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Three major environmental worldviews
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Lessons from a Third World Perspective on Environmentalism
Possibly more than any of the other articles we have read so far,
Ramachandra Guha's article "Radical Environmentalism and Wilderness
Preservation: A Third World Critique" made me think. In analyzing the
Western deep ecology movement, he criticized its focus on preservation of
wild areas. By doing this, he was directly criticizing what I have long
thought of as my main goal as an "environmentalist." One of the first
things that turned me on to environmental issues when I was younger was my
horror at the soaring rate of rainforest destruction so dramatically
portrayed to us in 9th grade biology class. Since then, by following a
biology track through college, my focus has been on ecological goals such
as the preservation of biodiversity. The study of ecology has served me as
a way to understand wilderness so I might be able to help protect it or
restore it. My patterns of thought are often not far off from those of
Daniel Janzen, which Guha quotes in his paper as "imperialist yearning of
Western biologists and their financial sponsors" to claim land in Third
World countries for protection by ecologists (Guha 272). He states his
opinion that "the radical conclusions drawn by deep ecology, in particular,
that intervention in nature should be guided primarily by the need to
preserve biotic integrity rather than by the needs of humans" are
unacceptable (271). He also claims that the two "fundamental ecological
problems facing the globe are (i) overconsumption by the industrialized
world and by urban elites in the Third World and (ii) growing
militarization" (271), whereas the biological perspective would c...
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...growth instead of material wealth
--"The values of caring, cooperation, nurturing and sharing must be
encouraged to replace the values of competitiveness, domination and
aggression which have characterized our society for so long"
--polices must reflect "the interdependence of all living things and the
interconnetedness of all political and social activity"
(http://www.greenparty.org.uk/principles/values/htm)
The list was impressive. And although the Greens seem more prevalent in
Europe than in the U.S. - there is an American Greens party - which had
Ralph Nader as their presidential candidate in 1996. Maybe the Greens
movement could help us meet a wide range of environmental and social goals
through its philosophy of humility, instead of following deep ecology's
biocentric proposal. I am encouraged to look further into it...
Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.
Cronon, William “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” ed., Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995, 69-90
the idea of the wild and its importance and necessity of human interaction with the wild.
The wild is a place to push yourself to the limit and take a look at who you truly are inside. “Wilderness areas have value as symbols of unselfishness” (Nash). Roderick Nash’s philosophy states that the wilderness gives people an opportunity to learn humility but they fight this because they do not have a true desire to be humble. Human-kind wants to give out the illusion that they are nature lovers when in reality, they are far from it. “When we go to designated wilderness we are, as the 1964 act says, "visitors" in someone else's home” (Nash). People do not like what they cannot control and nature is uncontrollable. Ecocentrism, the belief that nature is the most important element of life, is not widely accepted. The novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer depicts a young boy who goes on an exploration to teach himself the true concept of humility. Chris McCandless, the protagonist, does not place confidence in the universal ideology that human beings are the most significant species on the planet, anthropocentrism.
At one point in our lives as human beings we began to draw mental lines between ourselves and nature. This is something that has gradually been increasing throughout their years. Most people do not seem to notice all of these constant changes simply because we are used to the type of world we live in now. I believe that in order for somebody to understand what's happening these negative changes need to affect us as individuals. For example, many people don't realize cutting down trees to build businesses will eventually cause the world to be unsustainable. Nature is something very necessary. "Wilderness" in old English was something that had its own will, just like you mentioned in paragraph three. The Wild is a place where wild undomesticated animals should be allowed to roam
Emerson idealizes a wilderness untouched by humans, placing them at opposite poles. In reality, this is not true, for even the national parks and areas set aside to protect nature have been altered by man, whether it be the Native Americans, or the wealthy tourists who sought to "preserve for themselves some remnant of its wild landscape so that they might enjoy the regeneration and renewal that came drone sleeping under the stars...and living off the land" (Cronon 78). Cronon accurately describes the problem with Emerson's belief. If Emerson's "definition" of wilderness were to come true, then humans and nature could not coexist. As expressed by Cronon, in turning the focus outward towards preserving the great mountains and natural areas to fit Emerson's ideal wilderness, people neglect the nature that lies in their own "artificial" community. Instead of eliminating mankind's presence in nature all together, they should strive to create a balanced relationship in which humans and nature can coexist
Before entering into the woods you must know how to get out. It is very easy to get lost because a lot of things look the same once you begin walking around. Knowing how to read a compass can be crucial when you enter an area your unfamiliar with. This will allow you to explore many different parts of the woods knowing u always know how to get out. When exploring the woods there are many signs you want to look for depending on what species you are hunting. For
In Wallace Stegner’s “Wilderness Letter,” he is arguing that the countries wilderness and forests need to be saved. For a person to become whole, Stegner argues that the mere idea of the wild and the forests are to thank. The wilderness needs to be saved for the sake of the idea. He insinuates that anyone in America can just think of Old faithful, Mt. Rainier, or any other spectacular landform, even if they have not visited there, and brought to a calm. These thoughts he argues are what makes us as people whole.
