The Challenge for Africa - #3

In chapter 11, Maathai describes the dilemma of whose land is it anyways, referring to all of Africa. She mentions the fact that we cannot turn every single acre of land into farm land or ever acre into commercial buildings. Instead, it is up to the government to increase the capacities of areas that are less populated. By doing so, they would be encouraging the growth of sustainable industries that provide good employment in well-managed cities and towns rather than slums with no infrastructure. This leads to her next chapter, environment and development where if and when infrastructures are made to manage cities, there needs to be regulation of resources such as fossil fuels. Climate change is a huge factor that affects Africa and therefore it must be reduced to keep Africa sustainable. This may be on of the main reasons why Maathai started the Green Belt Movement.

After reading her novel, Maathai provides a strong stance that something has to be done in order for Africa to move forward as a country. Throughout her book, she provides excellent examples and points out the many flaws that is preventing Africa from being at its full potential. Whether it is everyone's jobs or just the African's jobs, Africa needs change. Maathai concludes her novel with this: "Africans must make a deliberate choice to move forward together toward more cohesive macro-nations, where all can feel free, secure, and at peace with themselves and others, where there is no need for any group to organize violence against their neighbors. Then, everyone would begin to reap the benefits of unity in diversity." This is a powerful statement to end her book with as she lays out her vision for the rest of the world to follow.

The Challenge For Africa- #2

In Chapter 6, Maathai reinforces the fact that Africa needs a strong group of leaders in order for the country to move forward. She states "I firmly believe that unless Africans from all levels of society recognize and embrace the challenge of leadership, Africa will not move forward." Leadership is not simply a matter of filling the top positions in a government, institution, or private businesses. Instead, leadership can be demonstrated by those who are marginalized and poor as much as by those who have had all the privileges that society has been able to bestow on them. Many aid and development scholars and practitioners have pointed to Africa's leadership deficit and wondered why it has been so hard to overcome.

The missing leadership goes hand in hand with the identity crisis for Africa and its citizens. Maathai states that the importance of African's cultural heritage to their sens of who they are still isn't recognized sufficiently by them, or others. Culture gives a people self-identity and character and if they cannot identify themselves, Africa cannot be identified. Culture could be the missing link to creativity, productivity, and confidence; without them, Africans lack a foundation on which to build the future. Maathai stresses the need for unity through culture in Chapter 8 to reunite the country.

Ultimately, one of the biggest problems is summed up in Chapter 10, The Crisis of National Identity. Maathai states the problem as a superficial creation: a loose collection of ethnic communities or micro-nations, brought together in a single entity or macro-nation, by colonial powers. It is going to be hard to unify Africa with all the diversity and language and cultural differences but without doing so, Africa cannot be together as a whole. But the solution is no easy task either.

The Challenge for Africa - Post 1

Reading the introduction to Wangari Maathai’s The Challenge for Africa, I was compelled with a few points that she addresses in the book. Firstly, she states “We all share one planet and are one humanity; there is no escaping this reality.” This sort of hit me a bit, wondering if I have a responsibility for all of the world or just the surrounding city that I am in. She goes on to say that she wrote the book for all those with an interest in the fate of the African continent, from the general reader to advocates, researchers, development specialists, and government officials. I don’t quite think I fall under any of these categories (except reader maybe) but I am still pondering whether I should have a duty to do something about the social and economic situations of other countries.

Maathai mentions an answer to my question at the end of the first chapter. “Only Africans can resolve to provide leadership that is responsible, accountable, and incorruptible. It is they who must embrace their cultural diversity, restore their sense of self-worth, and use both to create thriving nations…” Yet, while it may be Africans job to restore their own country, the resources with which they use, such as biological resources are finite and if we run out, what would happen? In the second chapter, Maathai talks about Africa’s Legacy of Woes. Throughout the history of leadership of Africa, there has risen so many conflicts, coups, civil wars, and corruption beyond imaginable.

Chapter 4 is titled Aid and the Dependency Syndrome. Africa has been targets for many new companies, trying to make a difference in a poor community. When Joan came to talk to us, she mentioned to be empathetic, not sympathetic. We shouldn’t be depicting Africa and all the starving children and poor communities but instead, Maathai says that development agencies need to present a vision of the Africa they wish to see rather than using images that undercut the very mission they are trying to accomplish. It should be possible for potential donors to respond to images of a functioning Africa that deserves support and not only give in response to those images that inspire pity and condescension.

The NBA Season is Here!

The 2015-2016 NBA season is now underway after the first three games of the season are now in the books after yesterday's debut. After the long awaited day in late October, the NBA has been stirring with much excitement and many questions after a long summer. Superstars Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, and Paul George are all coming off of major injuries while the Golden State Warriors are coming off their first championship in over 30 years. This year's draft class featured many superstars from the top colleges in the country and the expectations are high for many rookies. After a definitive blow out by the reigning champs, a loss by the runner-ups, and a win over one of last year's top teams, the NBA is geared to give its viewers a great season to come.

