Shah critiques Malthus essay

Shah critiques Malthus essay my taking what Malthus laid out in his essay and bringing it more up to date and bring in other peoples work too. Shah elaborates more on Malthus idea of increase resources of the household translate into more children. Shah says that this only makes sense if children are viewed as consumer goods. With the idea of populations tend to increase at an exponential manner; Shah connects David Ricardo to the idea and what Ricardo believes. With the idea of how technology would not really help the population Shah quotes Boulding and his idea of Utterly Dismal Theorem and how Boulding idea furthers Malthus thought about technology. Shah brings in an alternative idea to Malthus idea that the rich would keep their territory while the poor would edge each other out. Shah shows that the poor could capture the rich territory and take it over. Shah believes Malthus was wrong the human numbers outstripping its food resources. Malthus did not realize the mass amount of land that has been discovered since his writing and technology impact on food.

Shah vs. Malthus

In An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), Thomas R. Malthus argues that population growth is disproportional to the increase of means of subsistence, which leads to (temporary) poverty, competition (in the Darwinian understanding--> I love how the topics of my classes coalesce!), falling prices of labor etc.
200 years later, Anup Shah tries to show in his essay Ecology and the Crisis of Overpopulation: Future Prospects for Global Sustainability that Malthus' basic assumptions were wrong.
Contrary to Malthus' assumption that food poduction increases arithmetically, Shah points out that this processs is not as easy as Malthus explained it because factors such as land availability and technical progress highly influence and possibly increase food production. For example, Malthus undervalued the agricultural potential of newly discovered places of the Earth (America, Australia). Yet, all this could lead to the conclusion that the Malthusian scenario (we outstrip resources) is only postponed.
However, Sha also refutes Malthus' argument that there is the preference to have more children than fewer if the ecological situation allows it by referring to a demographic transition happened in the Western World: the fertility rates fell instead of increased as soon as Western Europe grew proseprous.
According to Shah, this is evidence that the future of the predicted catastrophe is uncertain.

After reading chapter 11, "Slow Food Nations," I don't think I'll ever feel guilty swiping my debit card with organic food on the bill ever again. For my past guilt was due in part to certain family members labeling organic food as simply a marketing ploy to deceive a hapless idealist and radical liberal as myself. To them, shopping at Whole Foods is an elitist and pretentious venture, and clearly mocking my status as an English major, they jeeringly claim that I won't be able to afford organic food in the future. This constant criticism, among other false information, almost persuaded me to think organic food was unnecessary and nothing special. Luckily, after reading chapter 11, I am now equipped with useful information about organic food and farming to combat the common myths. Here's the useful information I picked up (not exhaustive): "organic farming, by definition, enhances the soil's living and nonliving components. Modern conventional farming is an efficient reduction of that process that adds back just a few crucial nutrients of the many that are removed each year when biomass is harvested"; with the continued spraying of chemicals, a bugs genetic resistance will increase; "more than 500 species of insects and mites now resist our chemical controls, along with over 150 viruses and other plant pathogens; "twenty percent of approved-for-use pesticides are listed by the EPA as carcinogenic"; organic agriculture allows insect predator populations to retain a healthy presence in our fields; and fruits and vegetables grown without pesticides and herbicides contain 50 to 60 percent more antioxidants than their sprayed counterparts. Hopefully, with this information, the term "organic" won't meet the same fate as "existentialism."

Kingsolver Reading

“We [humans] are management; they [plants] are labor.” This relationship of humans to crops that Kingsolver exclaims sums up the very thing that society, especially American society, seems to have forgotten—that we are only to oversee, not control, a natural process. Evolution has fine-tuned a system in which “plants, insects, birds, mammals, and microbes interact in such complicated ways” in order to produce the very resource that allows our survival—food. Conventional farming methods have artificially imitated this process, meaning to increase production, but in fact only worsening it. The paradox between David’s two cornfields proves this. As Kingsolver proclaims, organic farming enhances the soil’s living and nonliving components, thereby enhancing the productivity of the land, whereas conventional farming basically poisons the land in order to allow growth. This concept is counterintuitive. Shouldn’t we focus more on nurturing and cultivating the land than feeding it unnatural chemicals that not only harm the land and food we eat, but us ourselves?

