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This is my first ever college paper. Written for ENC1101. Topic was "Humanities place in Nature". Please do not quote it without giving credit to it's author, ME aka "87chevy". And please don't try to plagurize(sp?) it either.
Global Suicide
The earth is human kinds home and man is at the top of its food chain. In fact, man is not only consuming the lower animals, the earth itself is being consumed. What is not consumed is spoiled. Men are the most advanced beings on the planet yet are not smart enough to ensure their own survival. I believe mankind is failing in its responsibility as caretaker of the world, consequently endangering its own existence.
The actions of the human race, when looked at from a global and historical view, would lead some to believe that man is not the highest animal. Mark Twain made observations that led him to believe that men are actually the lowest animals. In his writing, The Lowest Animal, Twain gives examples of mans extreme greed, wastefulness, and baseness (NMR pg. 317-321). To show how greedy man is, Twain sights a story of American hunters who take an English Earl on a hunting trip, only to entertain him. The hunting party killed seventy-two bison but only partially ate one. To see if this kind of behavior was present in other animals, Twain put several animals in cages with more food than they would ever need. Not one of them took all the food. Greed hasnt always been mans natural instinct. Plains Indians only killed enough bison on a hunt to provide them with what they needed. Every part of the bison was put to use. Yet the self proclaimed superior white settlers killed hundreds of bison only for the fur.
Greed is not the only characteristic solely belonging to man. Twain goes on to state that the human is the only animal who consciously inflicts pain on its own kind for pleasure. I do not believe that anyone could deny this. Examples of torture and the injuring of innocents can be found throughout our history. On the flip side, man is also the only species who distinguishes right from wrong. Humans are the only animals who will pursue one accused of wrong doing and give that person a fair chance to prove his/her innocence.
As just and fair as humanity can be, man is also the only animal dumb enough to destroy its home. In Big Mac and the Rain Forest, Joseph K. Skinner discusses the raping of the South American rain forests (NMR pg. 331-336). The local cattle ranchers slash and burn the rainforest in order to make room for grazing land. However, after about two or three years, the grass fails to grow. The soil in the rain forests is not fertile due to the way the plants get their nutrients from the tree canopy and a thin layer of decaying plant material on the forest floor. Consequently, the cattle ranchers continue to slash and burn more and more rainforests. By destroying the rain forests, man is endangering nearly half the genetic material on the planet.
In contrast to the rain forests, which are jam packed with life, the oceans are mostly barren. The small areas that do support life in the ocean, are extremely valuable. Many groups of people around the world depend heavily on ocean life for food. There is a very old stigma, though, that the oceans are bottomless and could never be filled. As a result, man has been intentionally dumping waste into the oceans for centuries. In the last fifty years or so, it has come to light that the oceans are neither bottomless nor invincible. Thor Heyerdahl, describes the effects of millions of tons of pollutants that have been intentionally dumped into the oceans, in his article How to Kill an Ocean (NMR pg. 337-344). Heyerdahl describes how one nation thought they had made spill-proof containers making it safe to dump seven thousand tons of arsenic into the ocean. Those supposed spill-proof containers began leaking forty years later. In 1975, the year How to Kill an Ocean was written, seven thousand tons of arsenic would have been enough to kill the entire world population three times over. One would think that the most advanced species on earth would be smart enough not to poison its own feeding grounds.
The forests and oceans are not infinite, so why would man think the air he breathes is? Air pollution is another example of man destroying one of the planets resources required to keep humans alive. Only when the skies over our cities become visibly polluted, and nearly unsafe to breathe, do we take action. Scientists have proven there is already major damage to the atmosphere over the Antarctic. The US is placing more and more stringent fuel consumption regulations on the automobile manufacturers, but not on the vehicles that do the most damage, those being large SUVs. Any vehicle that weighs more than six thousand pounds is exempt from fuel consumption laws. Then there are the poorer countries with their dirty factories and no emissions laws at all. Nations have the ability to clean up the emissions of factories and automobiles, but human greed for profit gets in the way of putting the technology to use.
It is known that there are better ways to use our resources. Society also has the intellectual ability to know that the easiest way is not always the best way. Yet doing what is easiest continues no matter the consequences to our fellow man or neighboring animal. It is obvious that man is the only animal with the intellectual ability to know what is good and bad for the planet and its inhabitants. Knowing that, I believe we are obligated to help ensure the survival of every living thing. If man does that, then his own survival is ensured.
