Island Civilization

Since the beginning of time, humanity has been able to live in harmony with nature. It wasn’t until recently that the health of the environment became a major concern. The Industrial Revolution brought a wave of new innovations that came with one major downside: pollution. It took years for humans to realize the negative effects of the Revolution. Even now that we have discovered them, only a small population feels compelled to solve the problem. It’s human nature to want to expand and improve, no matter what the cost. Many people don’t think about how the destruction of the environment now can affect the future. I believe Island Civilization can never work because people are too selfish to care about what could happen to the environment if we don’t make changes now. An Island Civilization is the exact opposite of the expansion we have experienced throughout history. From the Crusaders to the Roman Empire and from exploring the great New World now known as North America to the idea of Manifest Destiny, humans have had the need to conquer and take over.

Another problem is the recent increase in the world’s population. The more people inhabiting the earth, the more nature is destroyed to make extra room. I think that unless our society can work as a team and start doing more to save the environment, the outcome will be similar to Nash’s wasteland scenario. However, as shown in human history, I believe the human race will never be able to agree on a way to preserve nature, only further destroy it. Nash’s Island Civilization is ideal in theory, but it could never work in practice.

The combination of the world’s population growth and man-made pollution have made it is difficult to ignore its effect on the Earth. In fact, the growth in population has played a huge role in the recent concern for our Earth’s well being in the future.  Humans are now realizing that every aspect of our lives can change the future health of the environment.  The usage of our Earth’s minimal water supply, the way we use gas and coal verses water, wind, and solar energy, and how people continue to ignore recycling on a regular basis all can determine the fate of our environment.  Due to the fact the population in increasing, it is becoming increasingly difficult to apply healthy and earth friendly changes in our lives.  As the human race adds up, it is harder for humanity to keep our planet in good shape and promise the safety of our survival instead of extinction.

Although we are trying to improve our environment, we will never be able to accomplish an Island Civilization unless everybody contributes.