When looking for a topic to dispute I found that I agreed with many of the assertions the authors presented. It was a struggle to find something I disagreed with. In my search, I chose to look at Robert D. Kaplan’s book, “The Coming Anarchy” again. The challenge that we all have is that no matter how critical and analytical we attempt to view a reading we all have our bias. My particular bias is that I cannot separate my view of the world and where it is going from my theology. In light of my theology, I struggled to find much I disagreed with in Kaplan’s writing. As I read Kaplan’s arguments a second time, I took a closer look at his section on the environment titled, “The Environment as a Hostile Power.” Though several authors dealt with the environment Kaplan has a much more assertive argument then the others.
The title of the section conveys two concepts. The first concept is that the environment is an entity unto itself and can influence the actions of others. The second concept is the environment like the Soviet Union and Saddam regime is an evil, hostile force that causes war. My disagreement with Kaplan starts with the title of this section itself not to mention his arguments presented in the section. I would argue that I believe there are second and third order of effects on how we take care of the earth yet it is mans depravity not the environment that causes war.
Though my theology forms a basis for my disagreement with Kaplan, it is not my sole basis in this paper. My theology shapes and influences my worldview. As a chaplain, this should not be a surprise to anyone. To simply argue a topic such as the environment strictly from a scriptural or theological standpoint would quickly lose a wide au...
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...ment scarcity will inflame existing hatreds and affect power relationships, at which we now look.” I would argue that, “He who has the most toys wins.” Man scrambles for control and power over those he can. He wants to have the most toys and most influence. The cause of wars of the future may appear to be about survival of the fittest and control over the natural resources. The reality is that the wars of the future will be about mans depravity and the desire to control his fellow man. Natural resources are but a reason those who go to war will use. If they did not have that reason, they would seek out another reason in order to control and have power over those around them.
Works Cited
Robert D. Kaplan, The Coming Anarchy: How Scarcity, Crime, Overpopulation, Tribalism, and Disease are Rapidly Destroying the Social Fabric of Our Planet.
God's Word
The majority of this piece is dedicated to the author stating his opinion in regards to civilization expanding beyond its sustainable limits. The author makes it clear that he believes that humans have failed the natural environment and are in the process of eliminating all traces of wilderness from the planet. Nash points out facts that strengthen his argument, and quotes famous theologians on their similar views on environmental issues and policies. The combination of these facts and quotes validates the author’s opinion.
In the journal of Environmentalism as Religion, Paul H. Rubin discuss about how environmental is similar to religion. Rubin want everyone to know that the environment and religion are somehow similar in a way, which they both have belief system, creation stories and original sin.
Wole Soyinka's essay "Every Dictator's Nightmare" in the April 18, 1999 edition of the New York Times magazine seems almost prescient in light of the events currently occurring geopolitically. The recent events occurred in Egypt are certainly representative of the themes present in Soyinka's essay; “the idea that certain fundamental rights are inherent to all humanity" (476). Soyinka, the 1986 noble peace prizewinner for literature, portrays not only his well-formed persona in his essay, but also his well formed thoughts, devoid of literary naiveté common in so many of today’s writers. The essay portrays societies as corrupted, but with some elements of innate nobility. The existence of societies is guaranteed by the realization that every individual has undeniable basic rights. Soyinka also presents an overview of the enslavement of individual cultures; to the forces of religion, dictatorship, economic pressures, forced labor, and ideology; presenting the reader strong examples of the world's failure to respect individual human rights throughout history. In his essay, Soyinka’s explores the employment of irony and contradiction, in explaining the paradoxes that have riddled the historical search for just societies.
He delves into the history of the word “environmental” as well as the history of environmental activism. He pinpoints the beginning of the movement to Rachel Carson. According to Quammen, she began the revolution by publishing her book Silent Spring. He says the negative connotations of the word began with her book, pairing “environment” and “the survival of humankind” as if they go hand in hand. This played a major role in the distortion of the word and the intentions of environmentalists.
Population control is destroying the world! Ann Aguirre in her dystopian book “Enclave” shows the community as an organism made of four parts which are running it. There are breeders which produce children; they have hunters who hunt for food and the builders who build houses and everything else. Also there is elders who judge and punish people. The people who are sick or disabled are killed as well as their parents. That is because the people are not as intelligent and can’t make the medical help better, the people are very afraid of the elders and can’t have their own thought, and the world is full of creeps witch kill and eat whatever they find. The book Enclave is an example of social commentary, because it talks about Population control, creates awareness, and makes people want to take actions.
Jeffrey Reiman, author of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, first published his book in 1979; it is now in its sixth edition, and he has continued to revise it as he keeps up on criminal justice statistics and other trends in the system. Reiman originally wrote his book after teaching for seven years at the School of Justice (formerly the Center for the Administration of Justice), which is a multidisciplinary, criminal justice education program at American University in Washington, D.C. He drew heavily from what he had learned from his colleagues at that university. Reiman is the William Fraser McDowell Professor of Philosophy at American University, where he has taught since 1970. He has written numerous books on political philosophy, criminology, and sociology.
