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Published on Visualizing Ecology (http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter)

Mitch Gines

"Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was a shadow of death..."-Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

 

Wow, that paints a pretty bleak picture of the apocalypses. This "evil", this "mysterious madness". It's pesticide! It affects both prey and bystander alike, and we created it! I really feel sorry for the poor flocks of chickens. Even though they were going to be eaten, most of them were bred for eggs or show (and hopefully not for cockfighting), life is stilll life, right?

I really have to give credit to this writer. She knows how to set up a scene and personify something as so malevolent!

America definitely still faces the onslaught of pesticide, but they've had regulations put up since this book was written, right? Still, non-organic food is still common, and is still non-organic. So we still face this problem in a various ways. It sucks, and we still have to worry to the constantly adjusting parasites that feed off our produce!

Back in the day in Week two of Fall Quarter, the class was told about how some of the smaller creatures of this man made ecosystem actually help out in exterminating the troublesome species since they happen to be the natural prey, right? Unfortunately, the typical industrial farmer is paranoid. Go figure.  It's all because of ignorance of ecology going around.

 And they said the farming industry would be efficient enough with a bunch of uneducated bumpkins.  What an odd romance the farming life has been given.

 Apparently, the best chance for the future may be partly us people of Visualizing Ecology who is really learning this stuff, or at least those who are planning to pursue further education in Ecology.  I mean, I'm an artist aspiring to design character designers for fictions media, so I'm not going to live the hardy life of a farmer in the future, but I guess I should still do my part with this knowledge I've acquired, right?

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Source URL:
http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/visecowinter/mitch-gines-6