Blog G – David P. Barash “Two Cheers for Nature” Pg. 281

1. Barash is commenting on the thought that things that are natural are automatically labeled as good or good for you. This is apparent in the trend of all-natural food, and the opposite being that processed foods are bad and you’ll have health issues from it. Barash points out that other natural things are actually horrible: E. coli, hurricanes, polio, tsunamis, etc. He’s trying to battle the idea that natural is better.
2. Technically, oil is natural. It is a natural resource used for fuel made of “diatoms and other plankton”, yet it did a lot of damage to the other natural ecosystem in the Gulf. His use of the oil spill is to make sure his audience realizes natural things do just as much harm as unnatural things.
3. Barash references Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard because it talks about when she saw a “water bug” eat a frog. This shows that nature is a survival of the fittest situation and that nature is brutal. This goes against the idea that everything natural is great, if you really think about it death is a natural process, but it doesn’t hurt any less knowing that when a loved one dies.
4. Humans are different that other life forms because we have basic rules that don’t apply to nature. For example, we can’t go around killing people, or even certain animals. These rules don’t apply to nature, like I said in question 3, it is a survival of the fittest situation in nature, but humans have gotten past that.
5. He wants the reader to know that nature is brutal, and isn’t always good. Technically medicine isn’t natural, they’re man-made chemicals that help people live longer. He acknowledges that nature can be good but on the flipside, it also has bad qualities. Barash thinks that people shouldn’t base all their opinions on good and bad, but consider all the aspects first.

Blog F – Steve Yates “The Sound of Capitalism” Pg. 242

1. This article is “pro-hip hop” because it recognizes that there are problems within the rap industry, but the author expresses the success and cultural influence it has today. The author could have painted it to be a much uglier article about rap, but instead he wrote about the gains in capitalism and how the American hip hop scene has been so influential that places like England mimicked it.
2. When Yates talks about materialism he means that the majority of songs talk about the success an artist has come to, typically overcoming a rough history coming from a place with little to no material objects. Many raps talk about expensive cars, having lots of money and fans, and they usually have a lavish lifestyle and aesthetic when it comes to what they wear. This shows that rap is very money driven.
3. When comparing the American rap industry to the British rap industry it shows just how capitalism has influenced the American culture. It is no longer about the music and getting a message across, it’s about who has the most money in the industry. This causes rap to become watered down and meaningless. The British scene figured it was more about the quality of the music and not material objects and money.
4. Busta Rhymes had a song that mentioned a specific type of cognac and after the song became popular it caused a spike in sales for that brand. That shows the influence hip hop has on what people buy. If someone finds they really like Busta Rhymes song endorsing a brand of alcohol, of course they are going to want to be cool and materialistic by buying some for themselves.
5. This article is showing a cultural change because our society has become very materialistic and money driven, so naturally our music is changed to adapt to the times. I believe personally that rap changed because we, as a society, have morphed into a money hungry capitalistic bunch where profit is what is important. Rap became important when it was realized how much money could really be made in the industry. The amount of people going into the music business in hopes of fame and fancy possessions, but not passion has show in our quality of music today. Yates’s article used raps history to bring together the process of rap rising to the top of the charts over other genres.