Wilderness means self-willed
land. It was here before we were even
created and we are meant to take care of our land, which was a gift from
God. Humans cannot exist without the
resources that our earth provides therefore we should protect it. We cannot forget that we are sharing this
earth with thirty million other species and all of us are interdependent upon
one other for survival. Humans have a
larger responsibility than all the other species because we have the largest
potential to hurt or help our environment.
The island civilization method basically is a means of keeping the human
presence away from the wilderness, not the other way around. It seems like we are currently trying to keep
the wild from infringing on human society, but we should be more concerned
about our human nature disrupting the other inhabitants of this earth.
In
order to create this island civilization, we are to put the earth first. Most people think that the biggest reason the
earth’s timeline is shortened is due to the amount of resources we are
extracting. What people do not realize
is that these resources will disappear whether we use them or not. The biggest thing we need to concern
ourselves with is not wasting this earth-bound energy. So much of today’s resources are used on
making previous inventions better, which is getting us nowhere in terms of
protecting the environment. We need to
use our intellect and resources toward creating something that has never been
done. Going into a new millennium, we
should be looking for this new advancement and use it to increase the longevity
of this earth.
Presently,
technology is creating a lot of problems because people are not using it in the
way it was intended. The way we are
doing this is by abusing the power of technology. Cars are a necessity in today’s society, but
do we have to drive our car a mile away to a friends’ house? Biking that distance is doing the earth some
good (lowering carbon emissions) and it is doing you personally some good
(creating a healthier heart, thus improving life expectancy). Another scenario is abusing the power of
running water, or more specifically, hot running water. If everyone took steaming, thirty-minute
showers everyday then the natural gas that is being used to heat that water is
being taken advantage of.
Scientists
are currently concerning themselves with the habitat fragmentation of species
due to evolution taking place, but they have not once thought about letting
nature run it’s course and isolating civilization. We think of the earth being our planet, but
we are the sole reason the ozone is depleting.
Maybe it is time we turn the tables and delegate the responsibility of
protecting this earth to the free-willed inhabitants, or wild ones.
We
were like aliens coming to this planet from a distant galaxy; a galaxy that revolved
around innovation and change. How could
we come and disrupt the wild nature of the earth and not expect any negative
outcomes? If we want to save the earth,
we need to think of the environment before we worry about our own needs. The environment was here before we were, so
we need to preserve what is also vital to our existence.
This paper looks at the role of nature and the way it evolved with every human interaction. Reid wrote about the environment from the perspective of a conservative. He looks at isolationism and the ways that nature can survive.
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