Farmer’s study of Chiapas was an intriguing contrast to his work on Haiti. He compares Haiti, “ecologically devastated and now mired in chronic food shortfalls” a stark contrast to Chiapas with its “lushly forested mountains, its waterfalls, its priceless cultural heritage” (Farmer 110-111). It was interesting to see drastic problems in ecologically devastated and rich areas. Farmer ultimately concludes that “If Chiapas has a lesson for the rest of the world, it’s that the world’s resources must be more evenly shared” (111). The upward redistribution of resources seems to be as much of a problem as their depletion. This is a striking example of the links between ecological riches and poverty. The Environmentalism of the Poor has given countless examples of people in power taking the ecological resources of the poor, and disadvantaged people having very little recourse. It’s disturbing to what great extent practices like mining and drilling are responsible not only for damaging the planet, but people’s lives and their socioeconomic situation for years if not generations to come.
I’m interested in looking at the NM Oil & Gas Association document on the benefits and safety of fracking because it so directly fits the story of the people in power (oil and gas executives) bulldozing over the people who are poor and perhaps uneducated, but happen to be sitting on natural resources. I think the document is an example of early-stage tactics, because it seeks to misinform people so they will acquiesce to drilling. If they were to reject this, the tactics of oil and gas companies would become far less kind, as we’ve seen with Shell Oil suing Mora County for their ban on fracking. It’s truly disgusting how easily those in power can manipulate and take from disadvantaged populations, when they have absolutely no right to their resources. I hope to give a better understanding of the techniques of the dominant groups, so perhaps in a small way people will be better able to resist and fight them.
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