I thought the diner that was owned by a farmer and only bought from local farmers was very interesting. Kingsolver said that in order to compete with big corporations, the owner started the diner to give the local economy business. I really liked how he saw this as a responsibility to his community and as a patriotic action. It works out really well for them because this diner provides business for the farms in an hour distance from it, and in return the farms provide supplies to keep the diner open. This just emphasizes the strong community effort that is needed to eat locally. This local community was struggling to keep their farms open, so they found a solution that worked for them and not for the big corporations.
Kingsolver again stresses how it is our responsibility to hold the stores and restaurants in our community responsible for buying locally. She suggests asking stores if they have any local produce or asking restaurants if where their ingredients come from and what items on the menu are local. She also emphasizes that it is important for you to be informed as to what is available in your community. These kinds of proactive efforts will lead communities to buy more local than from big companies.
I also thought it was interesting when she mentioned that one of our country’s biggest exports was McDonald’s or “MacDo.” From my experience this is very true. I spent a month during the summer in France and one of the first things I noticed was the frequency of fast food places in the town we were in. There were at least 2 or 3 McDonalds and one Domino’s Pizza. It seems that these restaurants were only there for novelty purposes because they were foreign

Kingsolver response

The most striking thing to me was the commentary on the use of pesticides. While we've all heard the explanation that insects, like viruses, will continue to adapt and have resistance, there is still no obvious answer to solve the problem of crop-damaging insects. Organic farming from the beginning minimizes the issue, but if land has been sprayed in the past, even organic crops will develop below their prime. In the end, this tactic is hopefully successful, but how long will it take to get to "the end"? Almost certainly, longer than the average commercial farmer is willing to wait, and longer than even those of the best intentions are able to afford. Is there any way to continue to encourage organic methods while minimizing the loss to the farmer?

I, too, grew a little tired of the eternally idyllic life portrayed, but for me, David and Elsie were the epitome of this rather than Barbara and co.

Most Striking Element

The most striking element within this reading was the description of the Farmers Diner found in chapter 10. First and foremost, the time and effort that the owners, Tom Murphy and Pam Van Deursen, put into the upkeep of this diner is truly admirable. To serve food that is produced by businesses from the area is difficult for a variety of reasons. To begin with, it is expensive. Nevertheless, even though the local product is much more expensive than the low-cost import, "buying goods from local businesses rather than national chains generates about three times as much money for [the] local economy." (Kingsolver, 149) Yet, what about weather/illness - factors that affect a farmer/producer directly? Well, as Kingsolver explains, this may affect the businesses in terms of produce being grown or delivered. Despite these difficulties, it is made evident that supporting local farmers is necessary and all it takes is initiative (from anyone) to promote change. As Steven L. Hopp put it, one should request local produce at the grocery store or restaurant.

"What the world needs now....is more compassionate local action."

Due to technical difficulties, this blog is being posted for Taylor.

"What the world needs now....is more compassionate local action." (150)
When I read this statement it really struck a cord in me. We look around and we see small business after small business going bankrupt or taken over by bigger corporations. What we tend to forget is that our country grew from the hard work of the everyday individual people. This country was built on the dreams and hopes of the young and old wanting to make a new start. When we choose to buy from the often times cheaper but grotesque big business sectors we are single- handily paving the way for a completely corporate run society and who in the hell wants that? We should be supporting one another rather than subjugating ourselves to corporate, public slaughter.

that we may deliver ourselves from evil and internet

The emphasis that Kingslover places on agribusiness in some of her sidelines, her small informative insights on farm subsidies, on the use of pesticides really lay out some complicated issues in simple terms with solid statistics (or at least I hope they are solid) that would get across to a reader, perhaps already predisposed for change, or knowledgeable about some of the broken aspects of our food system but lacking the bare bones clarity or possible day to day solutions. She is not a pessimist, not apocalyptic, she does show frustration but is altogether reasonable, sensible in her description of systemic problems based in the way we conduct agriculture and the was policy affects what we eat. She firmly makes the case for farmers and consumers and lays blame at the feet of those who do them ill. I wish that she would do it more often, but I imagine it would hurt the happy utopic narrative she is trying to create and sell, that is that these evils can be bypassed, changed, diminished or destroyed. I am rooting on her side, I want to see the city on the hill, but her Calvinist approach to environmentally sound living does not apply to most Americans, even if the common problems we face do. Most of us watch TV and buy lots and lots of things from very large companies, and we have neither the ability nor the perception to change this to a great extent.

