Assignment 6

Secretary of Energy of São Paulo

Today we went to see the Secretary of Energy for the State of São Paulo.

Hearing what that had to say definitely gave me hope.  As I have learned more and more about the extreme barriers that need to be overcome in order to actually run on nearly renewable energy sources. I think that São Paulo and Brazil as a whole really is setting an example of what is really possible, so that we can stop degrading our environment not only in a way that hurts our wildlife, but basically running a clock that will eventually stop.

That clock is for traditional energy sources as well as all the people involved in harvesting them. When that clock stops, there will be many people without work. By moving to renewable energy, we can create new jobs for many people as well give our environment a break.

Seeing the numbers that Brazil was starting to get close to 50% for operating on renewable energy and seeing that the state of São Paulo was already at 60% was really staggering. I was very surprised that there was actually a place that has made this much progress in terms of adapting renewable energy and kicking the habit of fossil fuels.

One of the questions that I had asked to the Secretary was the status of the mindset for your average Paulistano for renewable energy. If there is one thing that I have learned about adapting renewable energy it is that a whole other element of is changing the way of the people to see the merit of something new, because as with anything, change is hard. The Secretary had given a thorough explanation of all the different tax incentives that are provided with adaption as well as how they plan to instruct the people about the importance of making the switch to sustainable energy.

Another thing about today’s presentation that really stuck out to me was that everything that was presented had a very strong sense of authenticity and legitimacy. I heard nothing but cogent reasoning and logic today from the Secretary as well as some very plausible numbers that I think were quite emblematic of where things stand as well where things need to go. My biggest takeaway was optimism. I think as São Paulo and Brazil as a whole further develops its renewable energy, the world can follow suit. I think every day as a society we learn more about the best method for every place for replacing traditional energy sources with renewable ones. I was very moved by today’s presentation, to see that there was a lot of real action occurring, and that things can only improve as more people learn about the need for sustainable energy as well as further technology development for minimizing impact to the environment.

Culture Assignment 3

Favelas in Brazil

The favela is an incredible thing. It is a microcosm. It is a mechanism that some might call parasitic, but in its own way is self-sustaining, at the same. 

The favela is in a constant battle for equilibrium, on that is unreachable. As in the article and in the movie City of God, there is always another contender trying to take the throne, always another drug trafficker trying to expand what he already controls. It is this violence, this unquenchable thirst which exists by the drug traffickers in the City of God, which continues to perpetuate the nature of the favela itself.

As in the case of the film, drug traffickers, gang leaders, or other positions of power within a favela start with early recruitment. this early recruitment creates a visage for the children who are born and raised in these favelas, setting primarily one goal in their mind, "how can I be like them?". "I want to have power just like them". It is this allurement that creates a continuation, so that when it seems when some major change has occurred, when a key player in the favela has died, the change is not so major. There is another person ready to assume the role, and to continue pushing drugs and try to grow or expand their own empire. This dance is not disconnected from the role that these drug traffickers in the favelas have with local law enforcement.

Local law enforcement plays a dance with these drug traffickers that has continued just as long as these favelas have existed. The police attack, trying to create what they perceive as "order", or change from the outside, while the traffickers are prepared for any attack that the police might throw at them, with a whole network of sentries ready to sound their alarm should they see the police. In the article as well as in the movie, the idea of having police come in to change the behavior of the favelas is seen as positive by those outside of it, but rather it is merely bringing to light an ongoing dance that continues to exist between these two parties.

Although there might be by large chaos between the favelas and the state, in the city of God something rather interesting can be observed. In the film as well as in an interview by a man who calls a favela home, there is actually a sense of order. People help each other out and are mostly friendly with each other. The article and the film dabble in the idea that the favela works to protect its business interests, and this is axiomatically true. The favela wants to keep pushing its drugs and other illegal paraphernalia in order to keep money flowing through it.

I believe where this violence that occurs, this media coverage, the horror that people outside of the favela view the favela is merely an example of ideology that is lost in translation. The law enforcement wants to disrupt the ecosystem of the favela in order to get rid of the drugs with the belief that they can restore order if they eliminate the right people. The drug traffickers, those whose run the favela, want to push drugs so that they can have relative tranquility within their favela and so their society can continue happily. The means of what is "right" is definitely the focal point in terms of the ongoing battle that occurs between the two forces attempting to eradicate each other. 

Unsurprisingly in both the film as well as in the article, the idea of media coverage is very strong. Surprisingly, the traffickers of the favela though want this media coverage. They want the world to see them as a threat, to see that there is a struggle going on between the favela and the state. Not only does this help the gang leaders gain notoriety and establish control in their territory, but it helps to further preserve the divide that exists between the favela and the state. If the outside world sees the favela as a society of evil, nobody would want to go there, and by keeping people out, the favela can continue to operate as it does. This notion is how the favelas have survived.

Assignment 5

Thoughts on Renewable Energy

When I first came here, I knew that the world was pushing to get off of renewable energy, and I didn't know a whole lot more beyond that. I knew some basic types of renewable energy sources, but still my knowledge had remained rather limited. 

