastics into a clump which is then removed by a magnet. He organized and showed his work over his website and youtube channels, and was recognized at the Google Science Fair after winning it and being awarded $50,000 to further his research. Fionn is already accomplished in the world of science: He is the curator at the Schull Planetarium, speaks 3 languages fluently, won 12 previous science fair competitions, plays the trumpet in an orchestra and has a minor planet named after him by MIT (Forbes). Some things he may have had to overcome would be limited resources for running these experiments in the Irish countryside. Hopefully in 5 years he will be running larger experiments at wastewater treatment plants to further purify the water in our systems. I believe young people are rising up to combat climate change because up until this point we have ignored the problems entirely and they will only get worse. Older people can claim that it isn’t their problem, but for the younger generation we will have to deal with this planet for the next 50+ years and the rate at which we are contaminating and polluting it is not sustainable. I have included two articles I used for research on Fionn, as well as a video from his youtube channel showing the process of removing microplastics.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/07/30/irish-teen-wins-2019-google-science-fair-for-removing-microplastics-from-water/#2ac1c6ab373f

https://therising.co/2019/08/23/meet-fionn-ferreira-the-teen-who-won-50000-from-google-to-clean-up-the-ocean/

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Favorite Celebrity

This is a difficult one to answer. I have interests in many areas and could name a few different celebrities that I would consider favorites. But I think if I had to choose just one it would have to be Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt has made so many classic movies and exhibits great range as an actor: from comedy to action to drama to suspense films and historical pieces. I can think of at least 5 films of his I could watch over and over again and not get tired of them. To touch on how he has changed the world, he has done a lot of charity work over his career. Much of it was started while he was still with his ex-wife but he still donates and runs a non-profit today. His non-profit “The Make It Right” foundation has projects in New Orleans, New Jersey, and Kansas City work you create sustainable, affordable housing and communities for low income groups, veterans, senior citizens, and special needs people. With housing being such a huge topic across the United States I think that we need more projects like this especially for at risk groups. InsidePhilanthropy lists 42 different organizations he has supported from Boys and Girls Clubs, to children in Africa, to poverty within the United States. I think when you talk about the all time Hollywood greats you can’t leave Brad Pitt out of the discussion.