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I was struck by the physical evidence the Kingsolver family saw of the benefits of organic farming versus standard farming practices. I understand the ecological and environmental impacts of artificial fertilization and pest control, but it is nice to know that the long term effects are in favor of organic as well. Although I found their stay at the farm nauseatingly Utopian, this observation resounded with me and gave me faith in the power of nature over technology.

Are We Really Saving Money

The most striking element from the Kingsolver reading this week was a quote she said in chapter ten on page 149, “Buying your goods from local business rather than national chains generates about three times as much money for your local economy.” This quote sounds great but I wanted to look more into what she said and I wanted to know if what she said was actually true. I was surprise to find countless websites that provided her point but one website, http://www.newrules.org/retail/key-studies-walmart-and-bigbox-retail#1, that I found used New Orleans as an example of buying locally vs. a nation chain. The study used Super Target as the national chain. The study looked at 15 locally owned businesses in New Orleans and compared their impact on the local economy to an average Super Target impact on the economy. It found that only 16% of the money spent at Super Target stays in the local economy compared to 32% of the money spent at local businesses stay in the local economy. The study also said if residents and visitors were to shift 10% of their spending from chains to local businesses, it would generate an additional $235 million a year in local economic activity. The final thing the study looked at was the land usage between local and national chains. The study looked at a four-block stretch of Magazine Street that provides 179,000 square feet of retail space and hosts about 100 individual businesses that generates $105 million in sales, with $34 million remaining in the local economy. In contrast, a 179,000-square-foot Super Target generates $50 million in annual sales, with just $8 million remaining in the local economy, and requires an additional 300,000 square feet of space for its parking lot.” Kingsolver ends the paragraph by saying that, “Today’s bargain always seems to matter more.” As a consumer we worry about the price tag on the item and but are we really saving more by shopping at the national chain?

Kingsolver

There are two elements in the chapters to be read for tomorrow which really struck me. We already talked about the first thing in class: the difference between the two fields, the one that has been conventionally farmed, and the other one which was farmed organically from the very beginning. It is kind of shocking that even after ten years the former conventionally farmed field still shows signs how the soil was treated, that nature needs more than a decade to recover. It emphasizes that nature does not forget what has been done as fast as we wish it would.
The second point was not shocking, but irritated and perplexed me (I drew a big questionmark next to the text). I call it a "greenhouse-tomatoes-moment." It is the scene when the family buys vegetables in Montreal. Kingsolver describes their excitement as followed: “we were going to cheat time and celebrate the moment more than once. Asparagus season, twice in one year: the dream vacation” (158). Though they went there (with a hybrid gas-electric car) and bought the vegetables in person, this still partly contradicts how I understand their target/rule so far: only eat food that is in season and celebrate the "event."

Just a general note: After a while, I become slightly tired of the “happy family farming” description. Don’t they ever experience failure and exhaustion? By not talking about these aspects, the text becomes less credible because this makes me wonder if there are more things which remain unsaid.

Environmental Film Festival

HEY EVERYONE. there is an environmental film festival going on at the Prytania on April 15th... check it out.

http://leanweb.org/general-info/misc/wild-and-scenic-environmental-film-festival.html

angels dry

what you see before you is the tallest waterfall in the world, running bone dry. these are before and after pictures, the most recent ones of this year but the others are not older than ten, this is the tallest waterfall on the planet, and the drought that is now ravaging Venezuela causing widespread rationing has also taken its toll on one of the countries most awe inspiring natural views. this is due to a drought, the severity of which is blamed on the gradual warming and drying occurring in Venezuela due to climate change, again the temperature is due to increase 3 degrees Celsius before the end of the century, possibly as early as 2050. this is in the most remote region of my country, on the edge of the great plateau and the amazon, beyond the reach of man, but not beyond the consequences of his actions.

