November 24, 2014 - 16:46
One thing I'd like to talk about in class more is Bower's idea of how language connects to the environment. I've had kind of a hard time understanding what exactly she's talking about, so I'd like to hear what other people have taken from what she's said. What I've taken is the idea that language isn't neutral, that it carries biases and can control our actions. I like that she calls us to look at the history of the words we use. She uses the term "linguistic colonization" and that's a really interesting phrase that I don't really understand so I'd like to talk about that also. I'm also not quite sure what she's talking about when she says "cultural commons".
I'd also like to talk about her critisizm of technology like computers, especially since I think there will be many of us who would like to push back.
I did like that she challenges the idea of our steadfast support in capitalism. The idea in charge is not always "an inherently progressive force" and the free market is not a force of nature. Her paper made me think about how capitalism is to blame for a large amount of the destruction of the earth. I hadn't really considered that there was an alternative.
I saw a video of Ursula LeGuin recieving the national book award. She said in her speech, "We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.". This made me think of Bower's writing, even though LeGuin was talking about writers making books for art not profit and Bower was talking about the destruction of the environment.