The Economics of Happiness

Lauren Jump-

It was mind opening to have everything I was taught in International Business blown out of the water.  Completely conflicting points of views even in terms of the GPI- Genuine Progress Index were presented which changed the way I  view human and social benefits from companies going into less civilized areas.  On the one hand work is brought to areas but at the same time there was already fulfilling work that we replaced with big business.  It’s sad to see the devastating effects of what occurs worldwide in order for our American consumer mindset to be met.  The movie was boring at parts but the information made an impact on the way I look at international business.






Alex MacLean-

The movie that we got to see this time was OK. Though the part where it talked about how the food traveled back and forth more than one time before being delivered to the store i thought was crazy, it just seems like a waste of time and money. Also seeing the effects of big businesses invading others land  was interesting.






Ishadeen Abreu-

The movie “The Economics of Happiness”  was an interesting movie.  It was sad to see how the exposure of economic pressure on the people of Ladakh completely changed their world around. Ladakhis were genuinely happy with their way of life before the globalization. Like the movie stated, “Globalization breeds insecurity.”  It made the Ladakhis think they were good enough and behind the times. What they had before globalization was true happiness that is close to impossible to find in this world with the media definition of happiness.





Anna Dyson-

My favorite of our in class movie "The Economics of Happiness" was a tie between the Ladakhi people and explanation of GDP and how economists think. I though it was very interesting when when they commented on how economists think about things now isn't realistic because they are not taking everything into consideration. The earth is not being taken into consideration, the earth is an outlier. The society of the Ladakhi people before and after commercial products were brought to them blew my mind. How could a society change its way of life, the thought processes ingrained in their culture within a matter of months. It makes me happy to realize how important community  family, and friendship is, rather than having more products and possessions. 

Plan B Discussion Ch. 4-8

Alex MacLean-

This weeks power points i found much more interesting it seems that the team's know what to do now. I personally liked that section in chapter 5 about the cps, they take up so much space but they seem to work well. The group that did chapter 7 stabilizing population the game that they has us do was fun but could have been better with more time i think. This chapter had many ways of reducing population and stabilizing it that i think need to be effective starting now.

Anna Dyson -

All the teams did a wonderful job presenting this week. My favorite topic was Plant Based Sources of Energy. I love how large companies, like Oglethorpe Power, are making biomass-fueled power plants a reality. By using our build up of waste to fuel our way into a greener future. Instead of throwing organic “waste” out with the garbage, these companies will begin to turn heads and create a new “norm”. This reminds me of how native Americans would kill a buffalo and then use every single part of the buffalo, nothing was wasted. We are slowly working towards a greener mindset, creating, and initiating sustainable practices.

http://inhabitat.com/new-biomass-plant-for-the-uk-looks-like-a-giant-green-volcano/






Lauren Jump-

I found the Masdar City discussion to be the most interesting topic during this weeks presentations.  Never had I heard of an entire carbon free city being built.  It is a wonderful idea.  Of course it’s going to be in Abu Dhabi.  I hope when the project is complete I will be able to travel to the city and visit.  Hopefully worldwide companies will look to Masdar City and take pieces of their project and add them to existing cities.

 The exercises where we considered how to reduce our world’s problems was interesting to think global while creating steps to act locally.  For instance, reducing population is a serious subject that is hard to address on a large enough scale to make a difference.

Ishadeen Abreu-

I learned quite a bit throughout all the presentations during last class.  I  had no idea that breathing the air in New York City is like smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.  Guess I won’t be moving back to my favorite city since i value my lungs. The one city that looks pretty nice is Masdar City being that it is the first  carbon free city in the world. If the rest of the world could afford to have a city like that one the world could have hope. In the meantime we just need to make the best  with what we have and live a more sustainable life.


Calvin Thornton-

Even though it came across as wildly unpopular in this week’s discussion, I still don’t quite understand why there is absolutely no restrictions other than reproductive capabilities on the number of children two people can have. Surely there is a way to limit the damage done to this planet by overpopulation. For every person we don’t wake, that’s one less car on the road, one less room that needs to be continually heated or air-conditioned, millions of pounds of food that don’t need to be cultivated, and millions of gallons of water that don’t need to be to be consumed then re-purified.




At least set up some sort of system that the government won’t pay welfare to more than one child (two if twins, etc.). That in it of itself should assist in limiting the growth.

Calusa Nature Center

Lauren Jump-

Lauren always enjoys being out in nature so it was okay the trail guide wasn’t available.  But at the same time it was disappointing  we weren’t able to gain any knowledge about the plants on the trail.  It is not easy to try to Google search the plants through written descriptions in order to identify their taxa (species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, domain). 

The Florida Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina osceola) inhabits ponds and lakes with muddy bottoms and lots of vegetation.  Possibly similar to the wetlands we walked past on the trail.  Night time is their favorite time to be active.  Like me.  Unlike their ‘cousin’ turtles they do not like to sunbathe and instead prefer to dig down into the mud at the bottom of the pond and only poke their eyes and nose out.  This 4 year old girl probably wishes there was some mud in her tank but instead is sufficing by being inside a brick.  These omnivores range from Florida to Georgia.

 The Acer rubrum also known as the Red Maple is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of Eastern North America.  It was common in Lee County prior to 1930 when most were cut down for logging.  The poor tree did not look too healthy.

 This was my favorite tree.  I spent a long time trying to figure out its name with no luck.  The leaves as seen in the other image are spectacular.  Some students and I at first thought it was possible there were many ladybugs on the leaves- but no- it was the plant itself.  Beautiful.  

