STUFF

How are the topics of these videos connected with Global Issues and Sustainability?

The video “Story of Stuff” talks about a global issue and how ‘Stuff’ move through a system consisting of a cycle of: 

àExtraction

à Production 

à Distribution 

à Consumption 

à Disposal. 

This worldwide system is in crisis since it interacts with the real world (society, cultures, cultures, economies, environment…).

     This is a global issue because it is based on a worldwide industrial system. We are trashing the planet and trashing each other: cancer, asthma (baby shampoo, gloss). Even babies are born pre-polluted!!

       Sustainability is development meeting the needs of the present generation without foreclosing options for future generations. This balances non-developed and developing worlds while protecting the natural resource to ensure intergenerational equity. It contains 2 key concepts:

1-     - Needs: essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given 
- Limitations: on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

      

       Corporations experiment with chemicals on people. Even though we have the option to buy from different products, but there is no option to buy safe ones. An average woman uses 12 personal products daily.  To attain sustainability, we need FDA to guarantee us safe personal-care products, to use green chemistry, zero wastes, renewable energy, and the precautionary principle to get toxic chemicals out of our products.

        Globally, people live and work all along this system controlled by big corporations. The production stage is the core for global issues. It mixes toxics with natural resources leading to our first global issue: “toxins in, toxins out”. The 2^nd global issue is consuming too much of the planet’s natural resources. What worsens these issues are the low prices for rapid selling. Also, workers have no choice but to work in toxic conditions harming themselves and their community.

   

      Recycling is Not an enough solution! It doesn’t attack the core of the problem, and not everything could be recycled.

    Honestly, the word ‘economy’ scares me. Here, “externalizing the true cost of production” was designed to improve the economy. It was based on 2 main concepts:

1-   For the dumb: useless stuff (dvds cameras, computers…)

2-  Perceived: using the media to convince consumers to throw away things that are perfectly useful because it is ‘embarrassing’ or not ‘cool’ to own something for more than a year.

Daily, we are exposed to an average of 3000 ads. We see more ads a year than people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime!

What was the most surprising/shocking/interesting information that I learned?

        Some shocking information I learnt from reading "Global Change and Our Common Future" were that 4000 days before the 3^rd millennium, Earth will have to accommodate for another billion people and within the next 50 years, we have to accommodate extra 5 billion individuals which is the current population of the entire world. This is not only scary but too much for my mind to imagine. I think it is ugly how we are consuming too much of our Earth’s resources. 80% of our original forest is gone.  1/3 of resources were consumed in the last 3 decades.

      I also learnt a lot from the videos. I was shocked to know that the cosmetic industry makes its own rules as there are no legal definitions for the terms “herbal, natural & organic”. This encourages corporations to mark any products with those terms claiming that they are natural, lying to the public. I was also shocked to know that there are NO laws to get rid of unsafe products, or laws that force the corporations to list all ingredients on their products’ labels. The bad impacts might be small, but not when the consumers mix them daily with other products. DO THEY WANT TO POISON US?!

      The “Story of Stuff” video mentioned that national happiness is declining. There is a trend of: “WORK… WATCH… SPEND” where we watch TV or shop when we’re free. Even though we own more stuff, but we have less time for true happiness like family, friends…

How does this information impact life on the planet Earth? in Kuwait?

        This information raises awareness and makes people understand the real everyday risks and the importance of spreading the information to future generations. It is also important for them to realize the impact of any product/service used on the environment and Earth. Eventually, each individual can contribute personally to benefit the planet.

       In Kuwait, and especially at my school (AIS), we recycle plastics and paper. This simple step plays in a big role in encouraging other individuals to contribute and make smart decisions based on the benefit of our planet.

       At the end, I don’t think that the info impacts life on the planet and in Kuwait. Instead, I think that life on the planet and Kuwait impacts this information. This is because the way we live our lives is the only thing that is able to improve or worsen those global issues.

How have I been affected by the information in the videos?

Whenever I look at a shampoo or food product, I have the video in the back of my head. Being aware of their implications is the first step. Next I need to do something about it. I’m not going to buy any product without taking into account its origin and its influence on my environment  I know that I want to spread awareness to those around me such as my family friends and hopefully my future children. We need to be in control in what we buy and do DAILY.

CREATIVITY TODAY NEEDS MORE CREATIVITY !

