Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling on the Borders of Empires: Coast Salish Cultural Survival

In Marker's essay "Indigenous Resistance and Racist Schooling on the Borders of Empires: Coast Salish Cultural Survival", he explains the tragic fate of the Salish Indians in the Northwest United States.  Separated by the 49th parallel, the Salish Indians were divided into the United States and Canada and forbidden to cross over.  However, both countries decided to destroy the Salish culture and matriculate the Salish Indians into their own lives.  Both Canada and the United States took the children of the Indians and forced them into boarding schools.  In Canada, the children went to school with other Canadian children to try and pick up their habits and the "Canadian" culture.  If any of their old culture was seen, the children were severely reprimanded. This caused the Salish children to become ostracized by the other students and some ran away to the United States.  In the United States, boarding schools were also used, but it was only Salish children. However, they were still severely punished if any of their old Salish habits were being shown or if they were not accepting this new "American" way of life quickly enough.

Both countries went beyond their reign to wipe out their culture, yet between the two methods, the United States' boarding school was much more effective than those in Canada due to the reduced racism.  However, both were still wrong and should not have happened.  In a country where individuality is celebrated, we should encourage pride in one's culture instead of abolishing any trace of it.

Sustainability in Spain - not mainly on the plain

Felix Hernandez details the environmental sustainability efforts in Spain in his article "Environmental Sustainability and Global Warming in Spain", published in Energy Policy, Volume 32 Issue 3.  He opens his argument by detailing the complex relationship between the human impact and the results on the environment.  For example, fossil fuels are not the only contributing factor to the steady incline of global temperature on Earth.  Hernandez breaks down this environmental trouble into what he defines as "three dimensions": Ecological sustainability, economic sustainability, and social sustainability.  If all three can be achieved, then the global CO2 count can be drastically reduced with Spain as a global leader in environmental sustainability as a whole.  Spanish efforts currently include RE deployments and initiatives at all levels of their government so that the general public is aware of the environment's distress and how they can do their part.  Long-term goals for the Spanish include reducing fossil fuel dependency as well as deforestation.  Hernandez concludes that should this work, the Spanish can be a global leader and role model for other countries in the same economic distress, and yet are still able to create an environmentally sustainable society.

"Environmental Sustainability and Global Warming in Spain"

Environmental Ethics

In Ned Hettinger's article "Environmental Ethics", he creates a synthesis of several articles regarding their view points of environmental ethics.  Some of the points he addresses are those that the environment is the responsibility of the whole world, and not just one country can be held accountable for the environmental degradation that has occurred.  A second main point he concludes with is that the world needs to resort to a bioregionalist movement, similar to that of island civilization.