Dodson: 5, 6 & 7

Chapter 5:

I found this chapter on China’s energy and natural resource consumption particularly disturbing. Of all the areas China needs to support life and its modernizing country – arable land, potable water, trees/forests and oil – consumption levels increase by a large scale yearly with oil, earth minerals and other materials like wood, while the amount of potable water and arable land decrease. “China supports nearly 20 percent of the world’s population with just a quarter of the water available per person in the rest of the world” (Dodson, 100). Not only did it enrage me that the people have China have knowingly and willingly created these living conditions and situation for themselves, but there are people living in the country who suffer from these decisions they've had no say in. And the Chinese people are not slowing down. What’s most troubling to me is that this damage to the environment is known to everyone, but nothing is being done about it.

I think every statistic and projection Dodson uses and reports on in predicting China’s future is sound and seems valid. I would love to know more about the measures China plans on taking to better the land and water dilemma they have, if any at all. While importing supplies like water, lumber and oil provides China with what it needs, it’s not a solution in improving China’s conditions. Consumption levels will increase as time goes by, land and water will decrease as well. Unless China is working on plans to protect the resources that remain, I can’t imagine the drastic measures they will have to take once their resources are completely depleted.

I feel a bit hypocritical for criticizing China and their situation when the consumption and waste levels of the US are high as well. I’ll say if neither country takes measures to lessen dependency and consumption on natural resources, healthy and natural living conditions on this planet may not be an option for much longer. Once we use up everything the Earth has to offer, is that when we’ll realize we should’ve been finding other means and sources to support our ways of life?

Chapter 6 & 7:

Like the setup of his other chapters, Dodson includes a personal experience, usually at the beginning of the chapter and at the start of a new topic that he separates by subheads. His stories are not exclusively at the beginning, however. What I see as a pattern in Dodson’s work is he will introduce a topic with a story, whether it is a personal experience of his own or one he found through his research, to set the scene. Then he will provide more facts and background information to finish the “picture” for the reader. From there on to the next topic it’s usually just facts, statistics and research compiled to back up the claims Dodson states. There’s the occasional interjection of another personal anecdote, but for the most part Dodson’s work consists of evidence and his interpretation of his findings. A similar pattern is used in chapter 7, but Dodson includes more of other people’s experiences and stories in the chapter.

Honestly, I find these short excerpts quite helpful in providing a more personal look into the points Dodson makes. It’s easier for me to understand the situation when Dodson takes the stats and information away and simply tells it how it is in the way he experienced it.