Wilderness In My Life

After reading excerpts from works written by Robert Marshall, Roderick Nash, William Cronon, and Donald Waller, it has become evident to me that “wilderness” is a term that encompasses both the natural and civilized world we live in. Wilderness, without a doubt, does constitute areas of land that remain untouched by man, and like Marshall explained, “contain no permanent inhabitants, possesses no possibility of conveyance by any mechanical means, and is sufficiently spacious that a person in crossing it must have the experience of sleeping out.”(Marshall, 288) Nevertheless, this definition is considerably narrow, in the sense that it does not acknowledge the fact that we, as humans, are also a part of nature; society is not completely detached from natural processes. As Cronon put it, “this, then, is the central paradox: wilderness embodies a dualistic vision in which the human is entirely outside the natural [...] The place where we are is the place where nature is not.” (Cronon, 302) By analyzing the perspectives of both these environmentalists, I am able to create my own concept of wilderness and believe that it does in fact consist of a wide variety of elements - not just the obvious (i.e. thick forest). The versatile role that the wilderness plays in my life is what made me adopt this all-encompassing definition. I will begin by stating the obvious: we as human beings are part of the natural world and thus depend on it. Whether it is a virgin forest or domesticated agriculture, I believe they are both forms of wilderness. Therefore, the food I eat is a product of the wilderness, or in other words, nature. Without it I would not survive. The air we breathe is also a product of nature, for it is not manmade. It plays an essential role in the survival of the wilderness as well as for me. These examples, however, are very general. More specifically, wilderness plays an active role in my personal interests. For instance, I love to exercise, whether it is playing soccer or simply going on a jog. Nevertheless, these activities are best performed outside, in a grassy area, far from roads. Why? Because nature provides a refreshing sensation that allows one to breathe clean air and reunite with what we are essentially a part of; more specifically, “the result is peace.” (Nash, 296) The wilderness is also a source of inspiration and again, tranquility. For this reason, whenever I feel overwhelmed I resort to a visit to the park. Although Audubon Park is man-made and visited frequently by joggers, bikers, equestrians, walkers (you name it), it does a good job at providing a natural oasis within an urban area. It is incredible how the breeze, the rippling of the water, and the picturesque landscape have the ability to transmit positive energy. In essence, what I mean to say is that wilderness is an open-ended term and to me it encompasses almost anything that is in some way connected to the natural world.

wilderness

I do not agree that Humans are incapable of living in the wilderness. I do think that if humans were to have the option to give up our obsessive lifestyle we would definitely make it. I think the matter is how humans adapt to the lifestyle of the wilderness. Do we tend to abuse our environment (wilderness). I think that we will be able to realize and appreciate nature for what it is and respect the natural causes that come with it. I do think that we will not be able to control it though. Regardless if chose to live in the wilderness or not we will be making changes in the wilderness just by us trying to survive daily.

article

This article is about how the climate change isn’t new, the study of how our human activity affects the earth’s climate is. Our human activities primarily the burning of fossil fuels have increased the greenhouse gas content of the earth’s atmosphere significantly over the same period. Carbon dioxide is one of the most important greenhouse gases, which trap heat near the planet’s surface. In this article, I’ve learned how explore scientific data relating to the atmosphere, the oceans, the areas covered by ice and snow, and the living organisms in all these domains. Also how scientists study natural phenomena.

Wild(er)ness

*Note: Due to earlier technical difficulties, this is being posted for Taylor. This is her response.

Wilderness in my life is a forbidden place. It is a place both amazing and frightening all at once. It is the unknown, a personal discovery. Before our discussion and the readings I honestly thought the wilderness was anything that had at least some sort of forestry. I use to think that places like Yellowstone were considered wilderness now I honestly do not know what to think. It almost feels like what I always considered wilderness is nothing but a lie but at the same time I do not think one or two people have the right to decide what is and is not wilderness. P art of being a segment of nature itself is having an open mind and the right to make our own decisions. So, this may seem a bit self centered but I will always think of wilderness as a place to spot the undocumented, a place to get lost in. Wilderness is a place that is free to thrive through plant and animal life. Each person on this Earth has there own interpretation of wilderness, for example I do not think that some Beverly Hills resdient would have the same opinion of wilderness as myself.

