Seminar Week 6

Jennifer Diaz

SOS: ComAlt Sem Pre-Write

Week 6

13 February, 2017

Word Count: 204

Passages:

“Celebrity chef Tom Coliccho served braised pork belly at Gramercy Tavern in New York City, but he called it “fresh bacon” to make it sound more appetizing.”

(Newman 2013:  119)

“Although I’m trained as an economist, I am not sure how to do it. That is because I cannot account for the spiritual and cultural impacts of everything. I’m not sure that it can be done. Some economists describe this measure as unquantifiable.”

“These coal mines will be built on my familiys original homestead. I do not want our country to be the sacrificial lamb for China.”

“The Crow Nation chairman, Darrin Old Coyote, says coal was a gift to his community that goes back to the tribes creation story. “Coal is life,” he says. “It feeds families and pays the bills…”

(LaDuke 2016: 15, 22 31

News Media Context:

1.     Defund DAPL Spreads Across Indian Country as Tribes Divest

The Navajo Nation is making moves to join a growing number of tribes that have already respectfully, but conclusively, shown Wells Fargo the door.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/defund-dapl-spreads-across-indian-country-as-tribes-divest-20170202

2.     Obamacare Repeal Threatens a Health Benefit Popular In Coal Country

At the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinic in Scarbro, W.Va., oxygen tubes dangle from the noses of three miners slowly pedaling on stationary bikes. All of these men have black lung — a disease caused by breathing in coal dust. 

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/01/24/510668899/obamacare-repeal-threatens-a-health-benefit-popular-in-coal-country

Discussion:

The passages I chose from Newman and LaDukes works relate to each other on their own. The chef from New York called pork belly “fresh bacon” to appease the eaters while the Crow Nation chairman, Darrin Old Coyote, said that “coal is life,” a striking difference between the current DAPL mantra of water is life.

Darrin Old Coyote tells himself and his people that coal is a gift from creator so that the Crow can eat and pay their bills. (Did creator foreshadow capitalism back in the day?)

The articles I chose connect to the current fight Indians face with the Dakota Access Pipeline. Despite the economic “gains” that would be made possible, the people of North Dakota are more focused on the unquantifiable goods in life: their culture, their spirit, and their people.

 The second article I chose shows how these fuel enterprises value the number of jobs created over the health of their employee. So many poor Americans have been sacrificial lambs to our progress and way of life.  The canaries in the mine are sick and yet the government who said they would cover their promises back. How much is a life worth?  Is it worth a warm and well-lit home?

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