Manufactured Landscapes

[AngelaCamargoIDGD]

I was going to buy a new mobile but now... I think my old mobile works, at least it works to call

[qwyken]

I think that in these difficult times, it is not easy for people to distinguish the difference between good and bad when its comes to such moral issues as drug abuse, gay rights, abortion, euthanasia, etc. I consider myself very lucky because I practice Falun Gong, which allows me to know the difference between right and wrong and Falun Gong has answered and is still answering my many questions about life. It is a free practice with tens of millions of practitioners Worldwide. Thank you.

[Davish0]

This is so true, i now realize how destructive humans are to this earth. We only have one Earth!

[otacon451]

We need to end mass society.

[nanabijou62]

@otacon451 We need not end "mass society" if that means terminating people, but we do need to end population growth. We can do it voluntarily by limiting our offspring to 1 or 2 per family or nature WILL take its course and we will be reduced in numbers by disease and/or starvation. Either way our numbers will decline within the next few generations. The process has already begun. The population growth pyramid is getting narrower and will inverse in the next 100 years.

[otacon451]

@nanabijou62 Mass society, ie one in which its 'politics' are based on appeasing the latest desires of the largest herds. This is ecocide, a 6th extinction event, because we cant say 'no' to mass society's appetites. It will only continue to externalize, to reason its way around, to forget what its costing our species and the biosphere. Would the species, the biosphere be A) better or B) worse off if everyone with an IQ below 100 was sterilized?

[nanabijou62]

@otacon451 Sterilizing people has been done in the past. It is NOT the answer. It sounds nice and clean and easy, but who is to say what someone's IQ is? Who will form the test? Someone who lives in the inner-city may have a very high IQ, but would fail the test written by someone not familiar with their social environment. And, who is to say that a couple with below average IQ;s could not produce the next Einstein or Tesla? Couples with more than two children should be heavily taxed.

[lost4468yt]

@otacon451 You clearly know nothing about genetics and the gene pool.

[otacon451]

@lost4468yt I've probably spent as much time reading about it as youve spent twiddling your thumbs in MW2.

[lost4468yt]

@otacon451 I play MW2 on pc, so I don't twiddle my thumbs. Also you must know that decreasing the gene pool on a large scale can lead to a dead end evolution wise. You must also realize that IQ tests aren't accurate representations of peoples skills at all as they only test a narrow set of skills. If you judge people based of their IQ, that's really sad. And the biggest impact on peoples IQ is their education.

[otacon451]

@lost4468yt I wont enter into a debate on youtube, because, well, its a debate on youtube. I understand some of what you're saying. I'm just very afraid of the course our civilization is taking and I think the root is that we cant say 'no' to the status quo desires.

[2c26]

@otacon451 Part of it. Great part of it, indeed...

[jzenmed]

like in alberta the tailing polute the water

[nanabijou62]

@jzenmed Exactly. And one day, perhaps soon, water will be more valuable than oil. Today we need the oil, but also today, and then the day after and the day after that we still need clean water, clean air and healthy food. I hope that we can survive this madness.

[Theaphelia]

Some of these landscapes are really beautiful in a jarring and creepy way - humans took something naturally beautiful and turned it into beauty that's alien and toxic.

The pictures of the e-waste in China are just disturbing. I've done some research and I'm going to try to make sure that none of my old electronics - or my family's - end up there and poisoning people.

[nanabijou62]

@Theaphelia I see that you got the message exactly as the film intended. You have an astute mind and a good soul.

[issis666]

I hope the number and date of the comments is not indicative of the number who have actually viewed this amazing video, I hope that no one can come away from these images unconcerned about what these processes are doing to both the visible and the invisible environment. The implications for the health and welfare of the planet and it’s inhabitents … animal, avian, aquatic, reptilian, etc. as well as human, are manifold.

[StelmariaonE7]

As a country we could be sending ships of food and medicine to other countries. No. Instead we send ships of trash. I am without words for how much this saddens me.

Thank you for the upload. Very profound images...