I thought the man made butterflies were the best fake animals at the Calusa Nature Center. 

Alex Maclean- 

This alligator has been in this cage for a very long time. One year before I was born I believe. I feel kind of sorry for it not being in its natural habitat and able to hunt when it wants and just be free. This Cage is all that this gator knows and all it will ever know most likely. This field trip was a good experience, i have been here many times but i was younger so this time it was a somewhat different experience i was able to learn more and see more of the animals and plants. 

Calvin Thornton-

I always enjoy the Calusa Nature center, but it seems that I’m always with either a large group or small children so I never get to see any animals that aren't in cages. Still, it is a nice, scenic walk.

Saw this one inside the butterfly garden at the beginning of the walk. This guy is the reason I was lost after everyone left while I was trying to take a decent picture.

 Saw palms abound. More of these than I cared to count.

Red Shoulder Hawk. Would have rather seen this one flying in the trees than in a cage, but at least he’s healthy and I got to see him.

Anna Dyson-

I greatly enjoyed getting out of the classroom and walking the Calusa Trails. 

 I did not mind that the tour guide was not there because it was nice to walk in a sort of silence and observe nature. When i wasn't watching my feet, trying not to trip over roots, i was imagining the South Florida environment before society had touched it. What would it have been like to be one of the indigenous women, living off of nature. 

This Lenta plant was growing in the butterfly garden. It is a natural host for larva and nectar for the butterflies. Although it is not normally found in South Florida, it was in a contained area suitable for the butterflies. 

 Urocyon cinereoargenteus, the gray fox is one of Florida’s most commonly seen carnivores. I would have loved to have seen this fox out on the trail rather than behind bars, but it allowed me to see details close up. I love foxes and hope to one day have a domesticated kit to raise. Most people confuse red foxes with grey foxes, but the major difference is grey foxes do NOT have a white tip on the end of their tail. Gray foxes prey heavily on rabbits, but they also eat rodents, birds, insects, acorns and fruit. They are active at night and usually hunt alone. 

There is only one raccoon (Procyonidae) species in Florida.The raccoon typically sleeps in trees during the day, becoming active in the late afternoon. I saw a raccoon in Naples at Freedom Park. It was in its natural environment, the sun was just about to go down and it was climbing down a tree getting ready to scavenge for some food. Once again, it was sad to see the animal in a cage but was nice to see it up close. 

Ishadeen Abreu-

I thought our first real field trip was nice even though we didn’t have a tour guide. I still got familiar with some new plants that I wasn’t familiar with before.  I was thankful that the weather was gorgeous for such a trip. I also really enjoy walking the trail because it brought back many memories of hiking and bird watching in the woods in Iowa.  I especially liked looking at the animals. My favorite was the bald eagle.

Chapters 1 - 3

Lauren Jump -

I enjoyed the presentation lacking the Power Points the most- their facts including global warming and its causes and effects were well presented.  The games were all pretty impressive (especially if we would have had time to do them all).  The heat changes causing deaths comparable to 911 had a good emphasis.  I believe the way its message was presented was a good example of ways our culture could mirror presenting these unfortunate facts to the mass media.  Substantial amounts of people are dying from heat exhaustion and huge natural disasters (that aren't so natural) is good evidence that the few non-believers of global warming should hear.  18,000 people passing in Europe in 2003 due to heat changes is momentous.  A majority of the facts provided during the presentations were unnecessary and poorly presented; but overall there were some good facts provided.  





Alex Maclean -

I thought the presentations that were given last class were pretty good. Some were not as prepared as others. The team that forgot to make a  power point had the most facts, or at least, the most interesting ones to me. Though i was able to take something away from all the presentations. The group that  talked about the water tables falling, something that stuck with me, is the over-pumping aquifers to satisfy their growing water needs. I think that the next presentations will be more organized now that everyone has gotten to see a presentation.






Ishadeen Abreu -

I really enjoyed last class because it sparked up quite a debate on if any of the videos we watched the previous week could actually work.  It showed that people are pretty stuck in their views and show no interest in considering how, in fact, some of the ideas of sustainability and conservation can actually work in America. If anyone values life, you would think, EVERYONE would start making changes to better conserve the little resources we have on this earth.  People need to start thinking for tomorrow and not just for today.  It was absolutely absurd to hear from one of the presentations that one person could eat for a year off the grain it takes to fill a SUV one time!!  If more people were educated on these facts, I think it would be a real eye opener for individuals, as it was for me.  

 





Calvin Thornton -
During the discussion of the collective farming in Cuba, I repeatedly found myself wondering if that sort of farming could go on above the snow line. Cuba finds itself in a very fortunate latitude as far as growing food year-round. I’m assuming the use of greenhouses would be essential, but I still think it would be difficult. Also, the discussion about how quickly the world is going to run out of fossil fuels saddens me because as long as there is a relatively cheap way to make electricity, we as a species will continue to exploit it, regardless as to the long term costs because we live in the “now”.













Anna Dyson -
I enjoyed the class presentations and class discussion. While watching the presentations it was clear to see who was moved by the information they were presenting. It is my hope that this future generation of environmentally educated and open minded people will be able to make changes to our American society and the world. I like having open class discussion because it allows us to all express ourselves and let others into our minds and hearts. Even within our small class population one can see the how different people's view points are, as well as their agendas. I look forward to future presentations and class discussions.