Human Entitlement Sketch
There is no question that human beings are the smartest creatures on the planet. At least that’s what we like to think, isn’t it? Humans have had domain over the earth for about 6 million years. The Earth has been around for billions of years but in the course of a couple hundred years humans have destroyed the planet almost beyond repair. With things like overpopulation, pollution, global warming, genetic modifications, deforestation etc. mankind has managed to wipe out entire species of plants and animals.
What gives us the right to do these things? Yes we are harming ourselves in this process but we are also harming the environment and countless other creatures. Peter Singer, an Australian moral philosopher, once said, “If possessing a higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit non-humans?” With that being said, there is no question that humans believe they are entitled to the earth and all the creatures that inhabit it.
September 17th, 2018 at 1:08 pm
Your structure is essay-like, Kaycie. That’s what you know best, so it’s time to experiment. Your last summary sentence is where your intro will transition into the nut graf (the lead). Think about how you can catch and keep the reader’s attention. One of my columnists wrote an article once where he described the equivalent of what it woud be like if fish fished. They would hang a big hook from a tree and wait until an animal (or human) was snagged. It would then be dragged kicking and screaming into the water, where it might drown, unless it was gutted while still alive. Why is it humans think it’s OK to do this to fish?
Another example that came out of last weekend’s hurricane. A number of people dedicated themselves to saving animals. One group saved six dogs that had been left in a pen to drown. Would we be OK if that happened to people?
Humans have forgotten that we’re also animals.