Ch 64, WP, and NYT articles

 In chapter 64 of our textbook, author Paul Wepner does a good job of explaining that laws do not cause change but instead it's the social norms and ideas that cause the creations of the laws that, in the end, cause the change we see in the world. Wepner then goes on to talk about how the organization Greenpeace does this. Greenpeace is a global organization whose goal is to help the environment. I find it really interesting how they have many different committees and people in order to make decisions and they have different people to lead different aspects of their mission. I also liked how they have campaign coordinators who are meant to make sure that all their different projects support each other along with their overall goal. Fighting on so many different fronts even if they all fall under the same umbrella of environmentalism seems like a crazy undertaking and I am amazed that they make it work. I also love that they invested money in a hot air balloon in order to fly it over nuclear testing sites.

The NYT article written by Abrahm Lustgarten is a very in-depth look into the prime minister of Barbados and how she is fighting against organizations including the IMF in order to both gain the funds necessary to pull her country out of possible economic collapse without instilling harmful policies that those organizations want her to follow. The IMF has a consistent record of giving financial help to countries struggling economically but forcing them to follow policies that will in the end ruin any help the money provided. They offer short term solutions while causing long term problems.

The Washington Post article written by Peter Whoriskey talks about the effects graphite mining has on the small villages in China where the graphite is located. Their government is constantly ignoring them and the problems the mining creates in order to gain a big check by the companies who use that graphite in the technological products they produce. Through a mix of intimidation, failed clean up projects, and little to no fines given out the problem persists. The companies buying these resources, the companies they then sell those products to (mostly batteries), and the amount of pollution makes this issue a global problem that is only complicated more because of the global supply chain it is a part of.