CHAPTER
COMMENTARY
This
category contains song quotes that refer to animals. Is entertainment the only area that humans have social and
community responsibilities, or do we also have a responsibility to nature and
the environment?
We
live in a world where humans have coexisted with nature for hundreds of
thousands of years. However, humans
can be aggressive, reckless, filthy, and destructive to the point where we may
extinct or place on the verge of extinction species that have been on the Earth
for millions of years longer than man. Man
causes this extinction through over developing land and disrupting the
ecological systems, by damaging the environment with our pollutants, and by
uncontrolled hunting and fishing. Do
we have the right to extinct a species knowing that they can never come back?
One
of the millions of species inhabiting the Earth are human beings.
Does society have a responsibility to meet the needs of current
generations of humans by providing food, shelter, transportation,
infrastructure, power, and consumer products that people depend upon for
survival? Is there a difference
between consumer products and services needed for basic survival and those that
are not and exist to make life easier and more comfortable?
Interestingly
though, many of the same things that threaten animal species survival, are also
some of the same things that threaten man's long-term survival.
Therefore, is it not in man's best interest to conserve resources and
protect the environment?
In
addition to current generations, as stewards of the Earth, does society have a
responsibility to future generations? Or
is the Earth a resource to be exploited and abused only for current generations?
What
reasonable steps can be taken to protect nature and the environment, conserve
our natural resources, and yet meet current and future generations needs?