"wilderness" in my life

I read some of the other posts and noticed that a lot of people see “wilderness” as a place where humans are not. Wilderness is something we cannot be a part of. I do partially agree with that, that human habitat is the opposite of wilderness to some extent. The video however portrayed a group of people who seem to be lively among the wilderness. They were up until now doing so without problem. Now though with the increasing climate change they are being severely affected and are worried about their future. I can see a comparison between this village and between endangered species facing similar problems. I think that if people can live among “wilderness” like as seen in the video and face environmental risks as endangered species do than who is to say where wilderness lies and where it surely cannot exist.
Wilderness in the articles we read describe wilderness as something unachievable. At least that is a point I got from some of the reading. Perhaps our environment will never be fully grasped because humans have some type of sole destructive approach towards the world. I know that this is an extreme way to look at the reading but I don’t like the distance that the idea of “wilderness” puts between us and the rest of the world and the species that inhabit it. I do agree though, that humans do pose quite a threat to many parts of our environment and that human behavior in more cases than not is destructive. I think though that if the separation between the “wilderness” and our own environment was ruled out then perhaps humans as a species would take more of a ethical approach instead of one that destroys a “wilderness” that we will never live in our require to survive.

The role of wilderness in my life

The role that wilderness, as Marshall defines it, in my life is not nearly as extreme as that of those living in Alaska. I do not live solely off of what the land provides me, and climate change does not directly affect how I travel around on a daily basis or how available my food source is. Although it does not directly affect my everyday life, that does not mean that it is not important to me. We may not live in wilderness, but our environment does dictate the way we live our lives in southern Louisiana. Instead of snow days, we have hurricane days built into our school year. Our city is famous for street cars and above ground cemeteries because we can not put stuff underground because we are under sea level. Sea food is our major food source. And although we do not live in our wilderness, our wetlands are a very important part of our ecosystem. It supports much of our wildlife and is a major source for our seafood. I have always thought of true wilderness as somewhere that people didn’t live, but the truth is that it still affects our way of life. To me wilderness puts our world into perspective. Standing in undeveloped woods or on the side of a mountain makes you realize how big the world is outside of the cities and communities we live in, and how much we have had to destroy to develop the lives we live

Not far from the expansive Danube River sits another European behemoth--the Ulm Münster, an architectural Goliath, the gigantes of gothic cathedrals. Its 161m steeple is the tallest of any cathedral known to man, which allows it to survey Baden-Württemberg's Ulm, the birthplace of Einstein, Bavaria’s Neu-Ulm, and the Alps. Such height would seem to suggest omniscience, at least unlimited knowledge of the happenings in Southwestern Germany. But perhaps on November 10, 1619 the pure German gothic church, not even its distraught-faced chimeras, had any surveillance inside a small, stove-heated room in an Ulm roadside inn where Rene Descartes was inventing modern philosophy, an invention no longer interested in Ancient Greek wisdom but in humanity’s mastery over nature.

As I write, I'm enclosed in my stucco-exteriored one bedroom apartment which sits off of South Carrollton Avenue. At this location, peace and quiet does not exist. Outside, the streetcar constantly rolls by, producing a hideous roar when its wheels roll across the steel railway. As well, road construction never seems to end. In the early morning hours, jackhammers shake the foundations of my home and metalworking machines screech and squeal. Not surprising, the party culture of the Greater city of New Orleans doesn't seem to help either when it comes to peace and quiet. One would be hard-pressed not to hear the playing of brass instruments or drunkards spewing unintelligible gibberish from any location. Along with the constant noise, which is mainly a production of mechanized modern man, pesticides, pollutants, deforestation, species and habitat loss, climate change, basically anything anthropogenically defiling our biota isn't far off. As a city born and raised Louisianan, I've never experienced wilderness. Even though the swamps and bayous were nearby, I was highly saturated with the conveniences of modern man, i.e., computers, microwaves, roads, power transportation, etc. However, once I graduate from Loyola, I plan to move to a place more close to wilderness, as Marshall and Nash define it, where I can live sustainably and in balance with nature. Hopefully, I can attain the contemplative state of mind Thoreau reached in his solitary retreat into wilderness, and, health-wise, pure air and quiet, fresher food, larger space, and wilderness recreation. I'm confident that most of the complex, bewildering events and ideas saturating modern man's existence can be alleviated by wilderness or a rural lifestyle.

