Water

           The last group, I felt, brought to light some interesting perspectives for class in their presentation about water scarcity. At first, the short video (of the show Dual Survivors I think) puzzled me, I actually thought they were trying to eat time up. But after it ended, I saw the significance. Despite the fact that the hippy survivor seemed to have spent several days out in this dry landscape, the conviction he expressed during his interview and the fact that back home he does live in a home that reuses much of what is expelled was powerful. With regards to the former, the finite aspect of water is so easily forgotten when you live in the Midwest. I’ve grown up in a house on a lake that drew its water from a natural underground spring, we never had to worry about only being able to apply so much water to the lawn. So when I choose not to flush the toilet, it is more out of concern of the energy that the pump would consume rather than the use or contamination of perfectly clean water.

I also feel that this discussion of water scarcity parallels a larger attitude that especially first world countries like the U.S. seems to suffer from. Many humans, myself included, have a hypersensitivity to controlling their environment (like maintaining a very high degree of cleanliness of body and environment) and is something, if addressed, can help act as a gateway to other problems I feel we have. From the presentation, it seems while water restrictions are present in areas, we continue to move towards increasing accessibility/supply through increased distribution rather than preventing consumption or restricting development in inhabitable areas. Such examples include the proposed pipe from the Great Lakes into the western U.S.. This can be paralleled with our general reliance on our scientific understanding and technological capabilities to survive and be comfortable in areas that would otherwise be dangerous. This generally comes at the cost of resources and habitats. What seems like cultural domination may very well lead to the demise of other cultures (like what happened in Brazil, which is unjust) and eventually even ourselves.