[cookiesonsteve]

beautiful yet gross

[smartwines]

One lesson to be learned from "Manufactured Landscapes" is the necessity of being far more aware as consumers, trying as much as possible not to conspire in the consumption of JUNK. China clearly has a huge problem with pollution on a VAST scale and apparently few effective laws to limit it. It's not enough to bash China, but the scale of environmental vandalism there is unique. The Chinese nightmare would not be "prospering" without insatiable Western consumers only interested in price.

[mcnabj]

humans=virus

[JayM0310]

Im so sure people are blaming China! LOL what a farce. How about the swine that export manufacturing jobs? I.E...greedy companies, lobbyists, congress....Yeah communism only works when bailing out Auto Makers! helllooooo!!!! wtf? Anyway, being a Artist this movie is beautiful.

[nauort23]

I just saw this documentary. Mind-blowing, disheartening, and yet this photographer found a visual beauty in so much of it. Watch it if you haven't yet.

[BeachofDreams]

Manufactured landscapes become yet something else after they become "obsolete" and abandoned. A good example is Duisburg Nord Landscape Park, designed by landscape architect Peter Latz. Something to think about beyond the naive "I hate the industrial landscape" attitude.

[nanabijou62]

Yes that is a good example. But also unusual. More commonly, especially in developing countries, abandoned industrial sites, mines and landfills are left unattended. They have a tendency to leech heavy metals and toxic chemicals into the soil and eventually into the groundwater, streams and lakes. Presently there are no lifeforms that have evolved sufficiently to thrive, let alone survive in such contaminated environments.

[SezMe414]

what a pathetic world we live in-_-

[nanabijou62]

I think that the world is a beautiful place. We just have to learn how not to abuse it. It will provide us with all that we need. As long as our needs aren't as excessive as our wants. We need to put away our playthings and grow up. Grow up or die. Those are our last two choices. The earth will be just fine without us. The opposite cannot be said.

[SezMe414]

yee mann i KNOOW; that last line of yuhrss.

[deluxebros]

I wached this video on my computer, which I bought to replace my other lap top of three years.

I used the snot out of it before I replaced it, the screen was cracked and bolts were falling out, it still works as a desktop with an external monitor.

Also wanted to point out that the children at 6 min looked like they never have had their picture taken, interesting the notechs cleaning up after the hightechs.

[omfgwtfroflol]

Amazing video, REALLY liked it.

One big thing this told me was that we only design things in one direction. Use. We never seem to plan far enough ahead to realize that we must be able to REuse on this planet of finite resources.

ie

fossil fuels

mobos with heavy metals

[TheBrassHole]

So I take it China has no EPA? lol

[cinndave]

@TheBrassHole Nope. Just one big pile of leaders called the Chinese Communist Party that calls all the shots.

[TheBrassHole]

Every time I buy anything now, it always has little chinese girl slave dust all over it. It's pretty gross.

[nauort23]

cinndave: How is it that communism gets blamed for this when the Chinese are manufacturing all of this to be sold to those of us in the "free", capitalist world? It seems to me that the corporate executives who outsource all of their manufacturing to slave states like China, as well as we consumers, should be taking more blame than a handful of "communist leaders".

[cinndave]

Strongly disagree about that blame. The CCP is responsible. We simply don't have direct control or jurisdiction over how China works. The CCP is extremely sensitive about the concept of other countries meddling in their internal affairs. Refusing to trade with a cruel country doesn't help anything. See Haiti or Iran for examples. Sanctions only makes things harder on the victimized citizens.

[petrocelly]

it is sad to watch it, but its more sad, that they will overcome and will be ruling us soon. Who cares about ecology, they will produce we will clean them with our donations. they will get ritcher and more powerfull then the rest of the world( includin NA)

[cinndave]

This film made me sleepy. It was spellbinding.

[imahao]

Long life Chairman Mao, long long long!

Long life Chairman Deng, long long long!

Long life Chairman Jiang, long long long!

Long life Chairman Hu, long long long!

Long life CCP, long long long!

...

[chrisgruba1]

Every mammal instinctively creates a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but humans do not. They spread to an area and they multiply. And multiply until every natural resource is consumed. And the only way they can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism that follows this pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus.