Wilderness= Freedom

Which role does wilderness play in my life?
It 's wrong to say that wilderness played such an important role just like the Native Alaskans, but it definitely was part of my life. Back when I was in High School, I lived between the Caribbean Coast and a mountain chain. When I would wake up early, I was able to enjoy such a close and clear view of these mountains. They were a lot closer that anyone could imagine. Filled with shades of green and few sign of waterfalls, this sight is what gave me ease and allowed me to look at things with optimism. However, when the days were cloudy well that was another story. During the weekends I was able to go up the mountains to the Cangrejal River or go and walk on the beach with my father. He and his friends are what introduced me to beauty and the feelings that involve wilderness. For me wilderness is a place where I am to unravel myself and just think and speak to myself without editing anything. It's society that has set boundaries to what we should say, do, or believe. It is in nature where despite what you believe, think, feel, or do, it is still there and still forgives us even if we do not deserve forgiveness. The role wilderness plays in my life is freedom, freedom from regulations, from reality, from society, where you can live in it and sustain yourself if you give in to your instincts. It is where you can expand your imagination and create a world where you can live in harmony with your surroundings. Not a place where you have to keep on top of what is in style or not, who you should be friends with or not...etc. Long time ago, we were raised in wilderness, we were able to hunt and gather food, and build a shelter that has all the luxuries you need to live—a roof and protection from dangerous creatures. Wilderness provided food and water. She(wilderness)— because she nurtures us like a mother to a child—gave us the most important thing to live besides oxygen, she gave us freedom to do what we please. Being in New Orleans, limited me to the sight of mountains but exposed me to new forms of wilderness. The modified wilderness within Audubon park still lets me enjoy from the ease my home used to give me. Visiting wetlands also allowed be to see the diversity within their community. I can't see myself living without the sight of mountains, trees, and their friends that inhabit them. The dullness of concrete, and glass, and modern structures will make feel trapped. There will be an unease with society and no freedom from the strict society developing during the years. It was about time people began to acknowledge the delicacy of nature and how we need to preserve it. Wilderness does represent freedom and it is important to expose everyone to her because people are forgetting where they come from.

Wilderness: The Teacher

The role that wilderness plays in my life is that it teaches me who I am. During the summer I go out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and I hike and horseback ride in Teton National Park and the parks surrounding the Tetons. The wild wilderness challenges me in many ways. One way it challenges me is the pure drive it takes to summit the mountain. You have to dig deep in your soul to find the drive to clime the mountain, and finding that drive can be very hard. It is much easier to look up at the mountain and think about climbing it but to put motion to words and climb the mountain is another thing. But once you find that drive and courage to climb life get a little easier. Once I stop fighting myself things start to make since and it got easier to move ahead in life and the mountain. The wilderness can be a very isolating place. You have to find your own shelter, firewood, and water. You have to bring every thing you want to cook or you better be able to find your own food and know what is good to eat and what thing are poisons. The isolation for me is another challenge. It allows me to think and come to a conclusion of who I think I am in this world. When I was younger and this was the first step for me to become my own individual, I allowed me to step out from my parents shadow and do what I wanted. Going into the wilderness now allows me to take a step back from the troubles of every day live and it allows me to think about what I want to do and what is really important to me. Every time I go into the wilderness it humbles me and draws me to thing I fell are most important to me in life. When I am in the wilderness I have to know where I am and where am I going and I have to have a since of direction. Knowing where you are can mean the different between life and death. Every since I started hike I have become more conscious of the land and what it tell much like the Yupik.

sumary of my climate change article

So what it comes down to is that whatever it means Mount Kilimanjaro has lost 85% of its glacier ice since 1912. I don't know why this has always been so striking to me, perhaps because of all things climate change related this one seemed to always be one with a certain degree of ambiguity attached to the possible cause, when it should be obvious in my opinion, what exactly it means. How exactly this is taking place is debated, but the fact it that it is happening, and it’s happening now and its happening fast, 26% of the ice lost has melted since 2000. I would love to know the exact science behind it, but I don’t, a lot is open for interpretation, but there are other perspectives, those related to humanities. We understand that the peaks of Kilimanjaro that Hemingway evoked are gone, we understand that the people of Kenya do not see something they have always seen on their border, ice; we understand other cultures around the world live around mountain glaciers, most of which are melting, irreparably so it would seem for some, and that a lot of these provide fresh water for these cultures (in the case of the Himalayas 1/6 of the planets drinking water) and that it would seem we caused it, again not sure on the how and how fast, or how permanently, but pretty sure on what’s happening and we have an idea of what it will mean.

