In class, we discussed the poem this connection of everyone with lungs by Juliana Spahr. As a group, we spoke of the poem in terms of the 9/11 terror attacks and the themes of air, breathing and the connection between all humans. We discussed the references to the destruction of the twin towers and how air quality became toxic.
The class discussion prompted me to read the poem again. With a new mindset I found a link between Spahrs’ ideas of the connection of people to the environment.
I interpreted the themes of air, breathing and the connection of lives with an additional viewpoint, an environmental perspective. The poem makes reference to air and breathing. Spahr describes how the destruction of the twin towers caused the air inside everyone was filled with “sulfur and sulfuric acid and titanium and nickel and minute silicon particles from pulverized glass and concrete.”
I took a step back and considered this connection of everyone and the connecter of air, on a global level and with the ideas of Judith Butler in mind.
Right now, the air quality is many places around the world is at a dangerous level. The top countries include Iran, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Botswana. The WHO estimates that over 2 million people a year die prematurely from bad air. [1] From looking at the list I noticed that they are mostly non-western countries.
After viewing statistics on the areas with the worst air pollution on the planet, I began thinking with a mindset formed by our discussion of Judith Butler’s chapter “Survivability, Vulnerability, Affect” in her book, Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable? In the chapter Butler is urging for recognition and change of how human lives are seen as “precarious” and “greivable.” Butler argues for valuing all lives, and that idea prompted thoughts on the environment and humans. From what I believe Butler is sharing, could some people (like the West for example) not grieve or value lives being ruined or lost from pollution. Could it be that in some places that the people are not relatable or in places that there is conflict with between countries. Are their lives less valuable? Will this only become a larger issue when it affects us or people we relate to?
Both this connection of everyone with lungs by Juliana Spahr and Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable? by Judith Butler pose a greater consideration on world connections, and from my perspective, a consideration of the environmental impact which us humans all share.
Juliana Spahr, This Connection of Everyone with Lungs (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005).
Butler, J. (2010). Frames of war: When is life grievable?. London: Verso.
http://science.time.com/2011/09/27/the-10-most-air-polluted-cities-in-the-world/