Human Selfishness and Control

Human Selfishness and Control 

In the novel Ishmael, Daniel Quinn looks at the history of humanity and presents people’s selfish emotions toward other humans and species. Recently the issues of climate change and environmental destruction have come to the fore front of many people’s attention. Because of increasing temperatures and habitat loss, humans have begun to question their impact on the planet.

In Ishmael, Quinn explains the selfish control humans posses over the environment which currently seems to be leading humanity into a dead-end. Quinn discusses the selfish desires of humans as he writes, “kill off everything you can’t eat. Kill off anything that eats what you eat. Kill off anything that does not feed what you eat” (132). Humans have a desire to increase their population and expand their dominion over nature. To show control, people exterminate anything that does not increase their population.

Today, people debate killing off animals that seem to have no benefits to human society. For example, the debate over hunting wolves has arisen as a major topic in some areas of the Unites States. Elizabeth Shogren writes, “the state [Wyoming] is eager to shrink the population because wolves kill livestock and game” (Shogren). Since wolves eat the resources which humans use to feed their populations, people control the wolves to benefit society. In Ishmael, Quinn discusses how humans stand as the point between life and death for other species, and humans believe they have a destined right to control the natural world. After reading this part of the book, I felt as if my pride had been swept away. I always have felt happy about the success of humanity as people have learned to make their environment fit their needs. However when I realized that our advancements have caused many other species to retreat and go extinct, I felt embarrassed about what humans have done to the earth. Our selfish desire to kill others has essentially put every plant and animal  in danger. I realized that figuring out how the world works may not necessarily be positive. But realizing and seeing the problem about environmental destruction does not fix anything. To save the planet, an answer must be found. However, even Quinn does not seem to know the answer, because in the end of the book, the gorilla which seemed to have the solution to all of humanities problems, died.The death of the gorilla seems to represents the death soon to occur in human societies.  

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/wolf

I agree with Quinn’s argument about the selfish quality of humans because although people understand their negative impact on the environment, people do not seem eager to end the destruction. While many acknowledge environmental issues, few have found alternative paths which lead away from the overuse of earth’s resources. Personally I have been told that actions such as recycling, composting and using hybrid vehicles can help decrease the human impact on the natural world. Even though people have told me countless times about the benefits of recycling I still find myself throwing paper and food waste into trash cans instead of using recycling and compost bins. I have also seen many others lazily throw paper into trash cans.  Since people clearly know the benefits of recycling, I feel they simply have selfish attitudes and cannot clearly see the positive results.

People do not take part in simple tasks to help the environment because they cannot see immediate effects on their own lives. While media tells people to recycle, humans cannot imagine the benefits of throwing some paper in a blue and green bin. Although future generations may see positive effects in the environment, people feel they personally will not see the decrease in human destruction. Many people selfishly only care about themselves and helping others does not seem to be a priority. Since no immediate benefits are visible, people do not see any reason to take action to improve the earth.

While many people see technology as a benefit to society, ultimately humans have used their technology to assert control over the environment. People have already killed off many species for the sole purpose of expanding the human population. The destruction of the natural world shows a selfish human quality which makes people kill competitors to help themselves. People’s desire to expand and gain control has already killed other species, and human selfishness may soon kill all of humanity.

Works Cited 

 Shogren, Elizabeth. "As Gray Wolves Return, So Does Debate Over Hunting." Npr. Npr, 10 Feb. 2012.      Web.

Quinn, Daniel. “Ishmael.”