{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"74540941","dateCreated":"1438556302","smartDate":"Aug 2, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"SelamavitD","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/SelamavitD","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74540941"},"dateDigested":1532653226,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"American Values ","description":"http:\/\/aithiopspsyche.blogspot.com\/2015\/08\/american-value.html<\/a>","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74494163","dateCreated":"1437953830","smartDate":"Jul 26, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"Christian.Sattler","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Christian.Sattler","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74494163"},"dateDigested":1532653226,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"American Values Response ","description":"The Robert Kohls' article, Values Americans Live By, outlines thirteen values that are ingrained and reciprocated by a majority of Americans. The subject of my presentation concerns the mechanisms of market fundamentalism that have enabled, and propagated, environmental exploitation.
\n
\nThe first American value listed in the article is the personal control over the environment. This value began in America during the industrial revolution and has been firmly implanted over the last fifty years. From 1950 to turn of the century, petroleum consumption within the transport sector has rose more than 300%, wood consumption rose 171%, coal consumption increased by 128%, and water consumption swelled by 127%. "Each person in the U.S. contributes more to the global phenomenon [of natural resource consumption] than other people," says Victoria Markham, director of the Center for Environment and Population. However, among Americans there is distinct gap as the degree of resource consumption. High consumption of resources in America are proportional to household wealth. For example, Americans in the top income bracket own 2.8 cars on average, a figure that declines with decreasing wealth.
\n
\nThe seventh value purported in the article Values Americans Live By is competition and free enterprise. Kohls' ends the description emphasizing "that free enterprise is the approach most often preferred in America." This statement eludes to the term Market Fundamentalism which is defined as the belief that free-market economies are the best, and only, policy suited to solve social and economic problems. Free-market economies encourage a poor carbon policy that promotes pollution. Free-enterprise accelerates economic growth, but does so at the expense of natural resource reserves.
\n
\nLifestyle Choices Affect U.S. Impact on the Environment, Sandra Yin, 2006.
\n
\nWhat Would Milton Friedman Do About Climate Change? Tax Carbon, Jeff Mcmahon, 2014.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74471301","dateCreated":"1437603130","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"EvanSzy","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/EvanSzy","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74471301"},"dateDigested":1532653226,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"American Values Response","description":"My topic is about the corporate response to environmental change. My working thesis is that the major energy companies in North America are starting to wake up to the fact that there is a profit to be made by working towards sustainable energy, and there are those companies that are engineering the future of energy right now.
\n
\nThe two values I have selected are competition and free enterprise, and future orientation. These companies are incentivized to both pursue and downplay the need for sustainable energy based on the market. The first company to breakthrough could corner the market on renewables. On the other hand, it is expensive to research these modes, which would cut into the short-term profit. The second value, future orientation, is interesting to explore: are these companies going to 'realize the future,' or continue with the status quo until the bubble bursts. These issues certainly influence companies' decision-making, as they exist to make a profit. They have to be incentivized to not ignore these values in a way other than just being environmentally conscious.
