Monday, February 14, 2011
100 Years From Now
Looking a hundred years into the future what do we think that the future students would say about the Letters From An American Farmer? Will this "machine" that we discussed for the brief time in class slow down or at least leave certain areas alone. I think it is safe to say that it will never stop because I don't think its possible. I say this because I live in a community that is mostly farming and have notice over time how land has been lost due to expansion of cities and most recent the airport taking my neighbors land to extend the runway 1000 feet. What happens when the land is gone and the "machine" has no where to go? As long as I am asking this right What might the future students say that differs from what was said in class or what might they say in general due to the way things are going now? I hope I am making some sense here.
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I don't think the 'machine' will ever slow down, until it has no where else to go. But even then, technology will find a way to get us out into space (what a very appropriate background for this blog), and the machine will just continue what it's been doing all along. And that's the thing about America. We are constantly looking to improve ourselves, with the latest technology, that it is inevitable that the 'garden' will be gone soon. Perhaps students 100 years from now won't even know of a time where everything wasn't all 'machine'.
ReplyDeleteIf I may be so bold, wbrenner, how could you have not brought this matter up in class yesterday?!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteAgain, I know that my referring to Leo Marx was a bit unfair, because I decided not to bring him formally into class discussion just yet. Neverthless, one of his points is that the machine has always been in the garden and that we see this come out in our recent attempts--often under the banner of "green initiatives"--to protect the natural landscape. For instance, look at Rock Creek Park, which is National Park Service property. The only way to maintain the natural landscape of the park is by employing all manner of machinery: squad cars to patrol the land, road crews to keep the roads through the park in working order (so as to keep people on the roads and out of the woods), a whole bunch of maintenance personnel (and machinery) to maintain the "naturalness" of the land. It's all paradoxical, in short.
I do not think it is possible to reverse or clean up the mess we've made with our "machine". I'm no educated environmentalist but as Professor Fisher said, even our green initiatives revolve around technology and manpower, which add to the problem. I'm taking a Geology class right now and we've discussed the consequences of our species' actions...when the land runs out, our days are numbered. The Earth itself may (will?) recover from our damage over some thousands of years, but we'll be long gone.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to note that this subject matter is often present throughout history...especially now, as saving the planet (more accurately: our species) seems to be a priority.
I agree that the "machine" will not stop encroaching on all that is new and natural. My neighborhood in Queens, NY is located a few miles from Rockaway Beach and is surrounded by a bay. It used to be all marshland until the land was filled and it was turned into a town, leaving only a small public bird sanctuary as a tribute to the "nature" in our community. This occurred 100 years ago, and there is no telling what nature will be left in the next 100 years. It is certain, however, that nothing will be left unindustrialized. The wish to escape from society and experience true freedom from laws and rules is connected with the pastoral idea that we discussed in class. Only going back to nature and in some cases, living off the land can provide a true sense of freedom. In 100 years, the attempt to escape the grips of the 'machine' may be fruitless, for there might be nowhere to escape to (unless as Rachel said, we go to space). In fact, one would be hard pressed to find a place of true freedom today.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the "machine" will never stop moving. Unfortunately, its basically human nature that we are never satisfied with what we have. We have to keep growing, improving, industrializing, ect. to fulfill supply and demand (our economy) and society's needs. Green initiatives are successful in reducing pollution bit by bit, not in stoping the "machine". Like we talked about in class, will there always be a "frontier" that people can escape to? or will the "machine" always follow? I dont really know the answer to this, but based off of history, society always catches up
ReplyDeleteIt is a very American sentiment to live in the now and to not fully consider the long-term effects of our actions. Most of us don't think about what will happen when we don't have any more land left because that is so far off into the future and doesn't effect us. And since society is constantly altering, what is important in that society is also changing. Therefore, farmers have been taken over by technology and the "machine." However, going along what Professor Fisher said, I agree with the environmental worldview of "environmental stewardship." It says that, since humans are an intelligent species, it is thus our duty to help the environment since other animals who exploit it do not have the capability of doing so to the extent that we humans do. Therefore, we should use the technology we have created that has exploited our land in order to try to save it and bring it back to its "natural" state as much as possible, or at least to preserve what we still have. I think Crevecoeur would agree with that sentiment.
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