GEO 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Labour Power, Economic System, Corn Syrup

• School: Syracuse University
• Department: Geography
• Course: GEO 103
• Professor: Robert Wilson

Document Summary

Globalization (reduced trade barriers, access to cheap labor). Methods of mass destruction ((cid:862)super trawler(cid:863) fishing vessels, clear-cut logging, mountain removal mining). Financial products (credit cards easy credit in general: fi(cid:374)a(cid:374)(cid:272)ial tools to let us (cid:271)uy thi(cid:374)gs (cid:449)he(cid:374) (cid:449)e do(cid:374)(cid:859)t ha(cid:448)e (cid:373)o(cid:374)ey. Federal government encourages mass consumption: example: easing regulations on credit, urges to shop post-9/11: fear of recession. The main to curtail consumption: recycling. Hoppi(cid:374)g a(cid:374)d (cid:858)g(cid:396)ee(cid:374)(cid:859) pu(cid:396)(cid:272)hasi(cid:374)g: buying products to reduce your exposure to toxic threats and to reduce environmental impacts, shop your way out of trouble. An individual response to a collective threat. Individualization responsibility for coping with environmental problems lies with individual acting as consumer: (cid:862) yste(cid:373)i(cid:272) th(cid:396)eats (cid:396)e(cid:395)ui(cid:396)e syste(cid:373)i(cid:272) solutio(cid:374)s(cid:863) A resigned, fatalistic way to deal with environmental problems. Individual acts of self-protection: hard to rely on government to make changes. Individual consumer responses to environmental problems focus on us as consumers rather than as citizens.