Humans Vs Chemicals
A wise man once stated, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man 's needs, but not every man 's greed.” -Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi was one of the wise people that realized we need to take better care of our home planet Earth. Another wise person who also thought the Earth should be taken better care of was Rachel Carlson. In 1962 Carlson wrote “The Obligation to Endure” in hopes to educate people on this matter. In this essay I am going to explain how Carlson’s ideas have changed since she wrote her book in 1962.
To begin I’m going to talk about Rachel Carlson and her ideas. She first starts off with how man has polluted our rivers and many other valuable resources (Postman 2). She explains how the damage humans
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However this information was written in the 1960s and a lot has changed since then. Not everything she says is true in the world today. I am going to explain what is still happening in our world and how we are trying to make our world better. With all of these great changes in our world we have made some outstanding advances. My first point I’m arguing against is the fact that she said most people don 't know what these chemicals are or what they do. For an example the MSDS (Material Data Safety Sheet) is required by law to be in every healthcare facility and everyone working in these facilities are trained to know where they are located and how to use them. “It’s a document that contains information on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental) and how to work safely with the chemical product. It also contains information on the use, storage, handling and emergency procedures all related to the hazards of the material” ("OSH Answers Fact Sheets.”). Also she said that there’s 500 chemicals being made in a year that has changed immensely. “More than 7 million recognized chemicals are in existence, and approximately 80,000 of them are in common use worldwide” ("Chemical Industry Archives.").However just because we are making more chemicals it does not mean we use all of them. In fact we are
The definition of compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. As this definition shows compassion shows concern for other that every person would love to have. In The Chosen written by Chaim Potok, Mr. Potok really presents compassion in his book. Not only does he display compassion in one of his character but in every single one he gives them compassion that is expressed in different ways. He goes into detail example of compassion with each of his characters and really emphasizes the true meaning of compassion. Three main character that he shows compassion through in different ways are, Reuven, Mr. Malter and Reb Sanders.
Society portrays the Earth as a resource, a place that provides an abundance of tools that are beneficial to one’s way of living. As time continues on, humanity’s definition of sustainability with the ecosystem becomes minor, meaning that it is not essential to their own lives. Thus, leading to the environment becoming polluted and affecting the human population. These ideas are demonstrated through these four sources: “Despair Not” by Sandra Steingraber, which provides the author’s perspective on the environmental crisis in terms of climate change.
I enjoyed reading Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell because i find that many people today do not know a lot about the Native American culture and what they have been through. Their cultures history is not talked about as much the African American or Hispanic's are. Most Americans know about the hardships that the African American and Hispanics had to overcome to assimilate to the level that they are today. I think O'Nell is trying to talk about the history of the Native American culture because, she believes that the reason that their culture is not well-known because of the fact that they have chosen to keep living like their ancestors and not assimilate to the American culture.
The Overachievers by Alexandra Robbins is a non- fiction book that follows the lives of nine high school/ college overachieving students. On the outside they look healthy, happy, and perfect, but upon closer look the reader realizes just how manic their lives and the lives of many other high scholars are. It is no secret that high school and college has become more competitive, but the public doesn’t realize just out of control this world is. “Overachieverism” has become a way of life, a social norm. It is a world-wide phenomenon that has swamped many of the world’s top countries. Students are breaking under the immense amount of pressure that society puts on them. They live in constant fear that they will not live up to society’s, or their own, standards. People have put so much emphasis on students to succeed and to outperform their peers, and all before them, that it is changing them, and is having irreversible effects on them.
After her diagnosis of chronic kidney failure in 2004, psychiatrist Sally Satel lingered in the uncertainty of transplant lists for an entire year, until she finally fell into luck, and received her long-awaited kidney. “Death’s Waiting List”, published on the 5th of May 2006, was the aftermath of Satel’s dreadful experience. The article presents a crucial argument against the current transplant list systems and offers alternative solutions that may or may not be of practicality and reason. Satel’s text handles such a topic at a time where organ availability has never been more demanded, due to the continuous deterioration of the public health. With novel epidemics surfacing everyday, endless carcinogens closing in on our everyday lives, leaving no organ uninflected, and to that, many are suffering, and many more are in desperate request for a new organ, for a renewed chance. Overall, “Death’s Waiting List” follows a slightly bias line of reasoning, with several underlying presumptions that are not necessarily well substantiated.
