A Country Of Illusion Chapter 1 Summary

The article “Down go the dams” by Jane C.Marks aim to provide an informative view on the current pending issue on Dams. The article starts out my mentioning the important nature of dams in our society. For example, Jane C.Marks states that today about 800,000 dams operate worldwide as well as the fact that most were built in the past century, primarily after World War II. Furthermore, the author lays down informative facts about dams such as the fact that dams control flooding and their reservoirs provide a reliable supply of water for irrigation, drinking and recreation which are all very important to society. In an economic standpoint, although it is very high maintenance dams provide jobs for people. The

In his book, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Marc Reisner’s main thesis is to show the inefficiency, greed, and inherent difficulty in the American West’s never-ending struggle to turn its unwelcoming desert into a lush garden. One of his main sub-points is that the West is not meant to support millions of people. It has a wide range of geographic challenges throughout the entire region. Its inconsistency and diversity is a primary cause of its water problems. For example, Reisner notes that the West consists of “plains so arid that they could barely support bunchgrass; deserts that were fiercely hot and fiercely cold; streams that flooded a few weeks each year and went dry the rest; forests with trees so large it might take days to bring one down; . . . hail followed by drought followed by hail;” (23).

To people foreign to California, the state is boxed into a set of stereotypical characteristics. The Golden State has received labels such as ‘surf nation,’ and ‘liberal land.’ But to those who’ve gotten a chance to live within this great state appreciate the opportunities and ambitions that come with living in California. Furthermore, what truly differentiates California from any other place in the world is the consistent paradoxical environment. This notion is best epitomized by the city of Sacramento and the cultural, economic and social change that the city has undergone. Gary Snyder communicates this theme through building around John Muir’s ideologies in his work of “Covers The Ground.” Snyder’s work exemplifies the contradiction between nature and innovation. It presents the paradoxical state individuals around the world face on whether to accept the innovation and accept the benefits that come with it, or stay true to the roots of nature and the history that accompanies it. This dilemma boils down to whether we as a race embrace the progression of time and the paradoxes that follow, or we find solace in our current state.

The Comanche Campaign was a generalization of multiple battles and wars between the United States government and the Comanche tribes. Most of the wars were fought between 1867 and 1875 in the freshly settle wild west. The United States military fought against different Comanche tribes in numerous expeditions until the Comanche people surrounded and surrendered. After peace was established between the Natives and the United States, the Comanche people were relocated to a reservation. In the late 1800’s different ideas and proposals, such as the Manifest Destiny and Homestead Act, fueled the expansion of American settlement out West.

Multiple farmers, families, and traders searched for land to create new homes and better lives. The land in the new areas was often cheap, fertile and came in large quantities, this was a bargain deal in comparison to the costly land in the East.. “Many farmers were having hard economic times and always looked west for new land and the next frontier” (Early Days of California, 1). The low-cost or sometimes free land was convenient to farmers in search of supporting their families. The land in California was said to be sunny and with beautiful mountains and lack of people (Early Days of California, 1). These conditions were perfect for planting crops efficiently therefore appealing to merchants, farmers, and even entrepreneurs. Additionally to settling in fertile land, pioneers hoped to find new jobs and become wealthy off

Throughout the 1800’s there were more and more Americans that had moved onto the frontier of the West coast. The people of the United States believed they were destined to have their land stretched from the Pacific Ocean (the west) to the Atlantic Ocean (the east); from sea to shining sea. This settlement came from the fact that the west not only had an abundance of fertile land for farming, but it had such a great abundance of gold and mineral mining available. The Americans also believed that this was a way (and chance) to spread their beliefs! Many people saw the West as a new beginning, so they decided to head West and begin this journey. This is what the Americans believed they were destined to do… The rapid settlement of the West was caused by the great desire of the American

As the West was being tamed and land grabs and the expansion of the United States was winding down, many people around the 1930s owned land. But as the country was expanding the Great depression of 1929 caused chaos on the American landscape and the country was in dire need of direction. Franklin D. Roosevelt established a series of new reforms known as “The New Deal” to stabilize the economy and provide jobs for the American people. One of the reforms in the New Deal was land reform. Part of the goal in the land reform was to “target the plantation zones of the American South, whose inequality of wealth was deemed the Nation’s number one economic problem”. (Pg. 608) Our neighbor to the South was going through land reform as well and it would be Mexico under President Lazaro Cardenas’ land redistribution that would provide a blueprint on how the land reforms in the United States would be modeled.

