10.27.2021

 In today's class, we focused on the environmental consequences of corporations and the manipulation of kids. Before starting the video, Mr. Paterson talked about a recent sewage problem concerning many UK citizens. This involved England and Wales, where the right-wing conservative politicians holding power of the parliament decided on a consensus to allow companies to flush down enormous amounts of sewage down the pipe and release it into the ocean. When I first heard about that, I was petrified. Especially as a person who grew up being surrounded by oceans, it was unthinkable to even allow such a decision to be made. By polluting the ocean with tons of untreated sewage, not only does it affect the perpetrators' bays, but innocent nearby countries as well. Since the UK is surrounded by EU countries with famous tourist spots, I hope they can cooperate to end the dumping once and for all. Speaking of pollution, in today's video, I was also shocked by the words of an interviewee from a corporate background. When asked about ways to prevent pollution, the guy proposed to halt pollution levels for all countries and instead convince developing ones to invest in new businesses that are only beneficial for investors in wealthy countries. This meant that those who had been polluting abundant amounts are able to keep their status quo, while those who weren't causing environmental damages from the start were limited more in their pollution levels. I felt that this idea was only advantageable for the profit of developed nations, and what's more do not contribute to environmental changes whatsoever, because of its inability to decrease pollution levels. Not only that, his explanation that privatizing all worldly resources ranging from clean air to water would improve its accessibility was totally unreasonable. The fact that people would need to pay to breathe is messed up and is unconstitutional on many levels. For example, the Japanese constitution ensures all people the right to maintain a minimum standard of living. However, the capitalization of commodities will create disparities between economic classes, so I felt that this was not effective at all. 

Next up, we looked at the manipulation of companies and especially exploiting the nativity of children. I didn't know that "Happy Birthday" was trademarked by a company, which revealed a lot about its obscurity. One example was a study showcased about testing how to take advantage of children nagging, in order for them to nag more effectively and gain consumer attention. This was unbelievable, and I wonder if my parents had also stepped into its rabbit hole. And the fact that the lady explaining it all judged this experiment as reasonable and effective was also inhumane. However, not all countries are allowing enterprises to promote services to younger ages. Sweden for example had banned all commercials revolving around children's products, and I found this to be progressive as it allows them to cultivate a rational mindset. On the contrary, commercials in America are seen as quite manipulative and designed specifically to hook youngsters for more repetitive uses of their products. Mr. Paterson talked about an example of Joe camel, a character from a cigarette company that promoted the coolness of smoking cigarettes. When I first searched up this character, I thought it came from a TV show, but understanding its real objectives, I was impressed at how easy this could've been part of kid shows.  However, upon further research, I found an image titled "Joe Chemo" that ironically portrays Joe Camel in a hospital looking weak and frail. Although this is a hilarious response towards the Camel campaign, I hope that more light is shed on these manipulative media.