As time passes, our population continues to increase and multiply; yet, on the other hand, our planet’s resources continue to decrease and deplete. As our population flourishes, human beings also increase their demands and clamor for the Earth’s natural products, yet are unable to sacrifice their surplus of the said resources. Garret Hardin’s work highlighted the reality that humans fail to remember that the Earth is finite and its resources are limited. Hardin’s article revealed that people are unable to fathom that we indeed have a moral obligation to our community and our natural habitat — that we are not our planet’s conquerors but its protectors. We fail to acknowledge and accept that we only have one Earth and that we must protect and treasure it at all costs. Despite all our attempts at annihilating the planet, the Earth will still be unrelenting — it will still continue to be present and powerful. Human beings must recognize that we need this planet more than it needs us and if we persist on being egocentric and covetous, in the end it is us who will
As with most group projects, I started out with a basic understanding of the issue; essentially pollution and environmental changes humans make impact the environment in very bad ways. I grew up with a family who believes in intelligent design, young earth theory, and they all vehemently deny that anything humans do cause damage to the planet- everything reported in the news or by scientists are part of a larger “Liberal Democrat conspiracy.” Thus, my views had become largely hazy and even though I pride myself on being a Liberal, educated, intelligent young person, sometimes I was unsure what was actually true or what had been dramatized or exaggerated by scientists or the media to actually get people to pay attention. In addition, I also
Survival is mandatory when you could be the last six people on the earth. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers is about a girl named Sloane and her five new friends need to survive the apocalypse but the infected are trying to get into their temporary home. Sloane and her "roommates" will do anything and everything they can to survive, including throwing your english teacher outside because theres a chance he could be infected, trusting your gut because it tells you there is a chance of survival, and finally, sacrificing yourself so others can survive.
This earth has so many wonderful things to offer, including what is still unknown. The responsibility to keep this earth safe lands in the hands of mankind. Humanity may not exist if the responsibility is ignored.. In the chapter “For the Love of Life,” published in the non fiction book The Future of Life (2002), naturalist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward O. Wilson discusses the effects the nature, including what is still unknown, has on the prosperity of mankind and argues that humanity has an obligation to preserve nature because of its genetic unity. Wilson supports his claim by justifying the reasons for conserving and preserving nature including how technology can never fully replace it, describing habitat preferences as a component of biophilia - which is explains human’s predisposition to love
In Hannah Arendt’s work, The Human Condition, Arendt addresses the active life or Vita Activa and how the three major human activities are incorporated into the public and private realms. The private realm, in which finances and basic needs are met, exists within the household. The Public Realm involves politics and interaction between individuals. All interaction within the public realm requires the individual to have attained freedom. As society continues to develop, however, and the Modern Age takes over the rise of the Social Realm disrupts the hierarchy of these three human activities. Arendt writes about how this disruption damages the natural order. Each of the three human activities has it’s own place in society and by disrupting the natural order this shift towards the Social Realm causes issues for mankind.
How funny that we should mention the consumer’s safety. How safe are the consumers when they go to the super market? Carson says in chapter 11 that people who lived before 1942 had no traces of DDT in their body. Yet now, people are eating food infused with DDT which has been found to cause negative effects on the body. Carson says that we have eras referred to as “the age of reason” and “the age of innocence”, but she fears that our age will be known as “the age of poisons” (p.157)
Our planet is a thing of beauty. It is known as the only planet that sustains an abundance of life. This is due to the perfect balance of natural resources that provides life giving sustenance. My mother always tells me “if you take, you need to give.” I always thought that she meant that I should appreciate what I have and always give of my time and resources to those who are less fortunate than me. However, my mother’s saying now rings true for me as I am now able to apply this saying not only to myself as a human being but to the natural world and environment around me that maintains life.
The waterways of creeks, rivers, lakes, and wetlands are affected by chemical poisons and heavy metals and the groundwater supplies on Earth are becoming polluted by gasoline, oil, chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and hazardous wastes. Burrowes also discusses soil contamination, antibiotic waste, genetic engineering and gene drives, nanoparticles, space junk, military waste, nuclear waste, and even our own bodies. He even goes so far as to state that our attention is distracted by forms of junk like television. He recommends that we make a conscious personal commitment to take action. The change has to start with individuals. We should also attempt to prevent children from acquiring traits of consumption and pollution. He concludes with the idea that we have two choices: conform to the creation of Earth as a junkyard or make a decision to fight the devastation of the
“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.
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.