Human Control In Gerald Barrax's To Waste At Trees

Every item consumed is derived from some sort of natural resource, whether it’s mined, grown or hunted. As the major consumers continue to live a “comfortable” lifestyle, the world’s ecosystem are beginning to be degraded. This is evident in the depletion of forests around the world. Every year, the loss of forests around the world equates to the size of Panama. (Douglas) Without forests, life on earth is simply impossible, we won’t have any

The book “Changes in the Land” by William Cronon in summary is based on environmental history where science, social science, the way society affects human nature and vice-versa is all combined into his narrative. With that being said, he believed that humans are dependent on nature, and nature is something that’s either made or broken by humans. Same goes for vegetation and land area. He wrote about conflicts between two cultures, where when the settlers came in to New England, they took over the Native American’s home. The power the settlers had over the Native Americans grew so strong that it got to a point where the rule of usufruct was put in place, where Native Americans could make use of any natural resource on earth as long as it wasn’t being needed by another person.

Since the beginning of time, mankind has depended on nature for survival. Although, throughout the years society has learned to manipulate nature for their own selfish advantages. In the passage written by Richard Louv, he utilizes rhetorical questions, repetition, and a tone of nostalgia to stress that sad truth about the separation of mankind and nature.

In “Tree Hugger: The Tyranny Viewpoint,” attorney Gerry Spence argues that society wrongfully ignores the rights of nature because they are not viewed as living human things. According to Spence the reason being is due to the many ideologies humans are enslaved by. These ideas encircle the power of religion, corporations having rights but not living trees, and saying that humans must eat certain foods at certain times of the day.

Cole and Foster (2002) describes how many of the Native environmental justice struggles were focused around land and environmental exploitation (p. 26), both of which can be seen with the case of clear cutting in the Grassy Narrows community (Keewatin v Minister of Natural Resources, 2011), as well as with the issues surrounding the case of mercury pollution (Grassy Narrows and Islington Indian Bands Mercury Pollution Claims Settlement, 1986). This is an environmental justice issue because the Grassy Narrows people continually have to deal with environmental racism. Both of the examples mentioned above, along with the fact that they are still battling out in court their right to clean water and harvesting rights that sustains their livelihood (Keewatin v. Ontario Natural Resources, 2013) show how indigenous communities are still facing environmental racism in Canada.

Terry Tempest William’s written essay, “A Shark in the Mind of One Contemplating Wilderness,” delivers to us, with intended purpose using shocking truths of greed and destruction. Actions took under the cloak and disguise of the needs of civilization, creating more jobs, or even to boost the rich man’s governmental legacy of our badly raped and abused national economy. How continued acts of greed and wanton disregard for the environment, are endangering nature the wilderness areas we have sought to protect? Acts that leave behind damage and destruction where once nature and wilderness thrived.

To understand where the motivation and passion to protect the environment was developed, one looks to the rapid deforestation of East Coast old-growth forests at the turn of the century. “As Gifford Pinchot expressed it, ‘The American Colossus was fiercely at work turning natural resources into money.’ ‘A

The relationship between people and their environment in A Land Remembered is one where the profit from land exploitation is naturally corrupting and exponentially increases the exploiters lust for larger profit, leading to the exploiter planning larger scale endeavors in the future. The author, Patrick D. Smith (1984), suggests the idea that communities naturally grow in a hedonic cycle to crave more resources to fuel loftier endeavors that require even more resources from the environment, an idea that is also discussed by Aldo Leopold in the Land Ethic as wholly negative, and that is also part of my world view that is rather more optimistic.

