Like many of my classmates I too struggled with the acronym laden text. Despite this I enjoyed King’s organization of the text, using specific examples to explain the multitude of difficulties that face those attempting to preserve both natural and historic environments. This being said, like Anna, I would have REALLY liked at least one positive experience or example.
Something that struck me while reading was what seemed to be an immense lack of understanding when it comes to landscapes by government entities. I’ll admit that my knowledge of landscapes was limited before Everyday America at the beginning of the semester, but I would expect much more (perhaps foolishly) from programs and people whose job is to essentially preserve cultural and natural landscapes. The lack of knowledge on landscapes is quite frightening to me and makes me think more should be done to educate the populace on the importance of landscapes.
I thought King’s discussion on cumulative effects on the environment was especially well done. Many people are not conscious of what their actions can do to environment and the startling ramifications they can have.
Lastly, I couldn’t help but think that not all employees working in the bureaucracy are pleased with the procedures that are in place. As King writes on page 142 some professionals working in EIA or CRM are “just going to keep on keepin’ on” because as mentioned they could be flipping burgers. Even with all of King’s brimstone and fire, when it really comes down to it, I find myself in an ethical dilemma. When I get out of college and have to start paying off the student debt, I don’t know that I could resist a job even if it required me to sell my soul the black hole of bureaucracy. I mean is fighting the good fight worth a diet of Top Ramon? These are the type of questions that keep me up at night. And on those awful nights when I really start spinning out of control, I put on City High’s “What Would You Do?” and remember, life could be a whole lot worse.
Haha! Thank you for your last paragraph. (I laugh because it hits close to home, and sometimes laughing is the only thing to do to avoid lying in bed at night crying…) I once figuratively sold my soul to a corporate law firm, where I helped big banks foreclose on the homes of the destitute. While this did often keep me up at night wracked with feelings of guilt and helplessness, I have to admit it was nice to get some of my student loans paid off…as well as develop a diet a level or two above Top Ramen. 🙂 And while that experience was a huge factor in my decision to “take a lifelong vow of poverty” and go back to academia for the sake of my conscience, worry about future finances now replaces the worry over ethical dilemmas.
Anyway, I’m sure the creation of the bureaucratic nightmare that King describes was more complicated than he explains, and I’m not sure that a particular person or organization can be blamed for the shady ethics that go on… But by the end of the book I didn’t want to find someone to blame; I wanted to know how to fix the system, and King does not offer anything to help me out there.
I know, I have been questioning whether or not my ethics are strong enough to not take jobs I feel are against those very ethics. But what are our options? Go back to school? I’m tired of living below the poverty line. 🙂