Thoughts on McKibben's new "Eaarth"

McKibben’s interview on his book titled Eaarth pointed out some very interesting facts and ideas about how we live our lives on this planet. Humans care more for “the economy”, which is an idea that humans invented, than the earth, which is a very real and solid thing that lives are truly based on. Just knowing five edible plants native to a bioregion as well as where the waste of a community goes is a real question that most people do not know the answer to. Humans have begun to focus more and more on things that don’t matter and McKibben is trying to fight against that tide. McKibben wants to switch the entire axis of how humanity deals with its energy. Instead of taking a focused source and distributing energy from it to the people McKibben wishes to take diffused sources of energy like wind and sunlight and have each individual input contribute to humanity’s needs. McKibben wants to take the growing number of poor and put them to work for saving the planet by using low impact farming methods that can be easily taught. The growth that humanity has used to fix all of its problems has become a problem as well. Subsidies that foster this growth have babied industries that have meanwhile intertwined together so that if one industry fails so does everyone else. An evolutionary tool that has grown into our economy so that no drastic changes can be easily made anymore. 

A Plus to Nash's "Island Civilization"

One of the great problems that would be solved by a creation of an “island civilization” is the habitat fragmentation caused by the paving of roads and highways in the world. As humanity drives from location to location many forget the place they are driving through is, or was, the home of dozens of species that would interact with each other but cannot because a highway full of cars threatens to kill them.  Sure this might be bearable to individual animals initially but over decades the species as a whole begins to falter because of food depletion, the lack of genetic diversity may leave them susceptible to disease, and further encroachment. Many migrating animals that follow their prey will find themselves trapped (either with their food or without) and can’t move to new feeding grounds, essentially starving themselves. Also the problem for animals with an adequate food supply in the long run will be genetic variation, or in this case a lack thereof. Because no genetically different animals will be entering the closed off ecosystem the species within will be forced to mate with genetically similar individuals which can lead to weakened immune systems and mutations that are detrimental to the species. And finally all humans, as Nash said, are in a war against the wilderness and with rising populations they will expand further into the habitat they’ve cut off putting an even greater strain on the environment there as a result. America as a country, with its vast urban sprawl and individual’s desire for land ownership, has become one of the worst violators in this issue and it can be tracked by municipality. Cities and towns usually place taxes upon those within their jurisdiction, and no one likes taxes. To avoid these taxes many choose to live outside of the city and town’s jurisdiction (my family included). Since the U.S. doesn’t have many restrictions that require people to live in concentrated areas, like Germany, we subject our environment to municipalities that wish to forever increase to gain more revenues, pushing people farther away. You may say, “So What?” to all of this but just think. The further we expand the more roads we build to make our lives easier. The more roads we build the more segregated the ecosystem becomes. The more roads we build the more people are tempted to move and take away from our ecosystem’s resources. Nash’s “island” system would forever solve this problem and protect all of the species and their various niches in the environment.

An Additional Source: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Habitat_fragmentation?topic=58074

A Response to Island Civilizations

                Which came first, humans or the Earth? Now it’s quite obvious to anyone with a day’s worth of schooling that the Earth came first. Humans and their selfish ways evolved after years of coddling by their ancient mother and have grown to be the big-shots on the planet. We have bullied all of Earth’s other species into doing what we want them to do. And as with all bullies we can either stand up to them and save all of the good of the planet or irreparably scar the Earth for the rest of her life. In his essay Island Civilizations Professor Nash reflects upon human’s treatment of the Earth in the past and presents some sobering possibilities for our future.

                As Nash reflects upon humanity’s advancements in the last few millennia he shares how we as a species have grown over that time span, bending nature to our will with little regard for the ramifications. We created this idea of “wilderness” because as we found things we could control there were also things humans could not. And of course seeing no greater challenge our species sought to conquer it all to use its finite resources to fuel our infinite appetite. Soon however, as the frontier vanished and imperialism had spread it furthest, humans slowly began to realize that the Earth is only so big and has only so much to offer. The wasting of its resources may leave lasting damage if it is not soon checked. Nash points out the early warnings of many writers and it is not until the end of the second millennium that they are heeded and anything serious is done about it.  Nash equates humanity to a cancer that is eating away at the earth and it is not until the 1960’s that the threatening wilderness becomes less of a “liability” and more of an “asset” to be protected.

                Thankfully Nash does not just use a condescending tone and avid finger-pointing but he also lays out a goal for change, because “goals are the first steps in solving problems.” He first scares us with the popular “wasteland” scenario that has the Earth a thousand years from now as a desolate skeleton from what it is today as a result of our thoughtless poisoning and waste. Then he goes to a somewhat better outlook where humans control every aspect of the ecosystem but there is a gross lack of diversity within. There is a very unappealing idea of abandoning technology and life as we know it by reverting back to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle but Nash supports his own idea of “Island Civilizations” where humans focus their impact on the earth in pocket sized areas across the globe. Nash provides that we can grow technologically as much as we want within these islands, putting them wherever we wish and even using certain locations as recreational facilities. Nash also wishes that environmentalism become a chief concern and be included in every child’s growth as a human.

                Altogether Nash gives a very valid argument that, as he says, sets a goal for humanity over the next couple of hundred years. These small islands of civilization remind me of the islands of A Brave New World where the questioning or enlightened are banished to protect the balance and order of the new world. The idea of mankind living in harmony is a wonderful one but I find it hard to believe all of humanity would change their lifestyle so drastically, even if we could somehow survive the ramifications of eliminating five million people from our population. But even with all of the difficulties associated with the islands Nash gave us plenty of time to realize his dream, and we have at least taken baby steps in this direction. Boy Scouts are well versed in taking care of nature as they camp in it, learn from it, and enjoy it. Scouts have helped to spread the Leave No Trace principles of camping that make a point of leaving any aspects of nature the way you found them. This may not seem very important but if any sort of goal is wished to be reached someone has to take the first baby steps.