P.S: yeah i know this is too late to get credit but i wanted to write it anyway

what role does wilderness have in my life

To relate my experience to that of the Eskimo would be a gross exaggeration, through their way of life they make the concept of wilderness viable with human habitation, something that I may never claim to have done in my life, and it is an option open to increasingly few of us who inhabit the planet. What I can say is how my own native “wilderness” is due to change and how that will affect my life. The country where I was born, Venezuela, is due to increase on average nationwide about 3 degrees Celsius before the end of the century, possibly a noticeable shift by 2050. All credible research, in part funded by government entities such as the ministry of science and technology, point to an average temperature increase that will lead to aridification of many areas already affected by chronic drought, in a country that already knows of water rationing as a common place government failure, the situation is only set worsen. My father owns a farm whose river bed I have seen bone dry, pumped out by farmers and towns, and in a city of four million people I have seen the taps run dry, and hydroelectric power (70% of the countries electric output) cut off in rolling blackouts. Our farms is not part of the original ecology of the region it inhabits; nor is my city and its needs met by a balance with nature, but the lack of a global balance will affect the ability of our local biotic community to support us, and life is bound to become harder for those with no means, and more expensive for those who can afford a first world lifestyle, in the rotting tropic infrastructure of south America. I feel the effect of the change to my region, as do many places without the money, the means and the infrastructure to deny its effect by ameliorating them with oil and air conditioning. My people will not be able to install a nationwide fridge, and the Eskimos cannot install a nationwide freezer. Americans will find a way I’m sure, and if someone doesn’t end up quite rich from creating “solutions” to climate change I will be very surprised. But it will be my ineffective government, not the hyper capitalist American delegative democracy, that fails to fashion a market solution to a moral problem, and it will be the poor citizens of the third world, my estranged countrymen, who will be at a loss of what to do with their dried out fields and pastures. Far south of these farmlands lies the rich Amazon, with its vast water systems and expanses of forest. Brazil might have the luxury to protect it, even though they plan to use the aquifers and hydroelectric power prodigiously, but for how long will Venezuela do the same?

Wilderness: a point of reference

I have always thought of wilderness in the Crononian understanding: wilderness is where man is not. However, I found out that I make certain exceptions from this rule: I consider the native people of Alaska to live in the wilderness; probably because I got the impression that they live in harmony with nature (cf. Marshall’s definition of wilderness: “it preserves as nearly as possible the primitive environement,” 288) by simultaneously being completely at nature’s mercy. Every change in their environment has huge influences on their lives. They have to struggle for their live whereas we, western educated society, are not immediately affected by i.e. less ice in the Antarctica.
Though I grew up in a more rural area (the forest begins directly behind our garden), I can say that I never experienced wilderness. When I think of wilderness, I think of awe-inspiring mountains; vast deserts; icy, desolated places; impervious rain forests. Wilderness presents the uncountable diversity of our Earth. I always connect wilderness with the concept of the Sublime, beautiful and dangerous at the same time. I considered why I do not see the meadow, untouched by humans, as wilderness, and came to the conclusion that it is because of the absence of danger.
Last year, I was hiking in the Alps with my brother, and we got a bit lost for approx. two hours. We could not find the path, tried to go down somewhere else which did not work out because there was a very steep gradient. I admit I was scared though we had a map of the region and could roughly guess where we were plus it was a sunny day, so we know directions, too, and there was always the option of calling the mountain rescue service. This was not a “wilderness” experience, but it has shown me to treat nature respectful, and never underestimate it. At the same time, I really enjoy being outside, experience wildness, the “little brother” of wilderness. I love to feel the sun on my skin, as right now, and smell the odor of spring, or “listening” to the special silence after the first snow. And one of my favourite special moments last semester was a canoe trip into the Bayou northwest of New Orleans. I can totally agree with Marshall when he says that wilderness contributes physical, mental and aesthetic benefits (cf. 289).
Despite not having an everyday-influence on my life, I often use wilderness as a point of reference. First, wilderness is the most impressive example of how we deal with (and exploit) nature. When a wild area is in danger of being destroyed, it attracts in general more attention than the small forest next to your town – this is ‘only’ a local issue. The second point is that wilderness shows me my position in the world: I am so small compared to the overwhelming miracle of Wilderness.