\n
\nThese values help to understand the issue because they, perhaps more than any of the other 11, allow us to see the issue through the corporate model. That is not to say it is a good thing, but helps make explaining the decisions these companies make appear less murky.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74470049","dateCreated":"1437590333","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"aahmed128","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/aahmed128","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74470049"},"dateDigested":1532653227,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Values Americans Live By and the Racial Wealth Gap","description":"My final presentation will examine the contributing factors of the widening racial wealth gap in the United States as well as the ways in which changes in targeted public policy issues could lessen the gap. The two American values that I believe relate to my chosen topic the most are Equality\/Egalitarianism and Competition and Free Enterprise. The drastic and expanding wealth gap in the United States undermines the American value of Equality\/Egalitarianism and, conversely, exaggerates the value of Competition and Free Enterprise. Kohls describes equality as one of the most cherished values for Americans, however research conducted by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University and public policy organization Demos concluded that, in 2011, the median White household had $111,146 in wealth holdings, compared to $7,113 for the median Black household and $8,348 for median Latino household. The disparities in wealth among races can, among other things, be traced back to historical inequalities in opportunities for the advancement in education, business, and homeownership. In describing the value of Competition and Free Enterprise, Kohls notes \u201cAmericans feel strongly that a highly competitive economy will bring out the best in its people\u201d and \u201cthe society that fosters competition will progress most rapidly.\u201d By observing the wealth gap of the United States on the surface and through the lens of the Competition and Free Enterprise value, one can be lead to believe that those with the most capital are the best and most progressive in the American society. In my opinion, this is an extremely exaggerated point of view that doesn\u2019t take into account family inheritance, access to higher education, and other barriers to the economic growth of minorities.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74469967","dateCreated":"1437589510","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"jadaearl","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jadaearl","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74469967"},"dateDigested":1532653227,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"July 22","description":"My presentation will discuss the Keystone XL pipeline and what it means in the broader context of Canadian oil sands, climate change, and U.S. politics. My thesis generally asserts that the pipeline project simultaneously upholds and contradicts American values. Directness\/openness\/honesty and personal control over the environment are key examples of this duality. The Alberta industrial project, the pipeline's path over the Ogallala aquifer, the track record of the Keystone pipeline (already in use), and the amount of funding pumped into this project (versus sustainable energy production\/storage projects) all clearly illuminate the blatant disregard for natural systems and their importance for human life. The politics surrounding the project and its funding, the attempts to silence scientific opinion, the policing of citizens and their property, and many other clandestine activities related the Keystone XL pipeline contradict the honesty value. Unfortunately, people who do not know much about this issue assume our media outlets and political leaders exercise honesty\/openness\/directness when it comes to environment\/business relations, so they do not question the validity of these individuals\/organizations when they say "this project will bring many jobs; it is very safe; it will make us independent from foreign oil". Comparing the values we read about and my research on my topic has been helpful because these values are true for many people yet they can also be co-opted for the gain of few at the detriment of many.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74469781","dateCreated":"1437587656","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"kheonziafranklin","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/kheonziafranklin","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74469781"},"dateDigested":1532653227,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"the valkues americans live by ","description":"In my presentation will researching the negative effects on drinking bottle water and the lack of regulations on bottle water. Competition and free enterprise and directness, openness, and honesty all relate to my topic in some type way. The way competition and free enterprise relate to my topic is because the companies that sell bottle water are in competition to see who has the best water and can make more profit from it no matter if the water can affect your health . Also free enterprise relate to my topic because most companies think that the states shouldn\u2019t have control on how their product is made and they should regulate the product either. Lastly directness, openness, and honesty relates to my topic because the companies tell the truth on how their product is better than the next company. Plus you also have consumer\u2019s reviews on their products which point out the flaws in the product.
\nI don\u2019t think that competition and free enterprise and directness, openness, and honesty influence the way people think about or discuss the issue on bottle because people think that water is something that you need and it is looked as a healthy product. Also when people talk about product in a positive or negative manner it\u2019s just looked as a review. People don\u2019t listen to the way a product can harmful unless if they can see it or if it is happen to them so therefore it doesn\u2019t have an influenced on the way it is viewed. I don\u2019t think the connection of these values and my topic improve the understanding of the issues because everybody values are different and all Americans don't live by these values.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74468997","dateCreated":"1437581288","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"grantbuehrer","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/grantbuehrer","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74468997"},"dateDigested":1532653227,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Values Americans Live by in the context of my Presentation","description":"For my final presentation, I will be examining the adverse environmental effect that loans given by organizations like the IMF and World Bank have on developing countries. While looking at the article "Values that Americans Live by" I immediately saw a connection between the predatory loan agreements that the IMF and World Bank and the American Ideal of Personal Control over the environment. The creation of the IMF and World Bank were implemented primarily by the United States, in many ways it has led to this Ideal being forced upon developing nations. In many developing nations, the IMF and World Bank will lobby representatives of the developing countries' political systems to push the policy move of less regulations on the environment. This in turn leads to the degradation of the environment in each of these countries and promotes the ideal of Humans being masters of the environment. A second American Value that I see as prevalent in the ideal of Change as a good thing. In many of the countries that these global financial institutions loan money to, there is a clear consensus that change is not necessarily a good thing. Similar to the effects that the first ideal had, has led to the deregulation under the guis that change is a good thing. It is clear that American Values have had a negative effect on developing countries.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74468989","dateCreated":"1437581243","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"AleksandrP","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/AleksandrP","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74468989"},"dateDigested":1532653227,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Values Americans Live By","description":"The topic of my presentation is the future environmental problems in Ukraine and how it relates to European Union and United States actions. At first the topic of my presentation seemed has no relationship to any of American values, but I believe that current situation has. Before knowing the traditional values of the United States, I had a hard time to understand why this country behaves that way. I have chosen two American Values from the list of thirteen that reflects the idea and what work being done. First is the \u201cpersonal control over the environment\u201d. Environment is the part of the world that all humans should care about. Americans think that they have power over everything and it is impossible to accept that there is something that cannot be achieved.