Muir’s wilderness is rooted in the idea of an aesthetically pleasing natural scape given they fit into certain criteria such as, “ none of Nature’s landscape’s are ugly so long as they are wild” (Muir). The attachment of this emphasis on an aesthetically pleasing landscape was partial truth, which drove people out the national parks. While these places where indeed wild and beautiful, Muir sold the masses on this idea of all nature being pristine and pure, when in reality that was not the
Many years ago, people saw the wilderness as a savage wasteland, but today, it is viewed as “the last remaining place where civilization, that all too human disease, has not fully infected the earth.” (Cronon) He discusses this changed point of view by stating the difficulties that society will have rectifying environmental ailments if it stops viewing wilderness as “a dualistic picture in which the human is completely outside the nature.” (Cronon) This is understandable because humans rely on others to create opinions, and they do not know how to form their own thoughts and solutions to issues such as environmental ones. Therefore, it is with great importance that humans begin to learn how to formulate their own thoughts and share those personal thoughts with others, such as sharing solutions about environmental
In Thinking Like a Mountain, the author, Aldo Leopold, writes of the importance of wildlife preservation through examples of the symbiotic relationship of animals and plant-life with a mountain. He asks the reader to perceive the processes of a mountainous environment in an unusual way. Aldo Leopold wants the reader to "think" like a mountain instead of thinking of only the immediate, or as the hunter did. Taking away one feature of an ecosystem may eventually destroy everything else that that environment is composed of. Nature and wildness is essential for the well being of life on this earth.
In the essay “Children in the Woods”, Barry Lopez discusses how he encourages children to take an interest in wildlife and nature conservation. His methods include taking children on walking tours through forests while prompting them to make observations. Lopez places special emphasis on the abundance of knowledge that can be gained through observation. Lopez emboldens children to use their imaginations while discovering nature instead of relying on the author’s “encyclopedic knowledge” (Lopez 735). The author also focuses on how many components of nature work together as a whole. In “Why I Hunt”, Rick Bass writes about his passion for hunting. Bass describes how hunting, besides a means of sustenance, is an exercise in imagination. Bass observes how society has become preoccupied with instant gratification and has lost its sense of imagination, “confusing anticipation with imagination” (Bass 745). Both essays share common ideas, such as how an active imagination is vital to the human experience, the totality of connection in the natural world, and the authors’ strong spiritual connections to their environments. In contrast, the main focus of Lopez’s essay is conservation education in children, while Bass’s essay discusses how society has become disassociated from nature in a modernized society.
In the article, “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon depicts of how individuals are frequently making the incorrect distinction of what is natural or not. Cronon begins by describing the myths or stereotypes society has made throughout history. Men masculinity is said to rise in the wilderness for the reason he is left with small resources to survive; furthermore, creating the image of cowboys or people who live in a farm to be the perfect candidates for living a natural lifestyle. However, William Cronon towards the end of his article, clarifies his main argument to the audience that people live in the wilderness or coexist with nature. The lifestyles that people have are natural for the reason tress or other plants are found in our cities just as people would find them in the forests. “The tree in the garden could easily have sprung from the same seed as the tree in the
The Green Party is a progressive political party in the United States and is the country's fourth-largest by membership. It promotes environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice, participatory grassroots democracy, gender equality, LGBT rights, antiwar and anti-racism. The U.S. Green party has ten key values, they include: Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice and Equal Opportunity, Ecological Wisdom, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Community-based economics, Feminism and Gender Equity, Respect for Diversity, Personal and Global Responsibility, and Future Focus and Sustainability. Greens will lead the opposition to the Trump-Pence agenda during the next four years. They will not compromise, capitulate, or go along with the bipartisan consensus.
“Unless humanity is suicidal, it should want to preserve, at the minimum, the natural life-support systems and processes required to sustain its own existence” (Daily p.365). I agree with scientist Gretchen Daily that drastic action is needed now to prevent environmental disaster. Immediate action and changes in attitude are not only necessary for survival but are also morally required. In this paper, I will approach the topic of environmental ethics from several related sides. I will discuss why the environment is a morally significant concern, how an environmental ethic can be developed, and what actions such an ethic would require to maintain and protect the environment.