POLEMIC: INDUSTRIAL TOURISM AND THE NATIONAL PARKS

The general argument made by Edward Abbey in his work Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks is that national parks should be untouched and left as they are. More specifically, Abbey argues that Industrial Tourism is destroying the natural beauty of national parks. And that it is starting a chain reaction of things like people driving cars everyone in national parks. He writes; “Industrial Tourism is a threat to the national parks. But the chief victims are motorized tourists…so long as they are unwilling to crawl out of their cars they will not discover the treasures of the national parks and will never escape the stress …which they have hoped to leave behind.”(pg 389) In this passage Abbey is suggesting that some people are relying too much on motor vehicles and he says it ruins our national parks. He argues that they are sacred and we should treat them like a cathedral or and art museum where no cars are allowed inside. In conclusion, it is Abbey’s belief that we should preserve our national parks better by limiting what worldly things we bring with us.

In my view, Abbey is right to some extent because we should salvage our national parks because they show us how beautiful our planet is and they are a great place to get away from the world. On the other hand it is necessary to build roads and have campgrounds to make it more convenient for most people. For example, I absolutely love the outdoors. I love to go hiking because I can leave my phone and just get away from the world, talk with my friends, see wildlife, and to have fun. Yet I hate camping mostly because there is no plumbing! I am a girl and it’s not easy to pee on a tree or in a disgusting outhouse. That is a little too much for me to handle. Although Abbey might say that industrial tourism is ruining wildlife I maintain that it is making it so much more convenient. Therefore, I conclude that national parks are an important part of our planet and we should definitely preserve them, and I don’t think adding new roads and plumbing is ruining the natural beauty of it all.

WILDLIFE IN AMERICAN CULTURE

The general point made by Aldo Leopold in his work Wildlife in American Culture is that Americans have not realized the importance of wildlife and nature. More specifically, Leopold suggests that we are forgetting that wildlife is the main thing that keeps us alive and we are destroying it. He writes; “there is too much unnecessary destruction of resources …we shall achieve conservation when and only when the destructive use of land becomes unethical.”(pg 372) In this passage Leopold is suggesting that humans are destroying nature and wildlife to the point where it’s ridiculously unnecessary. He also states that we don’t know when to stop. In conclusion, it is Leopold’s belief humans are destroying nature and it needs to stop.

In my view, Leopold is wrong because we do care about wildlife. Leopold lived more than 50 years ago, people back then did not care about wildlife as much as we do now. No one deliberately goes outside with the motive to ruin the earth and kill animals. For example, there are many rules and restriction on hunting these days. There are many endangered species and our country has made it illegal to hunt them. Also there are only certain times a year that you may go hunting. Although Leopold might object that “the sportsman has no leaders to tell him what is wrong.(pg 374)I maintain that our society knows what is wrong, that is why we have so many limitations when it comes to hunting and wildlife. Therefore, I conclude that we are taking care of the wildlife on our planet, and that we are more cautious about our actions.

INTRODUCTION/PEACH BLOSSOM

The Introduction to the Land article asked a lot of questions about nature. It asked questions like “Is the natural world primarily to be viewed as something to use?” or “Is the natural world something to be conquered?” I pondered quite a bit on these questions. I do believe that we should use nature, without it I wouldn’t have anything. Most everything I own started out as something in nature. On the same time we still need nature for its beauty. The world would not be the same without the scenic rainforest, or even the everyday flowers, trees, and animals we see.

            The story Peach Blossom Spring is about a fisherman that found a beautiful village full of striking nature. Everyone in this village was carefree and happy. The people were very nice to this fisherman they invited him to their houses and fed him. When it was time for him to leave, the villagers told the fisherman not to tell anyone about their place. The fisherman went and told the magistrate what he had found. They tried very hard to find it, but couldn’t. Another man tried to find it but he died before he could.

            I believe that the moral of this story is that only people that appreciate nature can have it. The fisherman did not fully appreciate the nature of the village that is why he couldn’t find it again. I connect this story to the Disney story of Pocahontas. The people in her village truly did appreciate nature. And it was the nature (or wind) that guided them through their lives. We should all appreciate nature just like the people in the story of The Peach Blossom Spring as well as Pocahontas. If we don’t appreciate it then we might just lose it.