Many of the interesting people to talk to and talk about are creative people. They seem to have formed a culture of their own. Creativity begins when a person uses his knowledge, enhances it, and expands on that in an original way. Creative people share many traits and can be described in a lot of ways.

To begin with, creative people are more expressive than the rest. For example, artists express emotions, feelings and unusual thoughts in original and inspiring ways. This means that they are more passionate, admiring, sensitive and spiritual with no limits to their imagination. Creative people tend to break the rules, think differently, and use extreme, outlandish and fresh ideas to create original innovations which shock the audience. In other words, their mentality is different than the rest, whether it is imagination or perspective but they sure know how to think differently in order to create. They have the power to combine the most random concepts and transforming them into a fascinating practical and logical idea. Creative people are curious in general, and pay attention to detail (sometimes with a stronger memory). I don’t think that there is any creative person who is not persistent, dedicated and committed to his work. I believe that creativity by itself is enough to keep a person living his life enthusiastically to develop his ideas further more. They experience and relate to the world in unique ways exploring fresh ideas through unusual approaches. All this leads to the fact that creative people become more confident and unique than the rest.

Many people believe that we are all born creative; others think it is just a talent which only famous artists were gifted with. In either case, creativity is not as common as it used to be. A lot of people are losing their inventiveness. In many cases, it is being pulled away from them or they are being pulled away from it! The question should not be what is stopping creativity, it should be, why should creativity even exist? Honestly, nowadays there is lack of admiration and encouragement which motivate a person to create. In other words, schools, parents, and the society in general don’t seem to appreciate creativity. For example, students don’t get credit for producing something as much as the credit they receive for Acing a math exam. This relates to Sir Ken Robinson's many lectures about how schools are killing creativity. That is true actually because most schools focus on certain dull subjects starting with languages, math, and sciences on the top of their priorities (credits) with least valued ELECTIVE arts and humanities at the bottom. It seems as if the schools are making the students feel that the arts are worthless and won't help them improve in life. So people are not given the opportunity to be creative, because they are constantly being TOLD what to do and who to be whether it is by teachers, parents, media or the government. Why aren't people taught to be creative or at least think on their own?! Moreover, creativity is feared by a lot. First, people are afraid of doing mistakes which seem to be no longer accepted. On the other hand, managers for example, they might feel threatened by creative people because they could unbalance the authority in the workgroup. In other words, group-thinking is more encouraged than original ideas by a certain person. Also, it seems today that people are sooooo overwhelmed and busy with other things which are bombarded towards them such as schools, TV, video games, computers, internet, phones, jobs… so they no longer have time, space, and the mentality  to be creative. For example, people in the past (ex: my own parents) had none of our technologies today. This free time inspired them to create their own games, arts, foods, and other healthier forms of fun. They seem to be more creative than the present generation and unfortunately the future ones.

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In conclusion, many societies consider creativity a mysterious threat. Therefore people who feel this way discourage and insult those who use their imagination. One popular issue people face is fitting in their society. Now since this society is against uniqueness and originality, then people automatically give up on creativity in order to get accepted by their society. So as sad as it may sound, there is no actual reason for people to be creative anymore. 

Language & Culture Identity

Culture is a way of life which consists of many factors influencing and creating it such as traditions, music, technology, history, race, religion, and many more. The most important factor forming a person's culture in my opinion is his language. Language is the basic way to communicate with people, without it, how could we express our emotions, ideas and knowledge? Would they even exist without language? Therefore, in terms of our culture, language allows people to communicate, pass on and learn certain ideas, emotions and knowledge which define their identities.

In her article First Person, Raekha described the struggle she faced by not inheriting the Indian language from her father. She was frustrated by the fact that she couldn’t communicate with her own family. This was very challenging to her since she was an Indian by appearance but lacked the most important "tool" to learn more about her culture. Raekha was lost between 2 worlds, she was struggling between learning a culture of Indian standards, and the intensity of her western liberal British culture. She was confused, helpless, and miserable. How could she learn about her Indian culture if her own father ripped away her only tool?! Her identity was blurry. How could she become the person she was meant to be, if there was no way for her to be able to understand and learn it from her family? SHE NEEDED TO LEARN HINDI IN ORDER TO FEEL THAT SHE BELONGS TO HER CULTURE.

