Refuse
17th September 2007, 02:48
i have to write about something of local, national, or global concern. i decided on society's negative effect on the environment. by society, i'm kind of trying to secretly mean 'capitalism', without sounding like a terrorist in front of my english class. here is what i have so far, any help is appreciated
We are living in a time period where humans are doing more irreversible damage to the natural environment than any other previous period in recorded history. Each week more topics pop up and avert our attention to the various issues of environmental degradation and how the increase in human activity is impacting on large areas of the natural environment globally. Climate changes, increase in population, over reliance on fossil fuels, and, worst of all, society’s lack of natural resource conservation. Most of these, especially the last on the list, are all topics of their own manner. These can all lead us to different problems of various concern and, in my opinion, we as living beings should fear those consequences and try to help avoid them.
In the past couple of years finding a solution to help save the earth has become almost a fad. Books, movies, and countless songs are adopting the topic of helping to protect the environment. Even politician Al gore stepped up to the plate and recommended citizens to start living wisely; car pooling, windows instead of a/c, and various other methods were said to be good practices that can help make a difference. I think it’s pretty funny for somebody who flies in first class private jets and rides around in limousines to give advice on such a topic.
Al gore isn’t the only contradictory activist around though; on July 7th, 2007 various musicians and performers gathered together to sing their opinion on environmental destruction. However, the contradiction here was that the event, which aimed to encourage lower daily carbon emissions, actually produced 3,000 times more carbon than the UK on average produces in a year. This factor comes from the large amount of spectators and artists having to travel to the concert. Indeed, ‘Live Earth’ was probably the most pathetic attempt to help the earth live throughout recorded history.
It may be unfair to blame these people for trying, but in reality it’s just not helping. Finding a solution to these problems seems almost impossible, especially once it comes down to the fact that we, humans are the main problem. We live in a society where money can buy nearly anything of any amount so long as you have ‘x’ amount of money. American freedom and happiness is almost directly tied to the free market, and our ability to be as wasteful and as selfish of consumers we want to be. If our capitalist society continues down the path of using up earth’s limited supplies so aimlessly, we will eventually suffer the consequences.
We are living in a time period where humans are doing more irreversible damage to the natural environment than any other previous period in recorded history. Each week more topics pop up and avert our attention to the various issues of environmental degradation and how the increase in human activity is impacting on large areas of the natural environment globally. Climate changes, increase in population, over reliance on fossil fuels, and, worst of all, society’s lack of natural resource conservation. Most of these, especially the last on the list, are all topics of their own manner. These can all lead us to different problems of various concern and, in my opinion, we as living beings should fear those consequences and try to help avoid them.
In the past couple of years finding a solution to help save the earth has become almost a fad. Books, movies, and countless songs are adopting the topic of helping to protect the environment. Even politician Al gore stepped up to the plate and recommended citizens to start living wisely; car pooling, windows instead of a/c, and various other methods were said to be good practices that can help make a difference. I think it’s pretty funny for somebody who flies in first class private jets and rides around in limousines to give advice on such a topic.
Al gore isn’t the only contradictory activist around though; on July 7th, 2007 various musicians and performers gathered together to sing their opinion on environmental destruction. However, the contradiction here was that the event, which aimed to encourage lower daily carbon emissions, actually produced 3,000 times more carbon than the UK on average produces in a year. This factor comes from the large amount of spectators and artists having to travel to the concert. Indeed, ‘Live Earth’ was probably the most pathetic attempt to help the earth live throughout recorded history.
It may be unfair to blame these people for trying, but in reality it’s just not helping. Finding a solution to these problems seems almost impossible, especially once it comes down to the fact that we, humans are the main problem. We live in a society where money can buy nearly anything of any amount so long as you have ‘x’ amount of money. American freedom and happiness is almost directly tied to the free market, and our ability to be as wasteful and as selfish of consumers we want to be. If our capitalist society continues down the path of using up earth’s limited supplies so aimlessly, we will eventually suffer the consequences.