The environmental movement in politics is often overplayed causing people to loose interest in the issue, but Jarred Diamond makes it impossible to ignore the issue in his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Jared Diamond hopes to catch as many peoples attention as he can; the name alone, “Collapse”, makes him appear to be an alarmist looking for attention. He has just cause though for blowing the whistle on society. He makes parallels to previous failed societies and to modern societies showing how the practices that we employ are similar to these failed societies. He is suggesting that America, as well as other countries, are headed down the path of ecocide more possible a global ecocide. Through his extensive research and numerous examples he makes it impossible to argue with his thesis. While all of examples seem redundant and like he is over emphasizing the point he does this to show his thoroughness. He also does it to show that he is correct. Diamond does not want to be wrong; he is a major author who gets a lot of attention when he releases a book. People look to discredit Diamond’s work. Due to this he gives ample resources to support this thesis.
... 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.
The book Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner’s Fierce Rebellion (New York, Ny: Harper Perennial, 1990) by Stephen B. Oates portrays a slave rebellion and uprising in the 1830’s. Oates has written many books on American history and his style of writing makes his books readable and popular. He has become a unique storyteller of his time, in his book he tells of a transformation that changed the city of South Hampton, Virginia forever, an unspeakable action heard throughout the whole nation and insurrection. What is an insurrection? It is a rebellion, revolution, mutiny and uprising, a concept that has never lost hope in African-American slaves.
Mike Davis in his book Planet of Slums, discusses the Third World and the impact globalization and industrialization has on both urban and poverty stricken cities. The growth of urbanization has not only grown the middle class wealth, but has also created an urban poor who live side by side in the city of the wealthy. Planet of Slums reveals astonishing facts about the lives of people who live in poverty, and how globalization and the increase of wealth for the urban class only hurts those people and that the increase of slums every year may eventually lead to the downfall of the earth. “Since 1970 the larger share of world urban population growth has been absorbed by slum communities on the periphery of Third World cities” (Davis 37). Specifically,
Moved by faith in God, we commit ourselves to promote the healing that rises at one as well as the other private and environmental levels from integrated lives dedicated to serving God and humanity. Works Cited Keepers of the garden: Christians and the environment. by John T. Baldwin, Retrieved October 12, 2011. King James Bible, Retrieved, October, 13, 2011. www.mightystudents.com/essay/specific.actions.Christian..
Book 1 of Plato's Republic raises the question what is justice? Four views of justice are examined. The first is that justice is speaking the truth and paying one's debt. The second is that justice is helping one's friends and harming one's enemies. The third view of justice is that it is to the advantage of the stronger. The last view is that injustice is more profitable than justice.
Although a theology professor does different work than a climate change researcher, the two must find cohesion, which is promoting human flourishing. Furthering this shared value, Therese Lysault continues in her chapter with, “The intellectual life should seek to promote human flourishing by responding to the complex needs, ends and purpose of human life,” (184). Catholic Intellectuals must promote this human flourishing by finding their vocations. According to Theologian Frederick Buechner our vocation in life is where our greatest joy meets the world's greatest needs. This relates back to Lysault’s point where we can promote human flourishing by responding to the word’s great needs. When someone’s passion is promoting human dignity by alleviating the world’s social issues, than they have found their vocation. Consequently, Catholic Intellectuals can contribute to accomplishing the truth, by finding their vocation. Once an Intellectual has found their vocation, it doesn’t require major advances in their field to be a part of accomplishing this truth. Lysault states, “In our vocations we are continually called to be present to others,” (184). Simply, we promote human dignity by recognizing all human life and presently helping them. She continues with, “we are called to be vehicles of the in-breaking of the kingdom, agent of God’s grace in the world,” (185). Although accomplishing the truth of “loving and serving, of defending and promoting human life” is a complex task for all of humanity, it must originate from humanity building up the Kingdom of God. In order to do this, it must stem from Catholic Intellectuals finding their vocations and presently being “agents” of God’s
One of the major points that Kaplan makes and he focuses on heavily in the beginning of the article is how environmental scarcity plays an impact on people’s decisions. There is a finite amount of natural resources in the world for people to use, and we are fast approaching a point where the world can no longer support our growing population. All of this is spurred on by an increase in practices that cause deforestation, soil erosion, pollution and global warming. A great analogy within the article is that we are robbing from tomorrow’s future to support the present, which is shown in that “…man is challenging nature far beyond its limits, and nature is now beginning to take its revenge.” (Kaplan, 1994) The new major threat that every nation and person has to be aware of is how the immediate results of our mismanagement of the environment can have a tremendous backlash, not only within our lives but the lives of future generations. All of these environmental concerns are dots that connect with Kaplan’s other main arguments.
...al security, which I believe are the most pressing concern of our time. When considering the fragile Caspian region, there is a tendency to focus on the complicated geopolitical struggle that underlies the New Great Game. A to focus on energy security. Energy security, which has been the cause for several of the most recent wars of our time, including the war in Iraq. Yet global ecopolitics and environmental security, have caused wars of their own, and may still cause another. I have endeavoured to demonstrate the importance of environmental security in our lives. An environmental security crisis can leave a lake devoid of life, or transform a landscape into a wasteland. It can take a vibrant community and turn it into a sickhouse. It is my argument that environmental security should be brought alongside energy security, to the forefront of our political agenda.