Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

I think the environmental concern that is most important would be the feeding eight billion people well section. I feel that this issue is most important because some countries do not have enough land to adequately feed their own people.  This concern connects to the course concept of a commitment to community awareness and involvement in order for students to know the issues related to economic, social, and ecological sustainability, analyze and evaluate ecological issues locally and globally. The best way to work toward this sustainable solution either as individuals or as a society would be to raise land productivity, raise water productivity, produce protein more efficiently, localize agriculture, and to reduce demand. The definition of sustainability does address in the solution since in the world food economy achieving an acceptable balance between supply and demand includes reducing demand as well as expanding supply. For example, China has so many people that they are facing growing food insecurities due to the overuse of resources, which will drive them into an ultimate collapse.

            The place where I would want to live would probably be in the suburbs relatively close to the beach and inside a nice community. My home would contribute to sustainability in ways, which it would not consume and waste as many resources as a normal household demands. Some examples are, replacing regular light bulbs with energy saving bulbs, turning off my air conditioning and the lights when I am not at home in addition to utilizing shower heads that are low flow.  I am concretely and realistically going to work towards living in a place like this in the near future because I will keep reminding myself that the environment is here for everyone to use, not just for myself. I think the only barriers that might get in the way of living this lifestyle would be the expense and the inconvenience of switching to a greener household.  However, I plan to overcome these barriers by becoming more selfless and shopping smarter so that I can have the best of both worlds; not spending a lot of money and using products that are more environmentally friendly.

Lester R. Brown, author of Plan B 4.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization

Cycle of achieving food sustainability

Reasons as to why people go hungry

A Land Remembered

The character I chose from A Land Remembered is Toby. Toby is the half brother of Sol with Zech being their same father yet Tawanda being Toby’s mother and Glenda being Sol’s mother. Toby relates to the environment since Toby grew up in an Indian village where, in order to survive, all they had was the natural world around them. Also, Toby and the Indian villagers were taught to appreciate the land and not take it for granted as it is here for everyone to use. I think Toby feels a sense of place right in his own village since not only is it the place where he grew up but also where he feels most at home and comfortable living the way that he does. For example, when Zech gives Toby a Winchester rifle and a hunting knife I think Toby feels grateful for receiving such wonderful gifts; however, Toby does not end up using them when he teaches Zech how to fish with a spear since that is not what he is accustomed to. 

Growing up, Toby was ridiculed by other children because of his white father but respected by adults due to his MacIvey blood within him. Because of this, I think one of the legacies that Toby will leave behind is that it does not necessarily matter what you look like but rather who you are as a person. Toby happily marries Minnie; has three children and becomes the village chief while his half brother Sol has other plans. After his father’s death, Sol becomes power hungry to a point where all he cares about is leaving a mark with his money. His strong obsession for domination and greed drives him into a depressive state of control and he ends up ruining the forest.

Toby comes to hate Sol after what he has done and decides to avoid all contact with Sol for almost half a century. This goes to show Toby’s strong love of nature and how much of a role model he is for his kids. His children will look back on the legacy of no matter who the person is or what connections you may have with the person, if they destroy something that is precious to you, it should not be tolerated which he has left for them. I believe the main reason I picked Toby is because of who he is. Toby did not have an easy life with Zech not being around much in his life to his mother dying at such a young age and even suffering within his own community because he looked different. All the more so, Toby maintained his pride, honor and sanity no matter what trouble he came face to face with.

Map of Florida in A Land Remembered

Picture of the MacIvey's in A Land Remembered

Patrick Smith, author of A Land Remembered

Koreshan State Park

Cyrus Reed Teed was very narcissitic and considered himself to be the next messiah. He would bring followers to Estero in 1894 to build the "New Jerusalem" for his new faith, Koreshanity. Koreshanity is a set of religious beliefs put forth by Teed himself. Famous sci-fi authors back in the day like Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs, believed that the Earth was hollow and habitable within. So Teed was not too far off from what was considered an acceptable science at the time. He explained that the known world is on the concave, inner surface of a sphere, outside of which there is only a void. However, this concept of the Earth being concave could not be validated or disproved.

A lot of the Koreshan beliefs were more along the lines of social beliefs. The Koreshans did not go to church as they had no church building in their community and they did not have a designated day of worship. Koreshanity is more of a social religion where the goal was to essentially better the community and eventually better the world as they had high aspirations that Koreshanity would be the official religion of the world. Also, unlike many cult leaders, Teed never used his immense power over his followers for personal benefit.

The colony, known as the Koreshan Unity, has an infamous founding that is still unknown to this day but what is known though was that Teed was trying to find his place in this world and trying to find a way to make himself matter by becoming part of a community. Cyrus Teed was trying to build a community from the ground up, however, the only person who truly knows his motivations at the time was none other than Teed himself. The colony began fading after Teed´s death in 1908, and in 1961 the last four members deeded the land to the state. 

The Koreshan community was surprisingly enlightened for its time regarding the equality of the sexes, and many of its earliest followers were women. It was expected in the Koreshan colony that the husband would live in the male dormitory and that the wife would live in the female dormitory. They tried to maintain a sense of purity within the population by seperating the genders. In the Koreshan Unity, the individual was not necessarily the most important thing as this was a communial society where one was always working towards bettering the community as well as towards the common and greater good. All in all, the Koreshans were genuinely productive, a peaceful community, and aside from an unsuccessful attempt into local politics, they got along well with surrounding towns.

Cyrus Reed Teed's residence at Koreshan State Park

Kerosine State Park planetary court

Koreshan Unity Settlement

Koreshanity belief of the concave concept