Unwinding the Spool of Civilization in Pontings The Green History of the World and Quinns Ishmael :: Green History of the World Essays

Unwinding the reel of Civilization in Pontings The one thousand History of the World and Quinns Ishmael Clive Pontings The Green History of the World and Daniel Quinns Ishmael both critique the dominant paradigms of groundbreaking human civilization-especially where its relationship with environment is concerned. Both feel strongly that we argon in trouble. Neither are quite willing to make utmost connections and present us with a systematic method for getting come to the fore of our impending ecological crisis, but they both do spell forbidden what has been wrong, what is wrong now, and what will happen should we choose not to take evasive action. In the absence of similar works in the canon it is bad not to feel as though, (as the character Ishmael promised), if you accept their premise you are doomed to isolation for, those who see the future most distinctly are usually outcasts, lost as to what power they may shed to change minds and directions. Enlightenment almost a lways comes at a price, lots steep. In the interest of exploring the necessity of dissent, lets follow that line of environmental design a little further. Ponting presents us with the scientific/cultural evidence that backs up what Quinn is saying that we as a species are destroying our foundations even as we promulgate our creation-Civilization-a success. If this massive breakdown and foreboding future are certainties, then we must(prenominal) ask-as Quinn does-who or what is telling us lies to make us believe other? His character Ishmael calls it Mother Culture and insists that its pervasive voice acts to encumber us on course even when large portions of the population drive every reason to lose hope in Her tenets. This all-powerful entity would, presumably, acknowledge most educational establishments and media outlets, and so information to the contrary would rarely be funded or reported, and probably never directly emphasized. Which leaves us with a scrap using Thomas Kuhns model for change in the social sciences, we must endeavor to see if the Ponting/Quinn paradigm for all civilization is merely a pillow slip in attitude or-as would be difficult for Kuhn to imagine-an entirely young realization that carries with it remedies for the penalties it warns of. If this is a shift back in paradigm, to hunter-gatherer or dread Savage imagery, then the potential for civil disruption is great. With the stakes of obliteration as high as they are presented, such a shift could justify sweeping political/economic reform that-in the absence of the believed-in reality-would just now place more of the Earths population in positions of subsistence and subservience.