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Island civilization
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Dear Mr. Nash,
In your essay “Island Civilization: a Vision for Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium”, several proposals are brought up with seemingly impossible solutions to the problem of environmental decay that is currently consuming, endangering and threatening our planet. Dr. Nash, you believe that humans have to do what they are capable of in order to restore the planet to its “natural” once prosperous condition. When humanity came into the picture, it began to manipulate the environment for its own personal benefits. The essay makes the point that the world is not ours to destroy and take from, but rather that people live alongside nature without disturbing it. You state that your proposal may be controversial due to some major changes, and that the ” whole purpose of this essay is to put forward for discussion a strategy for occupation of this planet that will work in the very long run, and for all the natural world.” The concepts brought up are quite controversial, and for that reason your points are arguable.
I believe that the idea of Island Civilization ...
In Roderick R. Nash’s essay “Island civilization: A vision for human occupancy of earth in the fourth millenium” he quotes “Of course a change like this one [Island civilization] involves compromises with human freedom.” Nashs plan for the future is to make self-sustaining “islands” of civilization. These civilizations would be clusters of the population, and quite similar to cities. His plan also relies on advanced technology that would not harm the Earth and that the “islands” remain isolated from each other. All food production, manufacturing, sanitation, and other services would take place directly within the civilization. This would mean that we as humans would lose many rights that we have had for hundreds of years such as human freedom. I do not believe that with all of the people obsessed with their rights that anything like island civilization will happen anytime soon.
In Nash published an essay, Island Civilization: A Vision For Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium, that clearly shows his negative view in humanity. He discusses the history between humans and nature and how humans have been biased against nature. He elaborates by talking about how when people explore the world, they are destroying it in one way or another. Nash also brings up other traits that humans have that should be considered helpful and great. Nash distinctively looks down upon human beings. He brings up scenarios that would benefit the planet. He emphasizes his vision, Island Civilization. He also mentions other scenarios such as garden, future primitive, and wasteland. Nash is constantly blaming humans for the destruction of nature and Earth's wounds, maybe it's true, but Nash under estimates Earth's self healing abilities.
“It is a vision, a dream, if you prefer, like Martin Luther King’s, and it means clustering on a planetary scale.” (Nash) In Historian Roderick Nash’s essay entitled “Island Civilization: A vision for Human Occupancy of Earth in the Fourth Millennium,” Nash not only proposes the ideology of Island Civilization but also challenges readers to be informed of the rights of nature. Gaining insight on the options of preservation and nature from masterminds like John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, and Wallace Stegner. Nash devises a plan of action for Earth during the fourth millennium. Realizing the illustrate of our worlds “wilderness” Nash educates on the ways in which the natural world will evolve one thousand years from now.
In the book “Collapse” written and theorized by Jared Diamond, historical societies known for their peril due to environmental and human catastrophes. Jared Diamond analyzes the root causes of failed societies and uses his knowledge to depict today’s warning signs. The main focus of this book is to present clear and undeniable evidence that human activities corrupted the environment. To prove this Diamon used past societies, modern societies, and social business societies as a foundation. The most specific and beneficial theories that Diamond analyzes would be the decline of biodiversity on Easter Island, the deforestation of the Greenland Norse, the mining mismanagements in Australia and big businesses.
In the article "Island Civilization: A vision for human occupancy of earth in the fourth millennium" a very good point was made about how humans are not treating the earth with respect, however our generation still has a chance to turn the earth from cancerous to healthy.
In 1584, explorers Phillip Amanda and Arthur Barlowe were the first people to set eyes on Roanoke Island. It is explained to be characterized by thick marshlands and stands of live oaks teeming with wildlife. The explorers were sent there by Sir Walter Raleigh. HE was a poet soldier and a statesman. The trip was for one specific reason, to search for an ideal location for settlement.
... position is very radical. He thinks civilization has brought disorder and has distance the human beings from nature. It is true that the ambition to dominate the planet has caused some people to destroy natural resources, increase the levels of contamination and lose the respect for our own nature. However, I cannot disregard all the progresses that humans have done through out the years, which have helped improve the quality of our life. The respect for nature has to continue along with the growth of our knowledge.
