Examining the views Americans have of this world and the roles they play in it is a poignant task. More often then not when Americans are asked “what is your purpose in life?” They reply with “raise a family,” “have a good job,” “live well and prosper,” and other fascinating responses, but what about everything else? Why are Americans so self-centered? Will it ever be possible for United States citizens to grasp the concept that this world was not made for humans, much less Americans? After enough analysis and research, one can find the genuine answer to these long pondered questions. Americans were created to preserve the Earth, and this perception is created by social, economical, and religious ignorance that these people are unable to entertain the idea.
Religion has the ability to brainwash its followers no matter how intelligent they may be. Lynn White once wrote
“What people do about their ecology depends on what they think about themselves in relation to things around them. Human ecology is deeply conditioned by beliefs about our nature and destiny--that is, by religion.”
64% of all Americans agree that religion is an important aspect of their day-to-day lives (“Exploring Religious America”). Faith creates unity among mankind making it a vital component of life. Religion constructs universal ideas of how humans came to be and how they should continue to live. In America, Christianity makes up 76.5% of the religious community (USA Census), conveying that this is the most popular religion in the United States of America. Christianity is based upon the idea that over time, God constructed light and darkness, the universe, the Earth, water, trees, plants, and all living animals. Then at last, God made Adam (and eventually Eve)! As time passed, man-kind named all the plants and animals of the world. By doing so he created a divide between humans and plants and animals, a dominance over the natural world. In the Christian story, God created everything for the benefit of man, and that nothing else in creation had any function but to provide for mankind. Throughout the Bible (The Holy Bible) God appears in human form, only further proving the Christian belief that humans were not merely a part of nature, but an exact replica of God himself.
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth…’ (Holy Bible, Genesis 1:26).
With 76.5% of religious Americans following Christianity, it comes as no surprise that Americans have a difficult time understanding their “role” in this world (USA Census). Many see themselves as the center of the universe, a superior species to plants and animals. By putting up this wall between themselves and nature, Christians prohibit themselves from seeing the real picture, from seeing their real purpose. To view themselves not as human beings, the superior species, but as crucial pieces to the preservation of the ultimate life source… Earth. Americans Christian religion shows irrefutable evidence of egocentrism in regards to themselves and the natural world.
As noted above, American citizens explained that one of their purposes in life was to live well and create/raise a family. What does it mean to live well? The United States of America is a nation that has grown immensely through technological advances. Today it is rare to find a home that does not contain a refrigerator, stove, microwave, telephone, radio, television, or computer. These appliances have become typical household items, used on a daily basis to simplify the Americans complex lifestyle. When flipping a switch, pressing a button, or turning a key, it is unusual for an individual to think of anything but “this will make the light come on,” or “this will make the television work.” The average American does not understand the process that makes these utilities actually function. They cannot see the coal, gas, petroleum, and other fossil fuels that we are emitting into the world. Evil things that generate electricity for Americas every day lives are killing the Earth, yet Americans refuse to acknowledge or care.
Another common issue greatly affecting the Earth as a direct result of US citizens is transportation. Using a car daily or taking a plane to a far away distance is second nature to the American. The average American drives 34 miles a day (Who Killed the Electric Car), and according to NATCA (National Air Traffic Controllers Association) about 30,000 commercial flights taking off on a daily basis from the US. When studying the automobile it was discovered that with every mile 3.5 grams of hydrocarbons, 25 grams of carbon monoxide, 1.5 grams of nitrogen oxide, and one pound of carbon dioxide are emitted (Weigert 74). To multiply these figures by the 34 miles the average American travels per day and then multiply it by the number of Americans who drive, the statistics would be disheartening. When it comes to air voyage, pollutants are double the amount if not worse! Travel is another commodity Americans view as a blessing due to their selfishness. Society teaches that as long as a mode of transportation makes life easier for Americans, it shouldn’t matter what damage is inflicted on the natural environment.
