There is a story capitalism tells about itself, and it goes something like this: work hard, stay disciplined, and the system will reward you. The planet is a resource. Progress is inevitable. Growth is good. For a long time, that story held. People believed it - or at least accepted it. But right now, in the middle of an accelerating ecological crisis, the story is visibly, undeniably falling apart. What replaces it matters enormously. And if this semester in the Ecology-Phil

Before it was a phosphate mine, a tax haven, an offshore prison, or a climate cautionary tale, the small south pacific island of Nauru was known to Europeans as Pleasant Island. A British captain named John Fearn gave it that name in 1798 after sighting what looked like (as was!) an attractive and peaceful island. At the time, the name likely seemed innocent enough: a lush island, remote from Europe, pleasant because it looked untouched by systems that would latter eviscerate

One meaningful experience I had from our learning community was participating in an outdoor lab where we tapped sugar maple trees for sap. Although the lab was to introduce us to our community’s sustainability efforts, I found an interest in the Indigenous traditions and their relationship with the land. Amanda Krause, Oakton’s Naturalist, shared with our class that the Indigenous people used the same seasonal techniques to gather sap. Their practice consisted of tapping mapl

Growing up in Pakistan and living in America for over a decade now, I have seen the place where capitalism benefits the few elites and the place where the labor force of many is used to extract and produce. I saw young kids in the global south busy with menial labor. Young girls sitting in one place for hours making hand-tied knots to produce the most exquisite carpets... When I asked, why are the laborers so young, the answer given to me, still echoes in my mind... And it w

Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing the world today. As years go by, the effects of climate change become more evident through stronger hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and rising sea levels. While climate change impacts the entire planet, its consequences are not distributed equally across the world. Poorer communities and developing countries often face much more severe environmental impacts, despite contributing the least to global carbon emissions. Understa