Sarah Pearson
Writing prompt 11
One of the most challenging decisions I had to make was weather to transfer schools from Chicago back to Ann Arbor. This was particularly difficult because I loved the city of Chicago, but the Art school in Michigan had more to offer. If I would’ve stayed in Chicago to study art, I would not have had the opportunity to take other classes such as language courses, or science.
Diamond discusses the issues of Montanan society and how past societies were in a similar situation. One challenge specifically is the growth of population. Not only can population can affect a society, but the environment as well. In chapter 13 “Australia” it also discusses similar issues of population control which begins to touch on immigration as well. “The best estimate of a population sustainable at the present standard of living is 8 million people, less than half of the present population.” (398) Even though Australia is over populated, it is nothing compared to the United States. This is because Australia has a limited supply of water, and their food production is horrible. Also, there are many problems with forestry and fisheries as well which used to bring in a lot of money for Australia, but now is not contributing to the state of its economy. There are many similarities with Montana and Australia when it comes to natural resources. Montana has issues with loss of nutrients in its soil, overgrazing, and logging. The problem is, these issues have been going on for so long, they cannot really be reversed. There are ways to reverse the loss of nutrients in soil but it would cost a lot of money, and the outcome would not be worth the time and expenses. I feel as though the government it slightly to blame for all of the problems regarding the land, production, and mining. If issues were taken seriously from when they first started, then something could have been done to help prevent or slow down the process.
A personal issue that required a critical decision was the choice I had to make about which college to attend. I had so many different career/ college paths I was considering which ranged from the marine biology program at the University of Miami to the art and design program at the University of Michigan. My parents wanted me to go to New York University because it would be close to home, but I knew that I wanted to experience a new town and environment. My decision to go to the University of Michigan was the right one for me, but was difficult for my family to accept, because of how far away from home I would be. However, I knew that Ann Arbor was the right place for me for a number of reasons. This university had a lot of different programs to offer that I was interested in which addressed my issue of not being able to choose a major, and I was also drawn to the liberal attitude and laid back atmosphere. Now looking back on that decision, I know that it was the right one. Any other decision seems like the wrong one, and being anywhere else besides at the University of Michigan now feels like it would be wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhen Diamond discusses the issues of contemporary Montanan society, deforestation and habitat destruction are important aspects of the eight ecocides
That resembles the challenges that lead to the downfalls of other societies. Deforestation and habitat destruction are issues that many societies have had to deal with in the past, for example, China. In Montana, logging companies clear cut trees to increase the efficiency, but this negatively affected the living things in the area who depended on these trees as part of their habitats. The decrease in shade for rivers led to an increase in water temperature and decreasing water quality. Deforestation contributes to soil erosion and floods, which are huge factors in damage to the land partially because of climate change. This has been a mistake that China’s leaders made many years ago because they thought that they could manipulate the land whichever way they wanted. Now, Montana along with multiple other societies has made the same mistakes, instead of learning from the past. The circumstances that all of these areas face are generally similar. Habitat destruction of grasslands and wetlands lead to biodiversity loss as well as degradation of freshwater and coastal marine fisheries by overfishing and pollution.
The things that are most important for a society to consider are the effects of their actions, and whether or not the habitat destruction is worth the natural resources they are obtaining. The first step to this process would be admitting how bad the problem is, what effects they are already seeing because of past actions and they need to discuss what practical changes they can make
Diamond, Jared. Penguin books. Collapse. 2005