Questions on Earthseed Community

Questions on Earthseed Community

Explain TWO (2) real-life issues that make it necessary to create your Earthseed community. What are you seeking shelter from?

Two immediate problems that necessitate an Earthseed community are class divisions and resource exhaustion. Class dynamics have allowed the rich to shelter themselves and capitalist institutions have indentured the poor where they use forced labor to accumulate more wealth. The Earthseed community would encourage economic production but it would ensure that there is equitable distribution of wealth to prevent class-based divisions and reduce the exploitation of the poor by the rich. As a result, the absence of large class differences would reduce insecurity and violence associated with theft and robbery as the poor attempt to steal as a way of obtaining sustenance. Second, the strain on natural non-renewable resources like water means that the Earthseed community would protect commons and protect or conserve resources to ensure intergenerational equity.

Quote two (2) Earthseed verses from Parable of the Sower and show how you will apply them to your community. You may be creative in your interpretation.

One of the relevant Earthseed verses is one that advocates for change: “Change is inevitable, and yet its precise nature is not” (Butler 55). The inevitability of change means that people can cooperate or build an Earthseed community that tackles real-life issues like discrimination and violence. Closely related to this is the need for agency and action to resolve present problems as demonstrated by Lauren stating that “Nothing is going to save us. If we don’t save ourselves, we’re dead” (Butler 51).

Explain WHERE you will create your Earthseed community to be safe.

For my Earthseed community, I would create it in a safer place than Acorn (Peel 57). Still, the new Earthseed community would seek to establish itself as an idea instead of a physical location. If established as a location, it might be overrun by violent people living outside its walls but as an idea, it would gradually reform how people in different communities perceive inequalities and environmental degradation.

Who can join your community and why? Who can’t join? Why not?

For one to join the community, they would need to support change as the new Earthseed community is designed to change the current status quo by conserving resources and undoing socioeconomic challenges resulting from class differences. People opposed to the eradication of class-based inequalities and vices like greed would not join the community as they would lower the morale or commitment of individuals committed to the community and its ideals.

What will your leadership model be for your community?

The community shall employ a transformative leadership model. The focus shall be placed on change management. Depending on their skills or knowledge or behavioral traits, people will be expected to direct their expertise in focus areas where they can have a tangible impact. Everyone shall be treated with dignity irrespective of their race, age, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. People shall also partner and share knowledge to resolve different issues and tackle pressing challenges like environmental degradation. Overall, the transformative leadership model is the most appropriate because it will treat everyone respectfully and generate benefits for the entire community.

Create a FUTURE TECHNOLOGY (one on the horizon, not something like teleportation or time travel) to help improve life in your Earthseed community.

Water-maker is a technology that will improve life in the Earthseed community. It shall harvest water from the air, and treat polluted water from factories and homes. The water shall then be used in energy production. Still, some shall be directed to natural bodies allowing the restoration of the ecosystem. Excess water shall be used to reclaim areas surrounding the community. Altogether, this will support efforts to fight climate change.

Explain/show how your Earthseed community will SURVIVE.

The ideas of the Earthseed community shall survive through education and awareness initiatives that shall spread the values of the community. Members of the community shall also serve as ambassadors of environmental stewardship and speak against the ills of discriminatory or exploitative practices associated with a class. People will become more welcoming of an egalitarian future and this will spread the ideas of the Earthseed community. In turn, the Earthseed community shall become a movement and the spread of its ideas will allow it to survive.

Explain/show what TWO steps your Earthseed community will make to build a better future, i.e. education, housing, conservation, farming, etc.

First, education shall highlight the adverse effects of identified problems. After creating an awareness of these challenges, education programs shall be designed to lead change and orient transformative actions towards a shared vision of a better future. Second, conservation shall assist in preserving commons like water resources. It shall also foster innovative technologies that allow sustainable use of resources for present needs and future generations.

References

Butler, O. E. (2012). Parable of the Sower (Vol. 1). Open Road Media.

Peel, Ellen. (2008). “‘God Is Change’: Persuasion and Pragmatic Utopianism in Octavio E. Butler’s Earthseed Novels.” Ed. Barr, M. S. Afro-future females: Black writers chart science fiction’s newest new-wave trajectory. The Ohio State Uni