Analysis on Burtynsky's art work.

• Despite the environment pollution, there is another main topic portrayed through the works from Burtynsky which is poverty. Among his pieces which belong to anthropocene, there are a number of picture that reveals the impacts poverty has on people. By taking pictures from slums in different areas, it directly reflects the life of local people. In addition, there are some specific photo that Burtynsky especially compared the different living condition for people in poverty and those who are not. 
• For example, the picture named Makoko #2 reveals the situation of one of the largest slums in the world located in Nigeria. As it shown below, people in Makoko all living on floating houses that built on river. Due to the reason of poverty, people in Makoko are living in the condition which have no or little access to electricity, sanitation, clean water and food, and safety environment. specifically, in Makoko since all the community is built on the water, the river itself becomes landfills for local population. In this case, within all the garbage being directly throw to the river, the water is badly contaminated. In addition, without enough sanitation access, people are directly drink the contaminated water coming from river and ended up as being sick because of that.
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• Furthermore, since most of people living in Makoko have a average income below 1 dollar per day. They are less likely to afford the normal spend outside their community. Therefore, in order to support the population in slums keep, living, they managed to create their own economics. People in side Makoko has their own floating market that sells food and daily supports. Therefore, they successfully make the community of makoko become bigger and have a more stable living condition even though it is still way lower than the UN expectancy.
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• Except the development on economics, population in Makoko also built a floating schools within the helps from some volunteer organization. As the society nowadays starting to put more attention on the poverty population, there are more and more people and organization starting to help people in slums in different areas. For example, UN as the biggest organization, plays a crucial role in supporting multiple slums in sanitation. Other helps including, food donation, money donation, and efforts from some organization who are trying to improve the living condition with limited resources they have in slums.
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• The graph above shows the extreme poverty population in the world. As can be seen, even the trend for recent years reveals that the population of poverty is keep dropping. There are still about 10% of world's population in 2013 who living in extreme poverty condition. Basing on the world's population in 2013, we can count that the poverty population in 2013 is approximately 720,000,000 people. In this case, it is still a large population.
• Finally, within the increasing of world's population, there is a high possibility to keep rising which means, the population of poverty will also keep rising. It might become one of the most urgent problems for world to solve in the future.

reflection from Burtynsky

• After watching the slide about Anthropocene,it brought me a strong impacts with all those images showing how badly we are current damaging our planet. It also lead me starting to think how can we do something to save our planet. Within all problems being showed from slides, conflicts like oil spilling, petrochemical plants, oil fracking, and clear cutting should become main concern for us to think about.

• For example, in the slide oil spill #1, it directly point out how can oil spilling severely damage environment. According to the slides, oil spilling can cause heavily damage the local eco-system and society since the area being polluted is abandoned for all tourists including, boating, diving or swimming. In addition, since the water in oil spilling areas are badly contaminated it can also kills all the species living in that areas. Therefore, it not only resulting as the negative impact to local fishing industry, but also causing unbalance of local eco-system. In addition, since oil can not combining together with water and can last for years long without dissolving,  it requires governments or company to pay a huge amount of money in order to clean it. according to the data, each year there will be at least more thousands of tones oil being spilling to environments due to all kinds of reason. Even though now oil spilling start to receive more attention from society within more people realize the crucial to prevent this. the number of oil spilling is still high. Which means, there are still large areas beingi  polluted each year. 

 

• In addition, industry like mining and clear cutting are also destroying the local eco-system, without people knowing. As both the photograph shot by Burtynsky and the analysis slide reveals how can these industries heavily influence the environment. In order to plant palm trees which contains palm oil that has a high economic values. forest in south Africa are largely being destroyed. In this case, it can lead to lost of habitat, break of local eco-system, increasing the possibility of flood, and accelerate the progress of climate change. Furthermore, within the build of plantation such as palm or cotton, it can also damage the local soil. As all known, cotton is one of the plants that dealing worst damage to soil. Therefore, it can impact animals and other plants who use those areas as their habitat. which may eventually result as the disorder of local eco-system. 

• As the video above reveals, clear cutting can also have negative impacts on human. 

 

• As can be found from this graph, during the process of clear cutting, there will be large amount of fossil fuels being burnt and emit CO2 into the atmosphere. Despite that, it also emit gases like methane and Nitrous oxide which are all green house gases.
• As a conclusion, the art works created by Burtynsky directly reveals the situation we are facing right now. By watching, these photograph, it reminds us the importance to immediately react to these phenomenon before its to late.

Unit 3

In this unit, the focus will be on the world economic

Transnational Corporation

• Generally, transnational corporation means those companies who have a large scale of business over several countries. As being corporation that trading or co-operating internationally, corporation itself has not only a huge influence in the business area, but also in political area with the same level of influence to other country. As for the top 500 corporation in the world, the wealth accumulated by those countries have already overcome some of the far periphery or even near core countries. Therefore, it has a crucial position in the formation of world we have today.
  
• However despite the fact transnational corporations have a great influence globally, how can they accumulate the gigantic amount of wealth they have right now?

