Reflection Paper - Essay Example

This paper is a reflection of the lectures by Leslie, Steele and Crouse, that I attended. The movie by the name of “Peace out” was released in 2011; basically it is a documentary or a short film that it can be called. Directed and written by Charles Wilkinson, it takes into account the city of Vancouver and the problems in it. These problems, of course are environment related. It is the decision of choosing Hydro over Solar, stated in the most informal way possible. I happened to attend a lecture that was a discussion based on this short film.

It focused on the problems that were present in Vancouver and used the documentary as a way to project their consequences and issues. It is in fact about time, that these global issues regarding energy crisis and environmental damage were brought attention. Personally, this issue is something which I feel needs to get the maximum attention and needs to be addressed globally. No one person can fix it, but the contributions of every individual can definitely, without a doubt, bring a halt to the disastrous end that is inevitable.

The discussion was primarily focusing on Vancouver as the documentary is based on it. The need of electricity and with the rapid increase in development, there is bound to be a much bigger demand for it; hence the need of hydro electrical power will automatically increase. Since, the question is of the Peace River, on which a power Dam was built and it caused the river to back up by “80 Kilometers.” The movie was extremely explicit as it openly blamed the government for wanting to make money, and putting their monetary benefits before the lives of the people.

Yes, this is exactly how dangerous this dam is. It is a pure “rape of natural resources and destruction of our environment”, says Greg Klymkiv. The Peace River is not only a beautiful, scenic place but it is a major habitat to a lot of animals. The lecture that I attended brought many solutions to stop this from happening, but then again, one person cannot do the job. The government and corporates state that they have to take these measures in order to fulfill the rather increasing demand for energy; and the people who are opposing this whole idea are not ready to decrease their consumption.

It is absurd, and extremely difficult. On one hand there are demonstrations against the dam being built, and at the same time no one wants to cut down consumption. It is a cycle that we have created; hence we have to stop it. On 14th, November, 2013, I happened to attend a lecture which almost reflected the same issue as addressed above. However, it now concerned the people more than the environment. It addressed the issues of the clash between the government and the people: What the people want, and what the government gives.

The lecture was given by Megan Leslie and Graham Steele. Once again, if normally stated, this is one of the most misunderstood relationships of the world. It’s almost like a blame game; the people blame the government for all the bad things that happen and the government dumps their actions on the people by sugar coating it as their demands. The lecture was a rather thought clearing process, it made the audience realize where we are wrong and how can we overcome this gap and make it better for ourselves.

The lecture, as informative as it was, to a certain extent I found it like an eye opener. Personally, I have been amongst those people who are of