In an excerpt from Empire of Illusion, Christopher Hedges argues that “the most essential skill in political theater and a consumer culture is artifice...Those who are best at deception succeed. Those who have not mastered the art of entertainment, who fail to create a narrative or do not have one fashioned for them by their handlers, are ignored. They become “unreal”” (Empire of Illusion). Today, the ideology of “the most essential skill [being] artifice” to reveal the truth or reach the favored outcome is prevalent and portrayed across various media. For instance, in Hamlet written in the early 17th century, William Shakespeare portrays Polonius as a nobleman who advocates for techniques of deception to achieve his goal. In addition, detectives implement this method of misleading in interrogation rooms to evoke a true confession. Similarly, politicians, like Donald Trump, delude the public by creating distractions that sway their attention from the more pressing topic. Examples from literature to modern government demonstrate that many hold the belief that “the most essential skill...is artifice” to achieve the desired outcome (Empire of Illusion).

Since Congress established the United States Army Corps of Engineers on March 11, 1779, they have been involved in the construction and repair of many different structures both foreign and domestic. Often times the Corps of Engineers is called upon to take on America’s most important projects. Of the important projects that they have completed, American dam projects have been some of the Corps of Engineers most impressive accomplishments to date.

Reality is the state of the world of how it really is, whereas an illusion is erroneous interpretation of reality. Illusions often derail people from their sanity, as they cause them to inadvertently live lives in accordance to false beliefs. As a result, the outcomes for these people, and the people around them, are often atrocious. The theme of illusion versus reality is excessively demonstrated in Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, and also in The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller. In both plays, the characters that lived illusive lives ultimately ended up leaving behind a trail of ignominy, grief, and death. In Macbeth, it is Macbeth and Lady Macbeth who consistently misinterpret reality as a world that

In Chapter 2 of Anselm's Proslogian, Anselm offers what was later to be characterized as his Ontological Argument, which is an argument for God's existence he felt was so strong that even a fool as is said in Psalms 14:1- "who has said in his heart, 'There is no God'". Anselm's argument is as follows :

Yet, humans have limited control on natural events, so this only reinforces the importance of managing water wisely. Recently California’s government has begun to focus more on sustaining and restoring the water supply. Dale Kasler (2016) articulates in his article some of the steps they have decided to make to solve this serious issue. The government has made the following investments: “$415 million for watershed restoration and other environmental aid for Lake Tahoe; up to $335 million for two proposed reservoirs in California, including the Sites reservoir north of Sacramento; $880 million for flood-control projects on the American and Sacramento rivers in Sacramento; and $780 million for flood-control projects in West Sacramento” (para. 10). This could be the first step to restoring the water to California. But these

Advances in technology and the expansion of trade have, without a doubt, improved the standard of living dramatically for peoples around the world. Globalization brings respect for law and human rights and the democratization of politics, education, and finance to developing societies, but is usually slow in doing so. It is no easy transition or permanent solution to conflict, as some overly zealous proponents would argue. In The Great Illusion, Norman Angell sees globalization as a force which results from and feeds back into the progressive change of human behavior from using physical force toward using rational, peaceful methods in order to achieve economic security and prosperity. He believes that nations will no longer wage war

Richard Walker in his California’s Golden Road to Riches, described California’s economic order as “prospector capitalism,” or “resource capitalism.” Walker quotes David and Wright (1997:1) in order to describe this form- “intensity of search; new technologies of extraction, refining and utilization; market development and transportation investments…” (http://geog.berkeley.edu/PeopleHistory/faculty/R_Walker/CaGoldenRoad.html, Walker). This statement has clear comparisons to Takaki’s America Errand as both put a large focus on economic expansion via technology, increased transportation, and market development. Similar to when Takaki’s argument that the land must not go to waste, in the four statements that correspond to the dimensions of the capitalist economy it is written that “nature…converted into ‘resources’ or nature staked, claimed, and commodified”

The only thing in my life that I can be positive about is change. Everything changes, from the moment we’re born to the moment we die. Reality has many twist and turns, and our perception of reality is what shapes us to become who we are. Our life is spent on deciphering the difference between reality and not reality. This is hard to define because reality is unique to each individual.