Language allows the learning of religion, concepts, standards, and beliefs. By learning her father's language, Raekha would finally be able to perceive the world the way he did, to understand why he cried when he listened to certain songs, why he laughed with his Indian friends. She simply wanted to have a sense of belonging to her family, community, culture, and finally to her true identity. Language can either be a barrier or the key to a person's identity depending on how it is used. Her father, wanting to protect her in Britain, gave her the weapon of the English language without being distracted by Hindi. He protected her for a short while in school and such. But the truth is that he was going to scar her for the rest of her life. As she grew older, she ended up going back to India. She felt embarrassed, crippled, and most of all… hurt. English, once a weapon, became a barrier between Raekha and her family. She was judged hard by them because they assumed that she abandoned her own culture. To them, language was simply passed on. But to her, it was detached without even getting to choose.

In conclusion, a person cannot understand his culture without learning its language. There are many people out there like Raekha who haven't learnt anything about their cultural identity because they were consumed and pushed to fit in a different community. But each person will ask himself someday: who am I? Some will "just try" to fight in order learn their culture starting by their language. This will definitely be a magnificent journey to finding their self-identity.  

Blissful Coke

Polar bears, Christmas trucks, Happiness Factory, Avatar, Jinx... what do they all have in common? When I think of them and add some RED to the picture, I think of Coca-Cola. One of the most creative and attractive advertisements I have seen are those for Coca-Cola. they make you smile, don't they?

Take the Polar Bears commercial for example, who would argue that it did not create a peaceful inspiring and pleasant feeling while watching it? The main attractive techniques used were the background music, pleasant colors, and simply the story of bears' family all unified by Coca-Cola. What is also interesting about this commercial is that it targets small kids' age groups so that they become overwhelmed by this product from when they are young.

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But Coca-Cola does not only target kids, it also addressed teenagers which are the main consumers. Now there is the Coca-Cola Avatar commercial. What a smart way to associate contemporary ideas into marketing! Avatar is recognized by more and more people, but adding Coca-Cola to it makes it seem as if it is everywhere at any time! The message from this commercial is opening Coca-Cola creates happiness

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Thirdly, there is the Coca-Cola Jinx commercial which I personally found different from the rest, which is not a good thing... It targets adult age groups focusing on reality and politics... POLITICS!!Republics and Democratic is the last thing I would want as advertisement. I also did not like this video because it is not creative and animated like the rest. The audience became used to the previous vigorous breath-taking  advertisements, to the extent that this commercial simply did not fit in. 

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There is also another political point of view regarding this product. Many Arabs rejected this product due to its past association with Israel. Many prefer Pepsi (competitor) which stayed out of Israel.

Coca-Cola has done a remarkable job advertising the product. But through employing my knowledge so far about the 2 sides of the media, I discovered a new aspect of Coca-Cola. In fact I was shocked when I realized that when it started, Coca-Cola's main ingredients were cocaine and caffeine! The brand name Coca-Cola is derived from the coca leaf, and caffeine from kola nut. Currently, Coca-Cola has the coca flavor by using leftovers from the cocaine extractions instead of the fresh cocaine leaves. That is obtained from Mallinckrodt, which is the only country in the U.S. licensed to purify cocaine for medical use. The Coca-Cola factory won they case raised by the U.S. government to remove cocaine from its formula.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola#Use_of_stimulants_in_formula)

Now this leads to the question; Would people stop consuming Coca-Cola if they discovered the truth? Or would the media make them unconsciously accept Coca-Cola selling them happiness throughdrugs?

IRONY IN MEDIA

One of the unforgettable events in my life is meeting Nick Vujicic. Nick is a 25 year old man, but has no arms and no legs. He has accomplished more than most people even twice his age. He is a speaker who goes from one country to another in order to share with students, teachers, men and women about his massive achievements in life, inspiring them to follow their dreams. Having heard his lecture, there are many things which I know I will remember forever. For example, Nick said that when you want to do something and the whole world tell you that you can't, then "get a second opinion". Nick encourages people that everything is possible and opportunities arouse from failures. All people need inspiration and we must all focus on our strengths and not weaknesses. Nick said that he has something which no-one could take away from, that is his beautiful and gorgeous eyes.

I was so touched and inspired by Nick's lecture, and I went up stage and gave him a hug. I told him, "Your eyes ARE beautiful". He replied, "Thank you, I love you". I was shivering after that moment because of this admirable person who is a true hero and role-model.