I have learned an immense amount in terms of how alternative energy sources actually work and how they all play a large role in terms of moving towards sustainable energy. I had never truly had a good understanding of some of the numbers that went into solar for example, and I had never really pondered the ideal that the terms and adjectives that we use to describe renewable energy are so ubiquitously obfuscated, and that we lack clarity on where we really stand as a society in terms of what amount of effort, what amount of land, and what amount of money it would take to work to make the transition off of traditional fossil fuels.

I have also gained a much larger insight in terms of what some of the negative externalities are for creating or adapting existing infrastructure in our pursuit of sustainable energy. When I thought about hydroelectricity, I would never think to consider all the other possible environmental effects that it could have beyond just creating energy.

There is one thing that I have come to realize about sustainable energy in terms of what we need to do. I think there is an enormous uphill battle ahead of us. The amount of energy that we use vs the amount of renewable we can produce are not close, and both of these numbers are only likely to grow with time. After everything that we have learned, I think that as a society we won't make a really significant push towards renewable energy until the average citizen feels the effects of running on traditional fossil fuels, or rather, what it might be like to live without them. I have learned in what cases our technology has continued to grow to help us further make the transition, but our challenges that we will have to face as well continue to grow, namely population and land use.

I think that we will make it there though, but not for a long time, maybe even a few generations. The problem is, that it is likely we will see the effects of running out of fossil fuels to burn in our lifetime, and I believe when that happens, that is when we will see the biggest change. At that point, we will have no other choice if we want to continue living our current lifestyle. However, we still won't have an answer, because at least where we are now, we still need large amounts of land for things like biofuels and solar, and large amounts of water for things like hydroelectric. This doesn't even go to mention our environmental effects.

I have learned throughout this course that we are in a battle for balance. A battle between trying to control how much energy the average consumer uses via distribution of information; between capitalizing on what limited resources we do have to move towards sustainable energy like land and water; between creating capital for all of these projects; and between doing this all in a way that minimizes our environmental impact. This is an absolutely tall order, but I suppose in terms of our start I think it is fair to say, better late than never.

Culture Assignment 2

Culture comparison

The Roots of Brazil dabbles with the ideas of the cordial man as core culture identities that make up Brazil. The same core identities can be observed in Que Horas Ela Volta.

The first example is the idea that the cordial man of Brazil feels exiled, in the sense that they come from the Iberian Peninsula, a more “civilized” part of the world, and that when they made the voyage across the Atlantic to Brazil, they arrived in an unfamiliar land. The Iberians, that is Spaniards as well as the Portuguese, felt exiled because they experienced similar feelings to exile; a harsh unknown land with an unknown journey with unknown people. A similar sentiment can be observed in Que Horas Ela Volta, when the daughter decides to come to São Paulo to not only study, but to live in the house of her mother’s boss. Jessica is in her own way experiencing the symptoms of the native Brazilian’s “exile”, Jessica doesn’t know what to expect and how to behave in this new area that she is now calling home. The culture shock and friction that Jessica experiences in São Paulo parallelizes a similar endeavor that the Iberians faced when coming to the land of Brazil.

The strong contrast in culture experienced by the Iberians can be further extrapolated to the notion of a laissez-faire relaxed life that is emblematic in Brazil. The cordial man upholds the value not to overburden himself with work, so that he does not incur further hardship which would detract from a relaxed mindset. This indeed too, is clearly represented in Que Horas Ela Volta, by the father Carlos and the son Fabinho. They both remain a very calm and relaxed lifestyle, not overburdened by work, free to enjoy life’s pleasures. However, similarly to how a cordial man of Brazil is often faced with a mirror from North America, asking for introspection and reconsideration of one’s lifestyle, the same interpretation holds true for Carlos and Fabinho, as they receive not only pressure from their housemaid Val and Carlos’ wife Barbara, but from the outside world as well as Fabinho prepares to enter university.

Although there is pressure that the cordial Brazilian man receives, where it be of internal or external forces, there is also a power that draws the family together. Val, having worked with this family for many years, is in a way a part of the family. She buys gifts for them, feels a closeness to all of its members, and holds a particularly strong penchant for the son, Fabinho. The cordial man feels this as well, with his interests placed primarily for that of himself and those immediate to him as well. This strong tie, this powerful sentiment that is nearly ubiquitous across all of Brazilian life, also brews a rather interesting conflict. There is a large conflict that exists between the civic duties and the personal duties, with unintended prioritization as well as amorphous boundaries being created. Val exhibits a profound case of this, with her potent fondness of Fabinho which is far from kindship. This conflict between her love of the family and her role as a housemaid brews some unintended feelings, particularly from Barbara, whose ideology emphasizes civic duty over personal duty, a reverse prioritization from that of Val. The cordial man experiences these feelings too, as they consider what is best for their family, and can sometimes digress to their civic duties.

The primary personal nucleus however still strongly prevails, as the cordial man’s personal life centers around that of his immediate friends and family. He might fail to thoroughly seek out those that are around him, not only echoing the sense of exile that he feels but this also CREATES a lack of infrastructure for the cordial man to seek out his possible peers, and this infrastructure is public space. Throughout Brazil, even in such bustling metropolises like São Paulo, there is little to no public space. This part of daily life is demonstrated as well in Que Horas Ela Volta, where effectively the entire film centers around family and close friends. There is no public space demonstrated, there is just a divide, a divide that exists between others outside of one’s circle.