Island Civilization

I can remember as a child when there were huge tracts of land in my hometown. Now, there are housing developments and open-pit mining sites where luscious green forests once thrived. This is the same exact problem that has been occurring for hundreds of years, which Roderick Frazier Nash is identifying in his essay, Island Civilization.

            As Nash describes in his essay, wilderness is perceived to be something that is looked down upon. For years civilization had been succeeding but it mandated the destruction of the wilderness. Early colonists wanted to civilize the people and the land that they found once they arrived to the New World. Preservation of the wildlife and nature was not high on their priority list. The use of manmade tools and structures began dividing and destroying the wilderness.

            Later on in the 1800’s, Americans began to realize that maybe the wild nature was the only thing that could preserve the world. A few important individuals began to write about how humans had become the destructive force of the world and the elements that humans thought of as being successful could eventually lead to destroying the environment. Nature was eventually looked at as an “oppressed minority”. Two acts were passed in the 1970’s that would protect species in the environment that were endangered and very important to the biotic community. Although steps have been taken to preserve what is left of the wilderness, some damages will be felt long into the future.

            Roderick Frazier Nash depicts Earth in the Fourth Millennium as an “island civilization”. This means that humans will have drawn boundaries around their presence rather than nature. Humans will use technology to reduce their environmental impact and leave the rest of the planet self-willed. This change requires major compromises by humans. The birth rate will have to decline by fifty percent and humans will live in confined areas. The living space of humans will be predetermined and would only support approximately 1.5 billion people. The purpose of this Island Civilization is to preserve the wild and let grow into what it was supposed to become before human interruption.

            I agree with Roderick’s idea about preserving the wilderness; however, I think that there would be another way that the problem can be solved besides confining people into a few places all over Earth. I believe that if Island Civilization was implemented we would see the crime rate rise dramatically. There would be so much chaos and confusion authorities would not be able to handle the situations. I do support greatly his concern about nature and the effect that humans have had on the environment. I also believe that if something is not done there will not be any wilderness left and we would see the extinction of numerous animals that are of significant importance to the biotic community. If something is not done and humans continue to take more and more land from the animals that we live beside we will see more attacks on humans. The animals will have no habitat and will come into more contact with humans which will lead to the increased attacks on humans.

            Humans have continued to take over the land is supposed to be shared with the many species that once roamed. We are seeing an increase in the development of land for towns, cities, and housing developments. Island Civilization is one solution to the problem but I am sure there are others that do not include packing humans into a can like sardines. That is bound to cause problems but I would be willing to sacrifice a little living space if it meant that we could save the environment and help restore it. We as humans need to act carefully and start planning now for the future. Do we want more malls or a healthy and thriving wilderness? I would prefer the wilderness.