Research Paper - James Huang - Takers Vs. Leavers

James Huang

Freshman Composition

Professor Nayanda Moore

5/18/15

            Humans have inhabited Earth for over 150,000 years living as 'Leavers' as Daniel Quinn, the author of Ishmael would call it, but it was not until around 10,000 years ago, that humans started to transform their ‘Leaver’ societies into a society like the one that humans live in today which is also known as a ‘Taker’ society. If the ‘Leaver’ society were to be compared with the modern ‘Taker’ world, the current society that humans live in would be considered as more technologically advanced and more orderly than the precedent societies on Earth. While these characteristics seem alluring, the modern society is not superior to the past society of “leavers”. The current ‘Taker’ world would not be considered “sustainably healthy” on Earth. A self-sustainable society like the ‘Leaver’ society would be one where there are little conflict and issues that affect the way of life or the laws of nature on Earth. In terms of communities, social lives, and the worldview as humans, takers are inferior to the ‘Leavers’. Despite the centuries of technological advancements and territorial gains, ‘Taker’ societies are still unsuccessful in comparison to ‘Leaver’ societies because of the environmental, warfare, and health issues that plague the current human society.

Leaver societies came into existence during the Paleolithic age, which was in between the beginning of human existence and the Neolithic Revolution. Present day humans have all come from the same ancestral group of humans of this time period. Those who existed in this age, the Paleolithic peoples, were only concerned about 3 things: “food, shelter, and clothing.” (Penfield). Most humans at the time were hunters and gatherers. The Leavers were also nomads who moved from place to place, in search for food, shelter, and resources necessary for survival. No matter the geographical location, humans hunted and gathered just enough to live. The population, approximately 1 million at the time, was well maintained with very little warfare between each other since there was no reason for any conflict over territory or food. The population was maintainable because of the fact that ‘Leavers’ only took what was necessary for survival and because they believed that it was a blessing that they were even on this Earth and so they treated its resources with respect. ‘Leavers’ were peaceful because they only thought of one thing: survival. They didn’t care about territorial gain at the time because they were nomads that moved around constantly for a source of food. This was the way of life for the Paleolithic society or also known as, 'Leaver' society, which contrasts starkly with our modern day, ‘Taker’ society.

            Around 10,000 years ago, the human lifestyle suddenly changed. According to Jared Diamond's documentary, Guns Germs and Steel, ‘Leavers’ began to settle around the Fertile Crescent, situated near the Middle East, because of this geographical location’s fertile land. The settlers then used this to their advantage by manipulating how they would farm so that they produced enough food to sustain their community with a surplus of food. This marked the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution. The domestication of plants such as wheat and barley, and animals such as cows, goats, and sheep, soon influenced humans to start exploiting and using the Earth’s resources. The Neolithic humans began storing the new harvested crops and caging up animals for breeding, for a future food supply. Leaver societies soon grew to become ‘Taker’ societies, where people no longer hunted or gathered to survive, but instead, domesticated plants and animals to produce surpluses of food, which initiated population growth because they feed more people. This population growth can be shown in the Population Reference Bureau’s PowerPoint of World Population Growth Throughout History. (Population Reference Bureau) This exploitation of Earth’s resources and animals started to disrupt the way of life around humans.

The population of the Paleolithic age pales in comparison to our modern society’s population. Due to the surplus in food, the human population grew exponentially to its’ modern total of 7 billion humans. This population growth is exhibited by population charts of David Lam's "How the World Survived the Population Bomb: Lessons from 50 Years of Extraordinary Demographic History". These charts calculate the world population since mid 1800's to the present as well as the forthcoming future. In Fig. 1, the statistics say that within 2 centuries, the world population has increased over 6 billion, and according to the medium-variant projection of the chart, the world population is predicted to reach 9.3 billion in 2050. (Lam 1234). Although population rates have decreased over recent years, 9 billion humans on Earth will pose a very big problem towards themselves in the area of sustainability.

