Ishmael

1. Ishmael's two general rules on how to identify people from our culture are that they keep their food under lock and key and "they perceive themselves to be members of a race that is fundamentally flawed and inherently doomed to suffering and misery" (Page 40). No I do not agree with Ishmael's statement that people from all over the world are part of the same culture. I disagree because culture is a quality that people get by hanging out with other people or from their personality or from where they live. I believe that when the world was first created by God and everyone was living together the people were all part of the same culture, but when people started to move away from each other to different places they began to diversify and adapt different cultures, and today there are so many different cultures and not everyone is part of the same one. I agree with Ishmael that we are all part of one cultural if like on page 40 he is only talking about fundamentals like food and clothes and water and that sort of stuff, but only if it is that broad of stuff we are talking about.

2. I agree with Mother Culture's voice and I disagree with Ishmael. I believe that humans are inherently flawed because I am a Christian and since Adam and Eve sinned we all inherit the flaw of being a sinful human being. No body is perfect and we all make mistakes and sin. It is not our fault, but it is true. Although I think that we are all inherently flawed, I believe that we can still try to "save the world" as Ishmael put it. We can still do the things he is telling Julie. Just because we are inherently flawed it doesn't mean that we are being held back from doing anything. We always have a choice in what to do, what to believe. No one is forcing us to do anything.

3. In Ishmael's parable the Takers are farmers and the Leavers are Hunter/gatherers. They relate to American Culture because the Takers are like the Americans and they used to be Hunter/Gatherers but then they realized that if they "danced" or farmed they could eat anything so, like Americans they started to farm all over the place and they began to move from place to place and kept on farming and spreading the "dancing" or American lifestyle. Then the Takers/Americans ran into some Leavers who were happy being hunter/gatherers and leaving it up to nature to provide for them. And they didn't want to take up the Takers way so the Takers/Americans forced the Leavers/Native Americans onto reservations until they would take up "Dancing" then they could come back in.

Sustainable Lifestyle

1. What does it mean to live a sustainably?

To live sustainably means to have all of your needs supported or taken care of. It means that you are not hungry or that you have enough clothes and you don't need anything more to live. You can fully and totally support yourself. Living sustainably also means being able to keep providing for yourself, even when times are tough and it's hard to keep going.


2. How much freedom and independence do you have as a 14-16 year old in our society?

In our society I, and most other 14-16 year olds get quite a bit of freedom. We all go to the mall when we want, we go watch movies together, we can almost do anything as long as it is not against the country's laws (and even then some people do it anyway). 16 year olds are even aloud to drive, so that is a whole bunch of freedom right there. Your freedom and Independence varies on Your family and parents, but compared to the old days where you had to do a butt-load of chores all day and help your dad in the farm and that's pretty much all you did all day, I'd say that everyone today has a lot of freedom.


3. As a 14-16 year old, how can you currently live your life more sustainably?

As a 14-16 year old there isn't a whole lot that you can do, but there are a few things. First of all you could get a job and try to buy clothes for yourself and food or yourself. That would definitely help your parents out a lot. Also, since you cant get a job until you're like 15 or 16 you could recycle and you would be helping the environment and also you get money from it so you could buy some of your own things.