READING AND INTERPRETATION EXERCISE

Reading and Interpretation Exercise

Musee des Beaux Art

Pgs-36

Sofia Goeckeritz

1.      Subject:  ‘The Old Masters’ the subject is in second line of poem. Words in ‘incorrect order’

2.      Auden argument is “the old masters were never wrong about suffering.”

3.      He starts out with a general statement and moves into more specifics until he starts describing the picture.

4.      Yes, he provides evidence through his poem because he is relating it directly to the picture.

5.      The title has something to do with museum of the arts. Yes some words are in English ‘arts’.

6.      They are probably the elders of the society it is capitalized because he is referring to a group of named artist: Micheal Angelo, Rambrant, and Divinci.

7.      He starts with a general statement saying that ‘the old masters were never wrong about suffering.’ He moves through the poem by gradually getting more specific about the picture.

8.      It is the painting in the museum that Auden is looking at.

9.      I agree with Audens thesis of people turning away when they are suffering. For example I have a friend that got into a car accident. It was a big accident his car rolled like three times. No one called the police because they saw someone suffering and turned away expecting someone else to do it. He ended up calling the police himself.

10.  Historically, Auden was alive during the world wars and he probably experienced many people turn their heads when others were suffering because they didn’t want to go through the pain that others were going through.

11.  Auden living in the 1930’s affected his views about human suffering drastically. He probably saw war on a daily basis and saw many people ignore the suffering of others.

12.  The Old Masters were more knowledgeable about human suffering because they are artist and they are more emotionally connected to others.

13.  The Old Masters were viewed highly in their society.

14.  This is the case because they related to the peoples sufferings and did not just turn their heads.

15.  Auden didn’t have a variety of painter’s paintings and viewpoints. So that definitely affected how he sees things.

16.  He uses examples of the painting to show human suffering such as the plough man turned his head away from the drowning man.

17.  The Old Masters and Auden have similar views because they are all artists and are all very emotional people. Also they weren’t a part of their society because they were different and suffering.

18.  If they were praised for their work and were popular celebrities. Then they would not know of the pain and suffering of others.

19.  One painting is worth a thousand words. I can read paintings based on the actions of people and their facial expressions along with where it is located.

20.  I would expect to see Icarus falling from the sky.

21.  I see a beautiful landscape of a shore with 2 people, a plough man and a Sheppard; there are also ships in the sea.

22.  I would say that the sun definitely dominates the picture because it is so bright and big which attracts my eye towards it. That is the sun which Icarus flew to close to so the wax on his wings melted. My eyes are also attracted to the plough man because he is the biggest person in the picture and he has no idea what’s going on.

23.  Icarus is in the water drowning. He is so small because no one cares that he is falling into the sea. The people in the painting have no idea that Icarus is drowning.

24.  The people in the painting compare perfectly with Auden’s theory of people turning away when someone is suffering. Auden’s interpretation of this painting is great.

25.  Historically Brueghel based his painting on a myth. Culturally Brueghel is trying to portray that the people don’t want anything to do with Icarus’ suffering.

26.  I am not sure if Brueghel’s interpretation is correct because I have to read the myth of Icarus first.

27.  I don’t see Icarus’ father anywhere and he is a big part of the myth. Also the people are not looking at Icarus in amazement.

28.  I believe the people during Ovids time in the 1^st century b.c.e were under the control of the Roman Empire. Ovid was a Roman poet and he was very educated.

29.  I like how Auden made this story into a poem where it was more interesting for me to read.

30.  I feel that Auden has a great part about the Old Masters and how they know the most about peoples suffering. I was confused about the story of Icarus, and who the Old Masters were at first then throughout my research I learned who they were.

31.  I would talk to Auden more about what he feels about people suffering. I want to know his thoughts about it.

32.  I believe that genuine good people will never turn away when people are suffering. In my religion I am taught to help people when they are suffering. But Auden is saying that we turn away when that happens.