Summary and reader's response of Island Civilization by Roderick Frazier Nash
Hassana Hameed Ansari
Island Civilization
In the article Island Civilization: A vision for human occupancy of Earth, Roderick Frazier Nash describes how the earth that was once a peaceful planet with freedom of living for every specie turned out to be the earth we are living in now. Had human beings more farsighted they wouldn’t have taken wilderness as something that must be controlled. Nash explains how the mankind built fences and roads to control the wild, and soon there came a time when United States Census claimed there was no longer a frontier left that humans haven’t damaged which created a national angst. As Nash says “The notion of wilderness was passing over a tipping point from liability to asset” (Nash 373) This resulted in acts that emphasized the importance of wilderness. Extinction of many other species was observed so acts were taken for the animal protection and various authors started writing books on the negative environmental impact.
Nash describes four possible outcomes for Earth. The first outcome referred as wasteland scenario ‘anticipates a trashed, poisoned and used up planet in which humans have proved to be terrible neighbors, and growth was confused with progress’ (Nash 376) In the second outcome, garden scenario, in which humans are able to take control of nature totally and modifying it with their own will. The third outcome is future primitive in which technology is not discarded but using it responsibly (Nash 377). Finally there is an outcome that Nash wants to see which he calls as Island Civilization in which humans would revert back to being hunters, gatherers and evade technology that harms Earth with efforts being made to reduce population to 1.5 billion thus wanting the earth to go back to its previous state.
I personally believe that Nash’s plan for a paradise Earth sounds wonderful, but is not even close to reality. The main problem that would arise in order to fulfill it would be the reduction in population. He
Island Civilization
In the article Island Civilization: A vision for human occupancy of Earth, Roderick Frazier Nash describes how the earth that was once a peaceful planet with freedom of living for every specie turned out to be the earth we are living in now. Had human beings more farsighted they wouldn’t have taken wilderness as something that must be controlled. Nash explains how the mankind built fences and roads to control the wild, and soon there came a time when United States Census claimed there was no longer a frontier left that humans haven’t damaged which created a national angst. As Nash says “The notion of wilderness was passing over a tipping point from liability to asset” (Nash 373) This resulted in acts that emphasized the importance of wilderness. Extinction of many other species was observed so acts were taken for the animal protection and various authors started writing books on the negative environmental impact.
Nash describes four possible outcomes for Earth. The first outcome referred as wasteland scenario ‘anticipates a trashed, poisoned and used up planet in which humans have proved to be terrible neighbors, and growth was confused with progress’ (Nash 376) In the second outcome, garden scenario, in which humans are able to take control of nature totally and modifying it with their own will. The third outcome is future primitive in which technology is not discarded but using it responsibly (Nash 377). Finally there is an outcome that Nash wants to see which he calls as Island Civilization in which humans would revert back to being hunters, gatherers and evade technology that harms Earth with efforts being made to reduce population to 1.5 billion thus wanting the earth to go back to its previous state.
I personally believe that Nash’s plan for a paradise Earth sounds wonderful, but is not even close to reality. The main problem that would arise in order to fulfill it would be the reduction in population. He