Whether you believe that Earth was created in six days, or over the course of many millions, even billions of years, I don't think it's arguable that we have a very pretty blue ball of a planet. That being said, I don't think we are getting another one for Christmas any time soon. So it should be a priority for us to make sure this one lasts, not just for us, but for our children and their's. That being said, I feel that a great number of the people who claim to want to help our planet the most do not have a firm grasp on defining how to "save the planet", instead possessing a firm grasp on "how to guilt-trip the other guy." And this was how I found myself reacting when I read Vandana Shiva's article entitled: "What is Biodiversity and Why is it So Important?" Her tone throughout is that of someone speaking from a kind of high ground of ecological superiority, as if to say "Look at me everyone, I am better than you because I emit less carbon-dioxide!" Sadly, this attitude is true of most environmentalists, whose sole purpose appears to be either yelling about the supposed consensus regarding climate change, or complaining about something, somewhere, being threatened by some evil industrialist or other kind of businessperson. Her article does state some legitimate problems that are happening in the world today, but most of it focuses on an apparent lack of diversity in animals and plants used for food. It appears to me, that Ms. Shiva has not reflected on the possibility that maybe certain species of animals and plants died out for a reason other than human influence. One statistic she brings up is how, in the UK, "three varieties of potatoes make up 68% of the crop; one variety makes up the remaining 32%." The statistic brings up some questions, however. For example, how many kinds of potatoes were there before she got her information, and is that number relevant? If there are only four kinds of potatoes being used today, why is that? What caused the other kinds of potatoes to go unused for farming? Additionally, is it possible that those other kinds of potatoes were bred into the current varieties as a way to give the current kinds certain properties or even flavors that the other potatoes had? Shiva instead jumps to the conclusion that it is simply due to human arrogance that people in UK grocery stores don't have dozens of potato types to choose from. She constantly brings up how this lack of biodiversity carries a grave threat to the world, and describes numerous happenings that are supposedly the fault of this lack of biodiversity. Despite these multiple warnings of doom and gloom, her article is very short on possible solutions, indeed there are no solutions stated in this article about how to repopulate the UK with more than four kinds of potatoes. In this age of genetic engineering, I would suggest looking into the current varieties genomes in order to discern the properties of older potatoes, and possibly even reconstitute the genetic code of these missing spuds. Just a thought.
Moving on to the next article, I was quite honestly expecting more of the same. But Jane Goodall showed a number of scenarios in her article "Hope Animals and Their World" where the solutions were not only present, but were often incredibly feasible. One of my favorites describes how a young boy, the son of a copper miner in Utah, told his dad, upon seeing the dead mountainside of the Oquirrh Mountains, that he would, one day, go up those mountains and put the trees back. It was considered an impossible task and a childish vision. The area had been damaged seemingly beyond repair by intensive logging, sheep grazing, and the industrial processes from the copper mine. Twenty years after he made his pledge, the boy, Paul Rokich, started his task as a man. Every evening, every weekend, for many years, Paul would carry buckets of grass seed up the mountain, driving as far as he could, and then walking the remainder of the way to sow the seeds. For fifteen years, he would do this, usually with just his own money, and the occasional support from friends and family. His perseverance paid off, and today, after receiving help from the mining company, the Oquirrh Mountains are now covered in the trees and plants that were hand-seeded by Paul Rokich those many years ago. I'm happy to say that the rest of Goodall's article was filled with similar tales, though most were not given as much detail as Rokich's. This is the thing that most of the leading environmentalists do not seem to understand. They want to sit and yell about how the world is going down the tubes and it's all the fault of the rich/industrialists/1%/humans in general, while offering no solutions beyond "Down with the rich guy!" If you ask me, if you're going to be yelling at everyone, telling them how horrible they are for not living like a caveman, then either you should be living like a caveman too, or you should be doing your best to find a solution that will solve both problems. As the old saying goes, if you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
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