Over half of the electricity generated in the US is from coal, the rest from gas, and petroleum (Weigert 68-69). Because of the light switch, the button on the remote, and the key in the ignition Americans are directly adding to the use of these pollutants. Coal, petroleum, and gas damage our air, water, land, and wildlife; Americans are simply adding to the problem. These pollutants are releasing deadly chemicals into the air, polluting our water, disrupting our land to facilitate pipelines, and disturbing the natural habitat for ALL Earth’s creatures! Why can’t the American realize that there is more to this Earth than watching their television, or going to Hawaii for vacation? There is even more to life than family! Society has taught us that humans are supposed to go to school, get a job, find a partner, and create/raise a family. Due to Americans skewed perception of reality, it comes as no surprise that population has become a growing issue. An increase in people leads to an increased demand in housing, food, and other luxuries… which feed the economic monster that our society has become. Americans conquer the earth to build their homes, businesses, fields, etc. These people view the soil and grass as prospects for mankind. As Aldo Leopold once wrote, “Land… is still property. The land-relation is still strictly economic, entailing privileges but not obligations.” (qtd. in Gruen and Jamieson 27)
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 281,421,906 people live in the United States in 2000, a number that continues to increase every day. This enormous population has more than 3.5 million square miles of land to live on (Nationalatlas). However, this sprawling mass of land is also home to commercial property used for businesses, factories, and farms. Today, more than 80% of the Earth’s forests have been ravaged to accommodate housing, unneeded agriculture, cash crops, products, and factories (Wallace). Trees provide shelter for millions of living species, oxygen for lungs, and clean soil to use; they even purify the air by absorbing harmful pollutants like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. However, here in the United States people continue to dispose of them making room for what Americans feel is most important… money. Americans see it worth while to cut down “a few” trees, they see it as an opportunity to profit off paper and turn the ravaged earth remains into cash crops. These self centered human beings do not care that it leaves hundreds of species without shelter or hundreds of air/soil purifiers unusable! Not only are trees being killed by the thousands, the land that remains is polluted with fertilizers and pesticides which often runoff into groundwater, streams, lakes, and other bodies of water. Small price to pay for the amount of money that the farm will reap, right? Wrong. The excess nutrients and sediments can make drinking water toxic and cause eutrophication. Eutrophication hyper-accelerates the aquatic plant growth in a body of water (often called an algal bloom) which in turn causes the plant life to bloom, die, and decay very quickly. In the decaying process, oxygen levels in the water plummet causing other organisms to die. This leaves the body of water dead and murky, no longer functional. Eutrophication makes the water it infects lifeless, worthless, and overall useless (Milway.1960). So in essence, trees are cut down to plow and fertilize the land, and leave animals homeless to turn trees and land into a green piece of paper. It is this piece of paper which blinds the American from seeing the damage they incur! In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "The earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”
Whether the issue is religious, social, or economical, it is definite that the underlying theme is ignorance. These three syllables sum up the entire American race. Americans are not or refuse to be made aware of their effect on the environment and seem to be quite pleased with this decision. After all, it is this ignorance which allows them to live their blissful lives but the question is for how long? Americans have already done irreparable damages to mother Earth; it is only a matter of time before they put a permanent end to her. The only means of prevention from this terrible fate is education and action; neither will work without the other. Why does all this matter? Why can’t everyone be a follower of the Bible, drive there car to and from work everyday, take a flight to Aruba next spring break, and fertilize their freshly plowed field? All these things seem great, but in the long run they do nothing positive for anyone/thing (except provide a human with temporary “bliss”). America needs to stop adding to the problem, realize their impact AND insignificance on the big picture… the Environment.
Americans are blinded by religion, society “norms,” and money. It is a sad truth that needs to be brought to their attention in order to change how these beings think and view themselves in this world. All human beings, but Americans especially, need to open their eyes and see that this world has given birth to hundreds of species before us and several after us… creation did not stop with human beings. Religion shouldn’t create a divide between people and plants and animals, but rather a unity. Society shouldn’t raise people to believe that as long as a product makes life “easier” for them it is a positive invention. Most importantly, money shouldn’t have the ability to blind anyone from seeing what is truly right and wrong. Money shouldn’t allow Americans to think it is okay to cut down a tree, fertilize a yard, and pollute our air, water, and soil! All these aspects of the American’s day-to-day life cause them to knowingly/unknowingly kill the world that supports all life. American’s need to recognize this information and break the barriers between themselves and the natural world, for if they don’t they will kill the Earth and themselves.
Works Cited
"Exploring Religious America." Mitofsky International & Edison Media Research (2002). 5 Nov. 2007 .
Gruen, Lori, and Dale Jamieson. Reflecting on Nature. New York: Oxford UP, 1994. 1-362.
Milway, C.p. Eutrophication in Large Lakes and Impoundments. Skokloster, Uppsala: Symposium D'Uppsala, 1968.
National Air Traffic Controllers Association. 2007. 5 Nov. 2007 .
National Atlas. 25 Oct. 2007. National Atlas of the United States. 5 Nov. 207 .
The Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version. New York: New American
Library, 1962.
Tokar, Brian. Earth for Sale. Boston: South End P, 1997. 109-130.
USA Census. 2006. US Census Bureau. 5 Nov. 2007 .
Wallace, Scott. "Last of the Amazon." National Geographic 211 (2007): 40-71.
Weigert, Andrew J. Self, Interaction, and Natural Environment. Albany: State University of New York P, 1997. 1-218.
Wenner, Lambert N. The Environmental Dilemma. New York: University P of America, Inc., 1997. 1-222.
White, Lynn. "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis." Science 115th ser. (1997): 1203-1207. 5 Nov. 2007 .
Who Killed the Electric Car? Dir. Chris Paine. DVD. Sony Pictures Classics, 2006.