• As the video reveals, one of the crucial factors that transnational corporation are able to grow to the size they are nowadays is the support from the law. Since the legislate system regulate corporations are able to fund politicians or party as they want, they are  wable to fund the politician that they believe will benefit the corporation. And as for the politician, after being funded by the corporation, they have to looking for the law or policies that can benefits their founder. 
• On the other hand, transnational corporation are able to create trade that can bring them maximum benefit with those countries who are in poor condition. 
  
• In order to maximum the profit, transnational corporation usually set up their  factories in near core countries due to the cheaper labor. Furthermore, as mentioned in last blog concession companies during colonialism will import materials from colonies and export product with higher prize back to the colonies. Similarly, by importing materials from far periphery countries or near core countries with a low price, corporation is able to produce it into products within the least cost and sell it to other country within a common or even higher price. 
• Therefore, within this cycle goes on, transnational corporation are able to grow bigger and bigger.

Colonialism and Concession Company.

• Started from 16th century, within the development in society and technology, the population in Europe experienced a rapid expansion. Meanwhile within more and more new land being found by people during the age of discovery, the idea of colonialism started to plant in people's mind. The idea of colonialism was originally migrating some of the population to the land that had been just found in case to solve the conflicts of overpopulation. As the action of colonization getting bigger, people in Europe also realized how can they benefit from this process which later coming up the idea of concession company.
• The first appearance of concession company can be traced back to 16th century. It was originally formed by a group of merchants as a private trading company. But later then, when European governments started realized the existence of concession company can reduce the economic burden colony put on the government. which means, by giving concession company full authority in the colony, governments in Europe are able to put more budget on enforcing their military forces.
  
• Even though concession company were given the authority to rule the colony. It is still not the reason why can some concession company became extremely powerful. As still being a trading company, the right to trade monopoly is their most important weapon go against other competitors. In most of cases, concession company's business including cash crop, different kinds of ore, and even human labors in the early stages. 
  
• Within concession company importing raw materials in a low prices, produces it into product and sell it back to colony with a price times higher. It brought both government and company a huge amount of wealth. 
• Among all the concession company: British East India Company was one of the most successful and powerful one back to that age.
• In 18th century, British East India Company become to its peak of power. After the Carnatic War, they become the dominant company in India with a formal military forces. In addition, the emperor of India also granted the company the power of diwani which basically means the right to harvest of Bengal, Bihar, and Orisa. Therefore, it makes the company formally having a political influence in the world as a trading company.
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  Since the British East India Company was so successful during its time, it left a significant influence to the Indian society. One of the best evidence to prove that is the widely using of English in India.
• As being a concession company that created for colonialism, British East India Company did leave India some harm during the colonization era. But rather than that, it left India a huge impact not only in society but also in economic.

Unit 2

In this Unit, the topic will mainly around any conflicts that brought by overpopulation.

Life in Slums

• Since the second unit we are focusing on is the conflicts coming with population. The deeper I dig on my research, the more I found about how huge the impact can be within overpopulation. In this section, I will introduce about the situation in slums and the life people who lives there.

• To begin with this section, the first question coming to us is what is slum? There is a common believes that slum is the areas where poor people live. However that is only partly correct. Generally, slum means the area is highly populated in a small urbanized area within a large number of population in poverty.
• Due to the population explosion started at 19 century, the development of fundamental support in city can't meet the speed of the growth in population. Therefore, in order to find better living condition and opportunity, those poor people who live at rural areas, decide to migrant to those big city which are well developed. However, within large population coming to those cities, the endurance of the city was exceeded. Therefore, within less education and economic support, those poor peoples are less likely to find the "better living conditions" they want. As a result, those migrants from rural gathered together and formed the slum area. 

• Generally, slums are lacking of portable water, improved sanitation, durable housing, adequate housing space and security. Since people who lives in slum are extremely poor, daily basis like electricity or water supply become not affordable for them. In this case, there is no secure to the safety of water. Additionally, with the lack of sanitation resources, people who lives in slum are constantly drinking water that is badly contaminated which caused diseases took place cross the slum. Furthermore, slum are also a area that controlled by gangs. Since people who are living in the slums are extremely poor, they are hard for the government to manage. Therefore, it create the situation that a large part of slums are controlled by the gangs.

• Despite the fact that the living condition in slums are below the poverty. the daily life in the slums are not as despair as people's common expected. For example, in slum Kibera which is located in Kenya, since it was originally set up at last century back to the time when Kenya was still a colony. Most residents living in Kibera now are the generation who were born and grew up in the slum. Within the restricted resources for those people to leave the slums, they had never seen the world outside. Therefore, the slum itself is the whole world for those people live in slum. Without comparison to other target, people lives in slum are satisfied by their current living condition. Within the video above, as can be seen, even in a extreme condition like that, children in slum are still laughing happily.

• Eventually, after my researching to slum, I found despite there are more people had already noticed the problems existed in slums and decide to support those slums in their way.  It is still far not enough to solve this problem. Since the reason for those people to live in poverty coming from the overpopulation and the lack of job opportunities. By creating more job opportunities can not solve the conflicts permanently. Unless there is a way to balance the relationship between population and city development, the existence of slums will never end. 
  
• As can be seen in the graph above, even with a high speed of social development the prediction of future slum dwellers is still rising. Despite the fact that the proportion of people who lives in the slums is decreasing. The conflicts of slum is still a rough conflicts to solve as if the population keep growing.