FINAL WEEK
It's been a good run, everyone.
I can't say the note we're left on is the brightest of notes, that's for sure. Though that's the case, I felt there were slivers of optimism. The way I see it, the final lines of the chapter we're given (barring the the document entries) are the perfect way to end the course. "And if, indeed, they are loyal to mother nature, we all might be the better for it." This line informs us of a potential that we experience at several points throughout the term. A potential where we're able to see that there are people who are still willing to fight for a sense of order. The reading displays a dichotomy between two distinct concepts: the loyalty to state and a loyalty to mother nature. I initially thought that "Mother Nature" strictly mean the natural aspects of Latin America, the land that they adopt. But I suppose that the conception of "Mother Nature" in the context of a place to fight in adopts many of the idealistic characteristics that we have discussed in class, liberty, freedom, rights, etc.
The narrative still applies to a few central themes the entire course has dedicated talking about - the processing and reparations of trauma, the attempts to protest in the face of oppression, and the fear of an approaching modernity from another place. Many of these themes seem to pop up throughout the entire term, and the final reading that we're given I think sums up a lot of these characteristics quite perfectly.
I can't say the note we're left on is the brightest of notes, that's for sure. Though that's the case, I felt there were slivers of optimism. The way I see it, the final lines of the chapter we're given (barring the the document entries) are the perfect way to end the course. "And if, indeed, they are loyal to mother nature, we all might be the better for it." This line informs us of a potential that we experience at several points throughout the term. A potential where we're able to see that there are people who are still willing to fight for a sense of order. The reading displays a dichotomy between two distinct concepts: the loyalty to state and a loyalty to mother nature. I initially thought that "Mother Nature" strictly mean the natural aspects of Latin America, the land that they adopt. But I suppose that the conception of "Mother Nature" in the context of a place to fight in adopts many of the idealistic characteristics that we have discussed in class, liberty, freedom, rights, etc.
The narrative still applies to a few central themes the entire course has dedicated talking about - the processing and reparations of trauma, the attempts to protest in the face of oppression, and the fear of an approaching modernity from another place. Many of these themes seem to pop up throughout the entire term, and the final reading that we're given I think sums up a lot of these characteristics quite perfectly.
I really like your comments about this final chapter! Especially the part about sensing optimism for Latin America, and how that resides within the people themselves, who have lived for hundreds of years in tough conditions but who are still fighting for a better life.
ReplyDeleteI like your assessment of the nature situation. Even if we decide that economics take priority over preservation, imaging nature as a collection of individuals who do have rights (in so much as animals can have rights), makes it easier to justify conservation efforts.
ReplyDelete