Free History Of The Family And The Natural World Essay Example

In this paper, I discuss how the existence of man and its insatiable desire for economic growth and progress is ironically leading to environmental destruction and the disruption of this world’s natural balance. In order to prove this point, I am going to rely on my family’s experience and my personal observations. After all, experience would always turn out to be the best teacher.
My family came from Chengdu, a village in the southwestern part of China. As the second child in a family of five, I have grown up differently from how my father and his father (my grandfather) did. One of the most effective growth engines that a country aiming to stimulate rapid economic growth is demographics. This principle basically suggests that the bigger the population is, the bigger the potential for the country to reach economic success becomes. This was the mindset of the Chinese leaders during my father and grandfather’s time. The government basically encouraged Chinese families to have more babies so that more people would make up the country’s workforce in the future.
My Dad had six brothers and four sisters, and he was the eldest. My grandfather was the youngest in their family of 14. Having no means to earn a decent income, my grandfather worked in the army. As a result, he was not able to spend time at home as he was out on training, missions, and other deployments for most of the time. He tended to recount how they would hide in the forests and ambush their enemies in the war.
Grandmother, on the other hand, was a homemaker; she stayed at home taking care of the family. She was a provider, providing everything that her husband and children needed. It is embedded deep in Chinese family culture and tradition that the male should be the breadwinner—the one working to provide food and family for the family. Being the eldest son at the same time, my father got pressure to fulfill that role. The environmental conditions around my village allowed them to practice farming and livestock-raising. This proved to be an advantage because this provided food and decent income to families living in rural communities like them. Despite all the benefits, my grandparents’ generation did not attention to the environment or the consequences of their actions to it.
As the population increased in the villages, people started moving out to find better living conditions, jobs and resources. New cities emerged in the process, and the people’s way of living changed. My father was among this group that moved to the cities looking for new jobs and opportunities. He was a hardworking man. He always taught us that one has to work hard in life in order to make a living. He always reminds us that his businesses are a product of hard work. As the city grew wealthier over the years, people were still indifferent about the idea of protecting the environment and the conservation of natural resources. The people were so focused on development and urbanization that they forgot that it is the environment that is providing them the raw materials they need for economic development. Forests were cleared and former agricultural lands were flattened to make space for the establishment of urban infrastructures such as roads and residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. This was done on a wide scale some thirty years ago. The downside to this was that the economic sectors that once propelled Chinese economic growth like agriculture got left out. Villagers like my predecessors decided to abandon farming life and live a new life in the city.
It was only a matter of time before the country began to experience the consequences of their lack of regard for the protection of the environment. Soils eroded, floods happened, and natural disasters occurred more frequently. Soil, air, water, and noise pollution levels rose dramatically as the cities got infused with thousands and in some cases millions of people from rural areas. The people’s health deteriorated prompting them to spend more for medicine, healthcare treatments, and other previously unnecessary costs. Species of trees also got extinct. One example would be the Gingko tree from our village; their forest population dwindled as a result of rapid and large scale urbanization.
Every year, we visit the village back in China for the holidays. During, I have come across so many aspects of Chinese culture and practices that have been neglected by modern society. For instance, I remember the water strides in the pond I saw recently. It resembles the ones I saw back in the village at the dams. The damage to the environment that rapid urbanization has caused started to make me question whether it was all worth it. I started to observe my surroundings more carefully for more similarities. In the neighborhood, I noticed this exotic flower, I decided to take it home and look after it. In a three-week period, I was astonished at the robust vitality of the plant. It began to sprout new roots and because the vase was small I took it outside to the flower garden, but it died. I noticed the care I gave it in the vase was not the same as when I left it out in the backyard. The blame was on me for not being careful with the flower outside. Therefore, we should reflect on the issues of bringing home such species, and guarantee them safety as we separate or remove them from their natural habitats.
In conclusion, it is us humans that are creating the path towards our own demise. We, just like every other creature in this planet is dependent on the environment. Simply put, we need it to survive. Without it we will perish. Unfortunately, our very existence and actions are the ones causing the great imbalance in the natural world. It is now evident to me that humans are unaware of the benefits of preserving the environment. We have exploited natural resources and damaged the natural habitats of millions of animal and plant species. We built new cities assuming that we can set new homes for the animals and plants but we did not; in fact, we caused their destruction. Nature is disrupted with our day-to-day activities that cause pollution. The ambiance in the city is totally different from that in the villages. My grandfather recently told me that there are no longer places where one can watch birds and listen to insect noises at night. No matter how hard we try, the trees and the flowers we see in cities would always be artificial. The landscape has been altered to create fields for the modern man’s use. The only reassuring thing about nature is that each species including the insects or those in the sea will find a way to thrive. We are always reminded of how powerful nature can become, and it is impossible for us to change the natural order of things. Based on my perception, I think that the debates should focus on finding a balance between people’s living quality and sustainable natural resource utilization. The most efficient way to preserve wild animal and their natural habitats is to segregate them from humans.