In order to sustain this vast population, humans has to mass produce plants and animals with factory farms and plantations, where they are chemically engineered or fed certain unnatural foods so that they may carry the necessary amount of nutrients for the human body to consume and store. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) According to Nancy M. Williams' "Affected Ignorance And Animal Suffering: Why Our Failure To Debate Factory Farming Put Us At Moral Risk.", a large majority of farm animals are contained in CAFOs or Confined Animal Feeding Operations and ILOs, Intensive Livestock Operations. Williams describes these operations as inhumane by explaining how humans are confining and breeding, biologically manipulating, transporting, and slaughtering billions of animals each year just for our consumption. She also talks about the poultry industry, mainly focusing about chickens and hens within these operations. Hens are being forced into cages where they do not have room to spread their wings and this type of extreme confinement induces cannibalism. In addition to this, these birds in the chicken industry suffer from dehydration, bacterial infections, respiratory diseases, heart attacks, crippled legs, and reduced bone strength. (Williams 375). This serves as a prime example of how humans are relying on the immoral treatments of other species in order to feed our overpopulating race.

Daniel Quinn also explains and recalls this problem of over production and population through his novel, Ishmael.  “Intensification of production to feed an increased population leads to a still greater increase in population” (Quinn 109) and “Every increase in food production to feed an increased population is answered by another increase in population.” (Quinn 139) Quinn describes how the process of mass producing food is actually a paradox because it causes over population, which then causes more famine than before.

Present day human actions are slowly chipping away at the Earth. Our unstable growing population isn’t the only issue in our current society. Other issues such as warfare and global warming are negatively impacting our own planet. Our present day society is using up the Earth’s limited resources at an alarming rate. Michael E. Baltz discusses this topic in the "Overconsumption: The Other Missing Agenda". Baltz illustrates how human consumption rates need to be recognized. He states that even though, fertility rates have decreased, consumption rates of industrial countries haven't. He believes that the general public is not worried or even concerned about their consumption rates, instead they are worried about famine or ozone layer depletion. Baltz also states that even when these topics are surfaced, the point that human consumption rates are too high are never spoke of. He explains that our Earth is dying at an increasingly rapid rate; nature is dying and if humans do not reduce their dependence on their personal vehicles and leaving ecological footprints, then we will eventually die with it.              (Baltz 214). We all use it the Earth's natural resources for own modern convenience, but not only that, we use it for wars as well. We not only use our own planet’s resources to fuel our cars, planes, and air conditioners, but we also use it to create weapons of mass destruction that can kill over a million people in just a couple minutes. That would be the whole population of humans during the Paleolithic era.

These creations, which go against the laws of nature, are explained by Daniel Quinn throughout his novel, Ishmael. Using the analogy of an aircraft named the Taker Thunderbolt trying to take flight, “They were in free fall, because their craft was simply not in compliance with the law that makes flight possible.” (Quinn 108) and “Basic ecological and planetary systems are being impacted by the Taker Thunderbolt, and that impact increases in intensity every year, Basic, irreplaceable resources are being devoured every year - and they’re being devoured more greedily every year.” (Quinn 109) At first, the aircraft is unable to fly due to the laws of nature preventing it from doing so. Quinn explains that because of humans began to use the limited resources of Earth in order to defy the laws of nature i.e.: gravity, they have started to destroy their own planet more and more every year. These creations and wars have brought depression and famine to other countries over territorial and technological gains which would have never happened ten to a hundred thousand years ago. The humans of the modern world today are labeled as ‘Takers’ and they believe that this world, our planet Earth, is theirs to take. Humans believe that the Earth was meant to be owned by them because they are the dominant species which gives them the right to do as they please.