Val Plumwood in her essay “Paths Beyond Human-Centeredness,” illustrates the impact that humans have on nature and non-animals when it comes to preserving environments. Understanding that nature has it’s living properties that let it thrive among its resources allows for people to grasp the complexities that come about when construction companies destroy the environment in which they work. Plumwood uses the term dualism to refer to the sharp distinction between two classes of individuals. There is the high class, which is considered as the “One.” In contrast, the other side of the division consists of individuals that are classified as lower and are subordinates to the “One” as “Others.” This account on dualism allows the reader to understand how humans can significantly alter the environment because of the way they perceive its resources and inhabitants. Plumwood defines five characteristics that illustrate the oppressive actions that change the connection between human relations and the relationship between humans and nature.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss depicts a world ravaged by deforestation and suffering from other environmental crises. In the town of Thneedville, an aspiring capitalist begins to sell his new product and as a result of booming business, the cornerstone of his business pays the price. The trees, the only natural resource used in production, are harvested to the point of extinction. The lack of trees leads to soil erosion, air pollution, and species extinction. While this is a children’s tale and Dr. Seuss’s illustration may be quite extreme, it is a reality for future generations of our planet. Human involvement in ecosystems by clearing land for urban development, logging, and agriculture have all exacerbated the rate of decline in the region’s natural systems. The deforestation of rainforests for the cultivation of palm oil is causing the possible extinction of orangutans and exacerbating air quality issues in Indonesia.

Marijuana use is on the rise, especially among teenagers and young adults. With the recent laws passed in eight states about legalizing medical marijuana , many stand divided when it comes to this never ending debate, but I firmly believe that this miracle working drug should be legalized throughout the United States.

Through removal and technology, humans have started to become isolated from the wilderness and the nature around them. This view distinctly contrasts with Thoreau’s perspective. “Though he [Thoreau] never put humans on the same moral level as animals or trees, for example, he does see them all linked as the expression of Spirit, which may only be described in terms of natural laws and unified fluid processes. The self is both humbled and empowered in its cosmic perspective,” states Ann Woodlief. The technologies that distract and consume us, and separate us from the natural world are apparent. Many people and children ins cities have seen little to no natural-grown things such as grass and trees. Even these things are often domesticated and tamed. Many people who have never been to a National Park or gone hiking through the wilderness do not understand its unruly, unforgiving, wild nature. These aspects, thought terrifying to many, are much of why the wilderness is so beautiful and striking to the human heart. “Thoreau builds a critique of American culture upon his conviction that ‘the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality,’” pronounces Rick Furtak, quoting Thoreau’s Life

In the book Half-Earth by Edward Wilson, Wilson says, “The living world is in desperate condition” and in my opinion, this is very true. We are constantly cutting down trees and taking over the natural land to make more buildings and roads. I went on a trip to Chicago over the past weekend and we went through many cities to get there, including Gary Indiana. They had so many factories there that it was unbelievable, these factories were letting out so much smoke that it looked like there was a thin layer of fog in the sky. It was kind of sad because if you think about it, we tore down the beautiful natural environment to make factories that pollutes everything around them. Wilson also says, “Nature in the wildlands is the birthright of everyone on Earth” I also believe this is true, we were all put on this natural land but over the years we have been destroying it by putting many of the species inhabiting it in danger and by putting businesses, roads, and houses on it. Another way we are destroying the

Nature is merely our instrument of conquering one another. By manipulating what already exists, we create everything from nuclear warheads to high speed internet. The continuous competition between men feeds off of our technological advancement—none of which would be possible without the resources Nature provides for us. And rather than being grateful for the unequivicable power so generously offered us by our environment, we instead mock its existence. We distract from the cunningness and cruelty of our efforts toward mankind by relabeling our target ‘Nature’ rather than ‘each other’. By convincing ourselves we are somehow beginning to have Nature within our control and understanding, we forget that Nature is really only the means, not the end of our conquest. We will not be satisfied until we have defeated ourselves. As Lewis puts it, “Human nature will be the last part of Nature to surrender to Man. The battle will then be won… But who, precisely, will have won it?” (The Abolition of Man, 421)

The connection between humans and nature is very weak. Due to future advancement we are basically losing our grip on reality, which brings up the point of destruction to nature that we are not aware of. At one point in time nature was the most beautiful thing you could ever witness. Now people exploit it for money. They are selling land, resources, even water for a profit. They don’t think twice or blink an eye at the damage they cause. The disconnect is so huge the debate of protecting the earth is treated as a forbidden topic. “Second, environmental injustices critics challenge the mainstream environmental idea of what environmental problems are in the first place. They say its focused on the beautiful outdoors, it has anti-urban bias, it isn’t engaged enough with artificial human environments like neighborhoods and workplaces” (Purdy 4) That just baffles me how you can turn the place we call home and the wellness of it to a political debate when all we should want to do is preserve it.