[nanabijou62]

I understand what you are saying but I disagree with the "virus" analogy. A virus is neither living nor non-living. I contains DNA but it does not take on aspects of "life" until it inhabits a living cell. A virus consumes no food and produces no waste. I think a more appropriate comparison would be along the lines of a parasite. A parasite that will inevitably consume its environment. But don't worry, the earth will be fine. Most living organisms on the earth won't fare as well.

[evan1005]

Yes, I agree. And once there are no more areas to spread to, or resources to consume, what happens? Quite simple: Overshoot and die-off. Humans are no exception to this rule.

[nixego]

"Do you hear that Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of innevitability...the sound of...your death."

An interesting interpretation of The Matrix, for me, is drawing parallels of the Man vs Machine struggle in the matrix and the Man vs Nature struggle in the real world of the 21st century. Both parties continuously wage war against each other...yet it has to be realized that since we are part of the same system we can only thrive in harmony.

If anything, fossil fuels depletion will teach us this.

[searlesk]

This is right out of MATRIX the movie.

[elreinocerca]

no way back!

[adammackenzie]

watch this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[annoianoid]

so, is humanity a virus or a cancer?

[CommentCommenter]

Yes.

[bangoopong]

Ok I'm not going to buy a new Mac after seeing this doc. I already have two broken laptops and one broken desktop, so I'm going to somehow learn to fix those computers.

[spoopers143]

Did you know that apple is now recycling computers.

[popNwave]

and did u know ~ alot of those computers are shipped bak to places like china to recycle?

[cosminogloo]

@bangoopong

[reallygonecat]

It's like George Carlin says: The planet is just fine, it's not going anywhere: WE are LOL. This planet is going to shrug us off like a bit of dandruff.

[itfelldown]

Humans creating hell on earth

[eyeOOsee]

OB MY GOD ! What have we DONE to this planet!! We really ARE all responsible, and so are the companies that manufacure these products. There should be a law holding ALL corporations liable that if they are going to manufacure an item, they should also have to ability AND capability to recycle all conponent parts. A law like THAT would solve this problem overnight from continuing!! See, the corps. 'know' about this, because they have to PAY to dump. Thanks for the 'eye-opener'!

[i742]

u got Fived!

[nickyblasz]

I think the film is a must-see. It's a wake-up call for us all.

[Nathan8441]

This is remarkable.

[bapyou]

todd: You're a freak of nature. Ha ha! I love Frackville as well. Been there several times. Great scrapple in the diners there.

[bapyou]

Burtynsky was inspired by visiting Frackville, PA? Ha! I've been to Frackville. Very close to Centralia, PA where underground seams of coal caught fire in the early 1960s making neccesary the town's abandonment. Ain't much left in Centralia except cemeteries and smoke rising up out of the ground. The ground is so warm that grass stays green in the middle of winter.

[wowisee]

Holy crap, are you serious?? How's that possible? Wouldn't the fire have gone out from lack of oxygen?

[bapyou]

Hello. The Centralia mine fire is well known to native Pennsylvanians. I lived in PA most of my life. Those fires have been burning for >40 years now; can't say why they haven't gone out. Apparently, once a coal seam catches fire, it is pretty difficult to extinguish. The state has tried numerous schemes; none of which have worked. It's a spooky, desolate place. All homes were purchased by the state and residents relocated.

[wowisee]

Yeah, I researched it! That's insane! I also read that there are like 7 residents in Centralia, PA. Very spooky indeed... Well thanks for the info and happy holidays!

[bapyou]

You're welcome for the info, and, by the way, watch this film if you can. It is really fantastic. The photographer's work which is profiled in the film is really quite something. Well worth your time. Or, take a vacation to Centralia! (Ha!)

[takotheoktopus]

I know you commented on this video over a month ago but I was curious to know if you had a chance to see this entire documentary yet?

[wowisee]

I tried watching it but I couldn't get the subtitles file to the misc. languages spoken in the film to work so I stopped at about half way through the film.

[drammenchick]

watch this movie!