Yesterday's tip off featured three games. The first was the runner-ups of last year championship the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Chicago Bulls. There has been many talks about how the Cavaliers would bounce back this season after signing multiple of their free agents and starring three all-stars. However, one Cleveland all-star would not make an appearance and this left all eyes on LeBron James yet again. Although he did not play spectacular like he did in the Finals last year, he still was able to carry the team to only a two point loss. The Chicago Bulls on the other hand opened the season with a new head coach, Fred Hoiberg. After securing the team's first victory of the season and Hoiberg's first win of his NBA coaching career, it seemed as if the Bulls were a bit different than before. Derrick Rose admitted to only playing with vision from one eye, Pau played sub-par, and Joakim Noah left the game with a knee contusion which doesn't look promising. At the end of the day, the Bulls got the W at home with a 97-95 victory.

The second featured game starred the Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Pelicans. What better way to start off the season than with the championship and ring ceremony on your home court in front of all your fans. The Warriors could not have asked for better scenario to start off the season. Reigning MVP Stephen Curry started off the game on fire, scoring 24 points in the first quarter. He would end up finishing the game with 40 points overall. On the opposing team, Anthony Davis had come into the season putting on 15 pounds of muscle. The expectations for him are extremely high this season but he only came out to shoot 4-20 from the field, scoring 18 points and only securing 6 rebounds. These are not the exact numbers that you want to see as a Pelicans fan or as an owner in fantasy basketball. Do not be afraid though, as we all know he will bounce back the next game. The Warriors won convincingly 111-95.

With the first three games out of the way, today features 14 games and 28 teams and it will be action packed all day long. I can't wait to see what the rest of the season will bring!      

GOM #3- Wangari Maathai

In John Bloom’s interview with Wangari Maathai, I was able to learn about the Green Belt Movement and how politics and humans play a better role in our society. Maathai started the Green Belt Movement to help empower women, who were in charge of the farm, to be able to plant their own trees to provide resources for themselves rather than export crops only. By doing so, they would be able to fulfill more needs rather than selling for money only. Where the politics come in is when anyone or any program encroaches into the government’s money. When Maathai realized that she was competing with the government, she was required to show all these licenses and certifications when all she wanted to do was plant trees.

Politics play a huge role in almost everything. In countries such as Kenya where the government may be a bit more corrupt than other countries, those who are under the government will usually get quashed. The government was the first ones to originally uproot all the trees but the trees are what feed the people and soil. Maathai also mentions about spirituality of humans and nature that I believe is dying faster and faster in our growing world of technology. No longer are we playing outside or taking hikes but usually cooped up inside and playing video games. I am afraid that by the time I have kids, I won’t be able to take them to the great outdoors that I had the chance to experience. We need to reconnect with nature and be able to provide it with what it needs so that it can do the same to us. Instead, we are always taking from nature yet never really giving back and that is what the Green Belt Movement is trying to accomplish. 

The Touchstone and the Labyrinth Ch. 14- Genius of Money

In Bloom's opening paragraphs, he quotes Paul Klee saying that the purpose of visual arts is to make the invisible visible. Well I believe that from reading the first 2 paragraphs of the chapter, Bloom is going to seem as if money can bring out certain intangibles as well and I think it does as he states "Money is linked to our material needs and our participation in economic life, and yet what it represents is entirely abstract, non-material, and, to a degree, faith based. Value is thus a big player in the  mystery drama of money." We value the dollar at what we want it to be. If we think that a smoothie is worth $5, then that is what we pay, if not, we don't value the smoothie the same as $5. So by looking at purchases on an individual, you can see what their values are through the lens of money.

Bloom actually continues to mention that money is both a medium of exchange and a measure of value-- a kind of mathematical metric of meaning. Bloom relates the labyrinth with money saying that labyrinths have their own horizontal and vertical measures and their resources of stones can always be used as a currency as we see gold and the more precious metals much more valuable then pebbles. And this is where the touchstone comes in, measuring the quality of gold.

Bloom continues to say that there is no relevant test for the purity of the medium of exchange, and no time to journey with it through transactions. The touchstone and the labyrinth are about real experiential value, much as money has been throughout its history. But recent current has no real value, no reference point as found with the touch stone. We live, instead, with fiat currency which means that it has no standard or reference tied to the mineral world, or otherwise. I think the point that Bloom is getting to here is that we see money purely as a form of government currency and we let it dictate our lives. No long do we see the real value of money but we live to only make money and to spend money without really thinking about our spending.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

The Genius of Money- Chapter 4

The Other Invisible Hand
Money and Its Subtle Influence on Social Life

After reading the chapter, I would have to say that I agree with the author that there is another invisible hand that affects our social lives. Having money is great because money buys you what you want. However, sometimes having too much money is bad and the want for more money may turn people into greedy human beings who do not care who they hurt in order to obtain their money.

There are a few ways that came to mind that can describe how money affects our social lives. Firstly, because it is our money, we are more likely to spend it on ourselves. Going off of that, we tend to spend more money when we just received our latest paycheck or ended up with more money than we thought we might have at a certain time. For instance if you spent less during the month or won a lottery ticket you would be incentivized to spend more because it was money that you didn’t expect. But we tend to spend less money when we have just recently splurged and made a huge purchase. Secondly, sometimes the amount of money that we have affects what activities can be done and what food can be eaten. To be honest, I know I have some friends that are a bit more sensitive about spending money at dinner and I choose restaurants accordingly so they still feel inclined to come eat without feel like they’re spending unnecessary money. I too also pick and choose which meals I want to spend more money on and which meals I can eat fast food and spend less on and it may impact whether or not I am able to eat with my friends or by myself.