I definitely agree with Dylan and Kathleen. I consider myself liberal, but Shiva takes liberal to a whole new level. Like Dylan said, she is on the extreme end of the spectrum. I am in favor of this idea of sustainability with respect to the environment, etc. but Shiva makes claims in the intro that I think are completely absurd. First of all, she states that "large groups of people--especially women and small farmers--are disappearing" as a result of globalization. She says these groups are becoming "extinct." I think this is ridiculous and I have no idea how she can possibly make such a claim. Also, I have a big problem with her views on terrorism and extremism. She believes that terrorism and extremist fundamentalist groups are the result of globalization. When she discusses this I feel like she's making an excuse for those in such violent groups. No one should be defending these people and trying to make excuses for the violent acts they have committed on innocent people across the world. There is absolutely no excuse for any sort of violence anywhere in the world; I don't care who you are or where you live, violence should not be tolerated. I just want to make it clear that I agree with Chief Seattle's quote at the beginning of the intro and I do think that we, as a global society, need to find better ways to live respectfully with our environment because we depend on it tremendously. I just have a big problems with some of the claims Shiva makes that are too radical for my taste. Also, this book seems to be (I haven't read it all yet) anti-globalization and she doesn't, at least in the intro, talk about the positive side of globalization. This is one major flaw in her writing. Whenever you're arguing something, you need to present both sides of the argument. Shiva clearly doesn't do that.

Earth Democracy Class Blog

In this blog, there is a lot of mixing going on, since I'm mixing my ideas with those of both Kathleen and Dylan's. This is why I tagged it CTRW.