In the colonization of Turtle Island (North America), the United States government policy set out to eliminate the Indigenous populations; in essence to “destroy all things Indian”.2 Indigenous Nations were to relocate to unknown lands and forced into an assimilation of the white man 's view of the world. The early American settlers were detrimental, and their process became exterminatory.3 Colonization exemplified by violent confrontations, deliberate massacres, and in some cases, total annihilations of a People.4 The culture of conquest was developed and practiced by Europeans well before they landed on Turtle Island and was perfected well before the fifteenth century.5 Taking land and imposing values and ways of life on the social landscape
The Island of Dr Moreau, by H.G. Wells, is not an ordinary science fiction novel. It doesn't deal with aliens or anything from outer space, but with biological science that exists on earth. The novel was about a character, Edmund Prendick that gets involved with an island of experimentation. At first glance, this tropical paradise seems idyllic. But deep in the jungles lies a terrifying secret. Moreau and Montgomery have been performing scientific research on human beings and the experiment goes terribly wrong. They have ignored the most fundamental law of the jungle: survival of the fittest. The doctor is seeking to make animals half human by means of vivisectional surgery; the transplantation of organs, and the pain involved is very vividly described. Doctor Moreau succeeds in making some of his man-animals talk and even read, but they tend to revert to the beast. So Moreau continues to try to get the entire animal out, and make a creature of his own. His creatures, which continue to come to their demise, then kill Moreau and finally all die off. When the H.M.S. Scorpion visits the island, there is nothing alive there except for a few "white moths, some hogs and rabbits and some rather peculiar rats."
playing God. The balance of nature is put to the ultimate test as a man by the
The book “From Unincorporated Territory” [Saina] , by Craig Santos Perez, is an interesting story because it shows how colonialism is the destruction of the author’s culture and identity on his native island Guam. It forced the author’s family and himself to make a drastic change in their life and migrate from Guam to America on an outrigger. After leaving in the year 1995 and not returning until 2008, the author depicts to the audience what has changed due to colonization. My thought on colonialism is firm. That I am confused about it. The reason for my confusion is I believe it is necessary for a certain purpose most people cannot see. Even though know that it is wrong; I know it destroys somewhat the vast majority of the colonized culture but I can’t help to think that the author has a message of that purpose most people cannot see. After reading the book, what I just admitted even to me sounds a little cold hearted, but reading his point of view in this book, it made me realized I’m not too wrong for making such a confession. I believe the author has a hidden message about it. Once I had a gut feeling I wanted to expose that message in my essay.
Puerto Rico at the expense of native people (6). After the Cape San Vicente disaster,
“The worst threat to man is man himself.” These words, from the recent publication The Great Pearl of Wisdom, are from the open mind of Bangambiki Habyarimana, a man known for his work in the fight against HIV and AIDS. His blatant, cut and dry point of view is a very simple way of stating that humanity has the power to destroy itself, whether directly or indirectly. Indirectly, the human race may bring upon its own doom through the destruction and degradation of its caregiver, provider, and home: the Earth. One of the biggest issues in the modern world is climate change, which is directly related to carbon dioxide emissions and the greenhouse effect. The greatest contributor of CO₂ emissions is the use of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and
All over the world indigenous communities are faced with an array of new problems, though the public continues to gain insight into the lives of these people they continue to be marginalized in the global arena as well. The Pacific Islands are an entity far removed from the minds of most westerners. The primary focus of any political discourse within the United States places most emphasis on Australia and New Zealand ignoring the smaller less politically salient states. However, it is these smaller islands that will bare the brunt of one huge problem in the future, global warming. For the purpose of this paper I will ignore the polemics of global warming and not hypothesize whether or not it actually has any permanent adverse effects on the ecosystems of the world or whether or not it is cyclical. Instead, I will focus on the evidence already documented within the Pacific Island states, evidence which lends strong support to the notion that the earth is getting warmer and the oceans are rising. For the people of the lowland Pacific Islands it doesn’t matter if the current warming is a temporary trend that will reverse itself in a few centuries, they will have to deal with it on a much more short-term basis. The ocean has already begun to change and for the people of the Pacific Islands that is a major concern, it could be catastrophic if left unattended. The prospect of rising waters in the oceans has a transcendent effect on the Pacific Islands. Not only will the oceans rise and the seas become more torrent, their very cultures could be uprooted and their modes of existence forever changed.
Anthropocentrism is the school of thought that human beings are the single most significant entity in the universe. As a result, the philosophies of those with this belief reflect the prioritization of human objectives over the well-being of one’s environment. However, this is not to say that anthropocentric views neglect to recognize the importance of preserving the Earth. In fact, it is often in the best interests of humans to make concerted efforts towards sustaining the environment. Even from a purely anthropocentric point of view, there are three main reasons why mankind has a moral duty to protect the natural world.