Understanding Nature & Ecology

As the twentieth century draws to a close, Americans are still battling the vestiges of nineteenth century doctrine, the aftermath of the politics of Manifest Destiny and the lingering effects of the pioneer mentality which forged the way west. In her illuminating essay, "Empire of Innocence" Limerick suggests that "the figure of the innocent victim is the dominant motif" characterizing the American experience of western expansion (Columbo 570). Rather than viewing themselves as destructive forces who ravaged the land, the pioneers and contemporary Americans prefer to see themselves as tricked by hostile nature which does not co-operate with expansionist dreams. Limerick asserts that "when Nature behaved according to its own rules and not" those of the pioneers, they felt betrayed (Columbo 566). Comprehending that nature is not always to be mastered, that sometimes it demands submission, is the lesson which Americans are still struggling to learn.

Attempts to import inappropriate vegetation underscore this tension between civilization and the wilderness. In 1859 Thomas Austin feeling homesick for England let loose 24 rabbits into the Australian outback with devastating effect. Within a scant ten years these rabbits had multiplied into the millions per stretch of property. Without predators to keep their numbers low, these rabbits ate away their new country's native shrubbery. Their destruction had a d

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is it trying to subvert?" Worster answers his own question by suggesting that ecology would subvert "reductionist views of traditional science, the antinature bias of Western religions, and the values and institutions of industrial capitalism" (Manes 225). Near his conclusion in a late chapter entitled "Beyond the Green Wall", Manes cites the remarkable ecological balance achieved by the Penan. In Penan, a tribal people still occupy the dwindling rain forest of Sarawak in Malaysia. Continuing to live as hunters and gatherers, the Penan live with ecological modesty, equally respectful of their children and their ancestors. "They feel no moral necessity to seize control of evolution or redeem the natural world from its so-called irrationality. Nature and culture for the Penan are in harmony" (Manes 239). In The Ecology of Commerce Paul Hawken approaches the problem of civilization's refusal to submit to the dominance of nature from within the strictures of the business world. He wishes to refute the notion that "green economics" is an oxymoron. The world of commerce must recognize that it is subservient to nature and therefore learn to honor it by designing an economy which acknowledges its overriding power. Hawken assert
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Approximate Word count = 2979
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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