Final Essay

Anthony Lee
Professor Lay
4/25/10

Waiting On a World to Change

You walk around New York City to do some shopping and get a bite to eat. Before you call for a cab, you see an empty water bottle sitting on the ground beside the green figure. You ponder; do you go pick it up and throw it out? Or do you just ignore it? The next thing you know, you are on your merry way home. But is it merry? You have just walked away from a serious problem. Maybe if you haven’t, the world would be a better place to live in. And being in a better place to live in is what we want. So let’s start doing something to get what we want and stop waiting; waiting for our world to change.

The film, “Just Add Water”, depicts many symbolic references that relate to Specter’s “Big Foot”. In the film, the town of Trona is a deserted wasteland in California run by a drug-dealing teen named Dirk. His business consists of making and selling drugs. Drugs in this movie is a spotlight because it emphasizes how run-down the town is, and how corrupt it has become. His name is also symbolic because it gives him a “title” of the town. A dirk is a type of dagger, as if he was the feared leader of Trona. Because he is in charge, the rest of the town pays their rent to him. In reference to Specter’s “Big Foot”, Dirk is like carbon. Specter states, “It is to take an economy where human comfort, activity, and growth are inextricably linked with emitting carbon and to transform it into one which can only thrive without depending on carbon.”(Specter, 273) Dirk is in charge of the power, water, and food supplies in the film. However, Specter mentions that we should try to live in a world without depending on carbon. Simplified and in relevance to “Just Add Water”, Trona needs to change from depending on Dirk to becoming independent. Ray and Specter share the same idea. Specter states, “We are going to have to rethink the way we live and work.”(Specter, 273) Throughout the film, Ray is the main target of Dirk, because Ray is a strong and confident human being who has no fear. Dirk threatens him, increases his bills, and goes to the extent of blowing up his car. It gets to a point in the film where Ray cannot take the abuse anymore. This is where Ray “rethinks the way he lives and works”. In “Big Foot”, Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco Supermarkets, believes that when scientists talk about how climate change is affecting the social, environmental and economic aspects, humans must know then what they have to do. Similarly, Ray knows what he must do. He must is take action for the good of his environment.

Ray’s actions can be described by the idea in Wendell Berry’s “Faustian Economics.” Berry believes that greed is the poison that is damaging our Earth. Greed is like a disease which turns one inhuman. Selfishness is the result. Humans who take advantage of Earth’s resources create catastrophic problems. However, greed does have another side. Berry does not realize what greed is to the full extent. There are two types of greed. The acceptable greed is in the end, you help yourself and others are benefited as well. The other side of greed, selfishness, is caring only about yourself. Greed is power, and people who misuse power are execrable. Power can also be handled with care. Those who treat power with control are wise. One has to be somewhat greedy. It is nice to help others, but yourself is most important. The film portrays this concept of greed through the character Ray. Throughout the beginning, Ray is shown to have a great reputation, one who is very generous, caring, and always puts others first before himself. For this particular reason, he was always taken advantage of. This image can be described as “not being greedy”. How is this image shown in the film? He offers mints to every car that passes at work, he gives money to his neighbor for rent, and he lets Dirk push him around. Ray needs to care more for himself, but not to a point where greed overwhelms him. In taking revenge of Dirk, he is helping himself by letting himself free from burden, but he is also doing a favor for the town. Dirk on the other hand, is selfish. His responsibility is to run the town. However, he takes his power to a different level; a level of totalitarianism. He takes advantage of the residents, using his power to spread fear. The flaw of this type of leadership is that uprising may occur. For example, if a CEO of a company uses the income of a charity for his own leisure, he creates a terrible reputation. The charitable turn against him, and may take action. And as a result, his job is ruined. Alike in “Just Add Water”, the town joined the resistance with Ray to take down Dirk. In “Faustian Economics”, Berry states, “We have obscured the issue by refusing to see that limitlessness is a godly trait. We have insistently, and with relief, defined ourselves as animals or as “higher animals.” But to define ourselves as animals, given our specifically human powers and desires, is to define ourselves as limitless animals.”(Berry, 1) Berry is correct when he says that humans have pronounced themselves as animals and limitless. However, it’s a different sense in “Just Add Water.” Ray and the others can be characterized as animals because they revolted against Dirk and his crew. Ray is limitless because he is not afraid to break out of his shell, showing that he is capable of doing anything. What Berry is saying is that we are not acting the right way. Ray on the other hand is doing so for his dignity and pride. He is acting as an animal the right way. It seems as if all of the the wants are necessities today. Society is inhuman, wanting and getting every single thing, without distinguishing what’s needed and wanted beforehand.

How people should act is a very complex question. There’s an ethical component and a logical component. We are not forced to be a certain way, but we should be aware of what our actions are creating. Wendell Berry and Michael Specter both have the same perspective on human activity and the environment. Our future is highly valuable, and it’s our duty to mold it the best we can. Our generation is depended on for the newer generations. Every human should be similar to Ray, who is the role model for the ideal being. We have been sucked into the depths of greed and selfishness, transforming us from the humane into the inhumane. If we want our future bright, we must take action now. There’s no more time to wait.