Sunday, February 9, 2014

26. Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp



Joy Williams wrote an article about the selfishness of human which eventually led to the destruction of nature. He mentioned that the people`s self-fulfillment have been catered too far. The pictures of animals usually just depict the good conditions of the animals and not what they are actually suffering. The people want to hide the truth of pollution and pretend that everything is fine so that they do not have to feel guilty. The people usually think that the environmentalists are very boring because their job is to be calm, rational, reasonable and willing to compromise. The way that the people protect environment nowadays is to setup a limit for the industries and factories. However, this method was criticized by the people because it limits the economic growth. The farmers also suffer in this system because it will restrict them from using herbicide and pesticide that can pollute the rivers nearby. The citizens want to transform the arable lands into big supermarkets that provide everything they need or even a shopping mall. The Agricultural Department`s Animal Damage Control Unit is an organization that eliminates the animals that can become a threat to the agriculture. The big tropical forests are becoming cow pastures so that more meat may be provided to the people. The shrimps are the biggest victims because they are captured in large quantities and most menus have more shrimp then any kind of meat. The animals like fishes, dolphins and turtles are protected by TED which is a device that would prevent the ships from capturing these animals. However, this device does not protect the shrimps. Tourism also causes a lot of destruction to the environment for it is an industry that just grows bigger and bigger. Nature started to become scenery for the people and it simply a visual entertainment. Each person has their own opinion on wildlife because some people might prefer to see the animals dead while the other likes it alive. No one is willing to give up their car or air conditioner for the sake of environment. Pollution can destroy the whole ecosystem and it takes years for it to recover. Even though the trees absorb carbon dioxide, they will no longer be a solution to the many pollution problems in the society. The trash that we produce tends to last longer than any human on earth because they take billions of years to be degraded. The people must change their attitudes and the way that they look at life since the ecological crisis cannot be solved by politics, science or technology.
             Williams wrote an informative article that urged the people to stop polluting the world that they live in. He adopted an informal language that is suitable for all types of readers since everyone is familiar with this topic. The author used several credible sources to convince his readers about the seriousness of this subject. An example would be when Dr. Lave, an expert environmentalist, pointed out that the people would only give up their things if the scientists proved the damage that it would cause to the society. Throughout the essay, Williams tried to defend his arguments by using many examples. These examples are everyday examples that the readers will be able to relate themselves in those situations. As an illustration, Williams wrote that some people prefer to see wildlife in a museum where there are hundreds of dead species, such as the International Wildlife museum, while the other people prefer to see wildlife in a zoo, where several animals are trapped in a small space. This essay is very complete in its information because the author does not only focus on the problem of extinction of the animals, but he also talks about the problems of pollution. In addition, the essay also has some dialogues so that the author may illustrate the normal reactions of the people when this subject is brought up. The many rhetorical questions in the essay allow the readers to reflect on the subject and rethink their attitudes. In the concluding paragraph, Williams emphasized that the only solution to all these problems is to change the culture of the people. However, Williams could have changed the title of the article because it is not totally related to the subject and it might make the readers confused about its topic.

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