In my opinion, Nick Vujicic deserves admiration for his strength, determination and endurance. But I got irritated when I saw people hugging him for the sake of taking a picture with him. I mean by that, that they used his publicity and fame. They were so excited to take a picture with Nick Vejucic in order to share this picture on Facebook, or their BlackBerries.

I know many people would love to take a picture with other famous figures such as performers, or actors, and many people want to take pictures next to famous landmarks such as Eiffel Tower or the Egyptian Pyramids. I don't mind that, because it is considered a "cool", and keeping a good memory. Normally, people take pictures for 3 reasons, to remember, to share and to show. But maybe I am over-reacting to people taking pictures with Nick Vejucic because I think he deserves to be treated equally, and respectfully. He should NOT be treated as if he were an attractive figure or like a media attraction object. I think he should be treated in a more valued manner because he IS unique and not the same as the other celebrities.

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MY GOALS FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR

Another school year has begun, and I'm already staying up to get my homework done. What is unique about this year is that it is my senior year J and what is even more special is that I am a full diploma student. I am trying my preeminent ability to survive this second year of IB and pass with acceptable and satisfactory scores.

Similar to each year, I lay down certain long-term goals for myself both personal and associated with school for me to achieve by the end of the year. I discovered that this is pretty motivating and practical. In every class, I have internal as well as external assessments I am accountable for.

In English A2, these evaluations vary between oral commentaries, presentations, exams, written commentaries and more… My core ambition for this class is to excel in all the assessments. This is not as easy as it sounds given that it is expected from me –Riham El Ghoussainy– to excel in most subjects if not all. This calls for a great effort since all subjects demand hard work from me. I learnt and became more skillful at many handy advanced studying techniques during the first year of IB, and developed my studying habits to turn into an improved and more efficient student. For example, my organization skills became better, and I'm making my best effort to forestall procrastination.

In this particular class, I am eager to engage in the topics which we are going to take, research and explore them, read additional connected items in order to refurbish my understanding and knowledge as well as scrutinize different aspects of the topic, and most importantly, try to relate them to myself and culture. This will hopefully improve my thinking which leads to better reflections and results.

Even though I might not get the highest scores in this subject eventually, but at least I will be definite that I had tried the best of my capabilities under my conditions, leaving me with no regrets or doubts. 

The Resistance in relation to 1984

      The poem “The Resistance” is written by Bellamy, Matt, and it relates greatly to the novel 1984 by George Orwell. To begin with, a great theme in the novel was LOVE between Winston and Julia. As mentioned in the poem, “Love is our resistance”, implies that the emotions of love and faithfulness between Winston and Julia will allow them to keep resisting and breaking the rules of the world they live in. knowing of their crime, Winston and Julia are wondering when will the time be when they get caught. Every night, they are in danger because they were breaking the law by thinking, reading, socializing, having sex, going to the Proles, and loving each other. By “will our world come tumbling down” and “will the walls start caving in”, the writer of the poem describes this couple’s fear of the consequences of their actions when the thought police catches them.

     This relates to another theme in 1984 which is the nature of power. The Party focuses on implementing fear in its people so that they do not even think of disobeying the rules. But as Winston and Julia kept constantly breaking the laws, they were expecting anytime the thought police to come upon them. By saying, “Is our secret safe tonight, is this our last embrace?” again implies the huge risks they are taking, in order to be together. Fear is the greatest theme in the poem as well as the novel. By saying, “Quell your prayers for love and peace, You'll wake the thought police, We can hide the truth inside”, Winston is afraid of the thought-police as he rather keeping the “truth” inside his heart and brain than the great suffering that WILL occur to them WHEN they get caught. The poem also says, “it’s outta control”. “It” refers to the actions this couple was doing; they broke the law, but that didn’t stop them. It is like human extinct where they felt satisfaction & compensation in terms of what they were doing.

      “But it could have been right” means that the laws that prevented them from acting as human being should not exist, because loving, thinking and expressing oneself are all human rights. But in the totalitarian world and government, it was considered to be “wrong”. At the same time, the Big Brother in the novel wanted all people to believe that they were living in a Utopian world where everyone lives in harmony and everything done or NOT done is for the best. But in Winston’s opinion, the world he was living in was more like dystopian because it only appears to be a harmonious but in reality it is a suppression of people’s thoughts and emotions.

      In conclusion, this couple’s resistance is love. It is as if Love has finally conquered their fear of the Party. But at the same time, they know that sooner or later, the thought police will capture them so they must enjoy every second they have left together.