- What do you find either objectionable or salutary about the Native American perspective on ecology and human rights?
- Do you find Hawken's claims about the number of grassroots organizations working toward ecological sustainability and social justice credible?
- Does the planet have a life-threatening disease whose primary symptom is climate change?
- What do you think of Hawken's attitude toward "reconsidering" our place in the environment? What's the relevance of his etymology ("Consider, con sidere, means "with the stars")?
- What are your thoughts on the epigrams from Martha Graham and Barry Lopez on p.9?
- What do you think of the "Mother Earth" and "Gaia" models of ecology? Is humanity part of a singular planetary organism? If so, how do you see our role? (Parasite? Central Nervous System? Antibodies?)
- Is environmentalism still widely perceived as a "children's crusade"? Is that a problem?
- Do you agree or disagree with the statement that one's relationship to the earth is a "true gauge that determines the integrity of one's culture, the meaning of one's existence, and the peacefulness of one's heart"? Elaborate.
- Do we need a Highlander Folk School for environmental activists?
- What do you think of Wade Davis's concept of the "ethnosphere"? Are languages and cultures "unique visions... inherently right?" [Note Davis's TED Talks on this topic.]
- What do you think of the late Christopher Hitchens' view of the Arawaks? (95)
- Is it possible to "discover" an inhabited land? (96)
- Are indigenous peoples better integrated than westerners, in a mind-body sense ("their bodies were not something that merely carried their brain around..." 100)
- ["We Interrupt This Empire"]
- Is it plausible to think of "the movement" as operating independently of any individual person's intent, for the good of the social organism? What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of "Gaia" (141f.)?
- Is "culture jamming" (149) a constructive form of activism?
- How do you regard the "real billionaires" and corporate figures (Soros, Gates, Burffett, Moore, Branson, Omidyar, Skoll...) in the movement?
- Do you agree with what Michael Chabon said to his kid? (154)
- Is "slow" the way to go, in general?
- Is it true that we'll either unify as one species or "will disappear as a civilization"? What do you think healthy unity looks like, intellectually, socially, governmentally?
- ["Restoration"]
- [Add your suggestions here, students]
- What is the the Native American perspective on ecology and human rights?
- How many organizations does Hawken claim may be working toward ecological sustainability and social justice?
- What unprecedented condition now afflicts the planet, according to PH?
- Is Blessed Unrest focused mainly on what's currently wrong on Earth?
- Where does the book's title come from? What does it mean?
- What are "the movement's three basic roots"?
- Do most indigenous cultures distinguish social from environmental movements?
- What & where was the Highlander Folk School? (80) [Ask me about this place, I stayed there for a weekend once.]
- Who was Fitzroy? A: Darwin's captain on the Beagle, full of missionary zeal (90)
- Did Darwin greet the Fuegians and other indigenous peoples with cosmopolitan openness? Did he consider them fully human? A: Nope (91)
- How does the Feugian language compare with English? What does yamana mean?(92)
- What does Wade Davis mean by "ethnosphere"? A: "sum total of thoughts, dreams, ideals" etc. (94)
- How have most people historically regarded the world's profusion of languages? (94)
- What "crimes against humanity" do we usually not hear about on Columbus Day? (97)
- How does Hawken define "globalization"? (102)
- Does PH say he agrees with the Gaia hypothesis ("earth itself an organism")? (113)
- ["We Interrupt This Empire"]
- Who proposed the Gaia hypothesis? Who were some of his philosophical precursors? (141)
- Is the power of webs, links and networks rooted mostly in technology? Or what? (144)
- Who is Stewart Brand? What Brand project did Michael Chabon tell his kid about? (153-4)
- How does the brain relate to the immune system? (164)
- ["Restoration"]
- [Add your suggestions here, students]
And if any non-students happen to be reading along with us, feel free to propose questions in the comments space as well.
I assume this is a factual question, but could be expanded into a discussion Q.
ReplyDeleteHawkens alludes to a reemerging movement called "the great underground", who does this concept date back to, and what is the central theme behind it?
In keeping with Morgan's suggestion: let's provide the A's as well as the Q's. It's Gary Snyder's expression, "dates back to the Paleolithic... healers, priestesses..."
ReplyDeleteI think a good factual question for our Test would be about Rachel Carson and although her previous book The Sea Around Us was a best seller why did her book Silent Spring cause such and uproar to supporters of industry and agriculture? A good discussional question is to ask which is more effective in the call for a more environmentally friendly community a discussion filled with emotion or stats?
ReplyDelete[Page 155 - Chapter : Immunity]
ReplyDeleteQ: Who is the founder of the organization Slow Food, whose logo, the snail, is said to be an "amulet against exasperation."
A: Carlo Petrini