The World Without Us && The Destruction of Whiteness

"I see it as central to the ecological issue that when blacks were forced to work the land, the process of human domination and the exploitation of nature occured at exactly the same time" (The Destruction of Whiteness). Theodore Roszak interviews Carl Anthony in the essay "The Destruction of Whiteness." This quote is the response given by Anthony to explain the relationship between slavery, human superiority and the destruction of nature. This idea is simply that slavery is a landmark of past, present and future separation from nature as well as a basic candle for ideas behind human superiorty. I think this connection is mind bottling because it actually makes sense. The harsh labor performed by slaves instituted this present day ideal that one race is superior to another, and this drastic human caused transformation of nature. The ideas presented by Alan Weisman in the book "The World Without Us" provide the effects of the actions highlighted in the essay "The Destruction of Whiteness." Weisman gives an account of what the world may look like in the future. Basically, Anthony gives us the cause of climate change and Weisman states the effects.

A primary example of Weisman's desriptions of the future is when he mentions the New York city Transit system. He states, "Whenever it rains hard, sewers clog with storm debris-the number of plastic garbage bags adrift in the world's cities may truly exceed calculaton-and the water, needing to go somewhere, plops down the nearest subway stairs" (The World Without Us). This is one of the many instances in this book where Weisman gives a vivid image of our society in years to come. I think if one wanted to link these two texts he or she could simply read "The Destruction of Whiteness" as a cause of climate change, and then read "The World Without Us" as the effects of climate change.