I would like to hear you opinions. especially from certain members. And i don't think i'll be disapointed at all, well not disapointed in number of opinions i mean. Some of your opinions are always disapointing
Global Suicide
The earth is human kinds home and man is at the top of its food chain. In fact, man is not only consuming the lower animals, the earth itself is being consumed. What is not consumed is spoiled. Men are the most advanced beings on the planet yet are not smart enough to ensure their own survival. I believe mankind is failing in its responsibility as caretaker of the world, consequently endangering its own existence.
The actions of the human race, when looked at from a global and historical view, would lead some to believe that man is not the highest animal. Mark Twain made observations that led him to believe that men are actually the lowest animals. In his writing, The Lowest Animal, Twain gives examples of mans extreme greed, wastefulness, and baseness (NMR pg. 317-321). To show how greedy man is, Twain sights a story of American hunters who take an English Earl on a hunting trip, only to entertain him. The hunting party killed seventy-two bison but only partially ate one. To see if this kind of behavior was present in other animals, Twain put several animals in cages with more food than they would ever need. Not one of them took all the food. Greed hasnt always been mans natural instinct. Plains Indians only killed enough bison on a hunt to provide them with what they needed. Every part of the bison was put to use. Yet the self proclaimed superior white settlers killed hundreds of bison only for the fur.
Greed is not the only characteristic solely belonging to man. Twain goes on to state that the human is the only animal who consciously inflicts pain on its own kind for pleasure. I do not believe that anyone could deny this. Examples of torture and the injuring of innocents can be found throughout our history. On the flip side, man is also the only species who distinguishes right from wrong. Humans are the only animals who will pursue one accused of wrong doing and give that person a fair chance to prove his/her innocence.
As just and fair as humanity can be, man is also the only animal dumb enough to destroy its home. In Big Mac and the Rain Forest, Joseph K. Skinner discusses the raping of the South American rain forests (NMR pg. 331-336). The local cattle ranchers slash and burn the rainforest in order to make room for grazing land. However, after about two or three years, the grass fails to grow. The soil in the rain forests is not fertile due to the way the plants get their nutrients from the tree canopy and a thin layer of decaying plant material on the forest floor. Consequently, the cattle ranchers continue to slash and burn more and more rainforests. By destroying the rain forests, man is endangering nearly half the genetic material on the planet.
In contrast to the rain forests, which are jam packed with life, the oceans are mostly barren. The small areas that do support life in the ocean, are extremely valuable. Many groups of people around the world depend heavily on ocean life for food. There is a very old stigma, though, that the oceans are bottomless and could never be filled. As a result, man has been intentionally dumping waste into the oceans for centuries. In the last fifty years or so, it has come to light that the oceans are neither bottomless nor invincible. Thor Heyerdahl, describes the effects of millions of tons of pollutants that have been intentionally dumped into the oceans, in his article How to Kill an Ocean (NMR pg. 337-344). Heyerdahl describes how one nation thought they had made spill-proof containers making it safe to dump seven thousand tons of arsenic into the ocean. Those supposed spill-proof containers began leaking forty years later. In 1975, the year How to Kill an Ocean was written, seven thousand tons of arsenic would have been enough to kill the entire world population three times over. One would think that the most advanced species on earth would be smart enough not to poison its own feeding grounds.
The forests and oceans are not infinite, so why would man think the air he breathes is? Air pollution is another example of man destroying one of the planets resources required to keep humans alive. Only when the skies over our cities become visibly polluted, and nearly unsafe to breathe, do we take action. Scientists have proven there is already major damage to the atmosphere over the Antarctic. The US is placing more and more stringent fuel consumption regulations on the automobile manufacturers, but not on the vehicles that do the most damage, those being large SUVs. Any vehicle that weighs more than six thousand pounds is exempt from fuel consumption laws. Then there are the poorer countries with their dirty factories and no emissions laws at all. Nations have the ability to clean up the emissions of factories and automobiles, but human greed for profit gets in the way of putting the technology to use.
It is known that there are better ways to use our resources. Society also has the intellectual ability to know that the easiest way is not always the best way. Yet doing what is easiest continues no matter the consequences to our fellow man or neighboring animal. It is obvious that man is the only animal with the intellectual ability to know what is good and bad for the planet and its inhabitants. Knowing that, I believe we are obligated to help ensure the survival of every living thing. If man does that, then his own survival is ensured.
I would like to hear you opinions. especially from certain members. And i don't think i'll be disapointed at all, well not disapointed in number of opinions i mean. Some of your opinions are always disapointing