\nUkraine is the young country that got into problematic situation and cannot pull itself out of it so easy. The most dramatic event is the history of Ukraine is nuclear accident that happened on 26 April 1986. This disaster left many acres of land empty. Unfortunately, western civilization has its own plan of how to use that land. International Monetary Fund gives loan to Ukraine but in return they want reduction of environmental standards. Lowering these standards mean that European Union and Unites States can take control over Ukraine environment in this special zone and bring their own nuclear waste to bury.
\nSecond is the \u201cchange\u201d. I believe that \u201cvalue\u201d is most valuable for America. Considering that any change is good can hurt. Unluckily, for many countries change is not the main priority for development and progress. Pushing other countries to make significant changes give unpredictable results.
\nAmerican values helped me to understand how important the issue that I will be presenting. If two countries have different values, fast change will hurt that relationship.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74468811","dateCreated":"1437579187","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"JasonHess","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/JasonHess","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74468811"},"dateDigested":1532653227,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"The Values Americans Live By in comparison with my research presentation","description":"For my final presentation for the semester, I will discuss the consequences of the IMF economically on developing nations. Within the article "The Values Americans Live By," we can start to draw connections between some of the deeply held American values highlighted and those held by the IMF(International Monetary Fund). As it is today, the United States holds a disproportionate amount of voting power at 17.68% within the IMF. This understandably puts american values including that of free enterprise and competition in width many IMF's decisions. This ideology and value of free enterprise and competition was implemented into Haiti by the IMF as a way for them to grow economically. In contrast the increased competition from American rice companies put Haiti's farmers out of work, so much that today nearly half of their rice comes from 1 United States company. Another American value that is also prevalent to the IMF is that of change. this value is understood as that change is good and promotes economic growth and development. Essentially the intrusion of the IMF on Haitians lives by the change in policy can be contributed to the value of change found in American and the IMF today. This change although thought of as a positive for few, has had a negative effect on Haitian culture and economic development. Many ways of life in Haiti were ultimately undermined. The reading today supplied me with further ideas an how to advance and refine my research for the upcoming presentation on how values can affect the IMF and their decisions.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]},{"id":"74468275","dateCreated":"1437572877","smartDate":"Jul 22, 2015","userCreated":{"username":"Nick.Schrader","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Nick.Schrader","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/cs2367-08-su15.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/74468275"},"dateDigested":1532653227,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Values Americans Live By","description":"My final presentation will be about how Akon is bringing relief to Africa by providing free power and is fighting the economic wealth gap and government deregulation. After reading the article, \u201cValue Americans Live By,\u201d two main values caught my in relation to my topic. Change is huge in current day Africa. We always hear about deadly diseases coming out from there, warfare happening in northern parts, and even genocides. All of these changes are for the worse. Akon has stepped in changed it for the better by giving them a chance to harness this solar power energy and make great use out of it. Over time they have not been able to advance because they did not have the technology to, now they have the opportunity too and Africa will change because of this. The next value they have is self-help control. Akon has set up a free university so that the people of Africa can go to it and educate themselves on solar panels, so that they can take their knowledge and bring it back to their village and help maintain the new solar panels. This shows dedication in the people of Africa to where they are getting degrees so they can better their own lives and others. This has helped my understanding a lot because it has given me new ideas to talk about thus giving me a better chance at writing a better speech.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[],"more":0}]}],"more":true},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}