The fact is, humans are the dominant species. Humans are incredibly intelligent compared to other life forms on Earth and when compared to the people of the Paleolithic age, current day humans are considered superior. However, in terms of sustaining the Earth and the life on Earth, we are far more inferior to the humans that have walked this Earth ten thousand years ago. ‘Leavers’ have been on Earth for over 100,000 years maintaining their population where as we, takers, are close to overpopulating the Earth with our 7 billion human population. ‘Leavers’ lived and worked together with little to no conflict. ‘Takers’, on the other hand, initiated wars for territory and resources. ‘Leavers’ also did not take more than they needed whereas ‘Takers’ farm and manipulate other animals' lives for their own benefits. ‘Takers’ in the modern world, use animals for food, clothing, accessories, and produce an amount more than needed. ‘Takers’ also are currently using Earth's limited resources and burning up fossil fuels for human convenience. The ‘Leavers’ of the Paleolithic age did no such thing, they used what was necessary for survival and what was given to them by Earth. We are currently at the brink of extinction after a couple thousand years of living this way whereas the ‘Leaver’ society has flourished for over a hundred thousand years. Leavers were completely different from the humans of today and a lot more successful in maintaining life than we do today.

                                                                  Works Cited

1.      Bulliet, Richard W. The Earth And Its Peoples: A Global History. Boston: Houghton  Mifflin, 1997. Print.

2.       Baltz, Michael E. "Overconsumption of Resources in Industrial Countries: The Other Missing Agenda." Conservation Biology 13.1 (1999): 213-15.CCNY Libraries. Web. Apr.-May 2015.

3. Giotto. "The Old Stone Age (Paleolithic Era)." The Old Stone Age (Paleolithic      Era). Schoolworld, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.penfield.edu/webpages/jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?subpage=1525824>.

4.    Lam, David. "How the World Survived the Population Bomb: Lessons From 50 Years of Extraordinary." Demography 48.4 (2011): 1231-262. CCNY Libraries. Web. Apr.-May 2015.

5.    Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. New York: Bantam/Turner Book, 1995. Print.

6. PETA. "Factory Farming: Cruelty to Animals." Factory Farming: Cruelty to Animals. PETA, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2014. <http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming>.

7.    World Population Growth Through History. N.p.: Population Reference Bureau, n.d.     PDF

8.      Williams, Nancy M. "Affected Ignorance And Animal Suffering: Why Our Failure To Debate Factory Farming Puts Us At Moral Risk." Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics J Agric Environ Ethics 21.4 (2008): 371-84. CCNY Libraries. Web. Apr.-May 2015.

                                                Annotated Bibliography

1.     1.  Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. New York: Bantam/Turner Book, 1995. Print.

            Daniel Quinn's novel, Ishmael, offers readers a different perspective about life on Earth. The fantasy/fiction novel approaches the reader with real world problems. It is a novel that exposes the true nature of humans and the way that they are using this planet. It describes how we, humans, are using up the Earth's limited natural resources and treating Earth as our own private property. They also discuss about the immoral treatment of animals as well. The narrator meets a talking gorilla who explains his life in captive at a zoo. This novel is a real eye opener and my essay uses a very similar theme. The reason I used this novel for my essay was because of its definitions of 'Takers' and 'Leavers'. The novel gave me an approach that I took and expanded upon. This approach was the difference between humans of the present and the humans of 150,000 years ago. Using this novel, I was able to define and differentiate Leaver's and Taker's, which opened my essay and gave it room for development.

2. Bulliet, Richard W. The Earth And Its Peoples: A Global History. Boston: Houghton  Mifflin, 1997. Print.

           

            Bulliet's textbook, The Earth And Its Peoples: A Global History, is a history textbook on civilizations of the past. I used this textbook to research about the humans of the past, specifically ones of the Paleolithic Era because this were the first Leavers. I also researched the Neolithic Revolution, using this textbook. This showed me information about the beginning of Takers. The textbook gave accurate time periods, as well as, what Leavers grew as crops and the animals they used for breeding. The morality of things were less discussed, but the facts were there. I used the textbook mainly for informative purposes which would support my argument or my thesis that present day humans lack success in sustaining the Earth compared to humans of the past and the facts in the textbook prove that.

3. Lam, David. "How the World Survived the Population Bomb: Lessons From 50 Years of Extraordinary." Demography 48.4 (2011): 1231-262. CCNY Libraries. Web. Apr.-May 2015.

           

            This is a peer reviewed journal article written by David Lam. David Lam describes how the world population has been receiving special attention lately due to the exponential population growth rate within the last two centuries. Lam provides many charts to prove this. I actually use Figure 1 in my essay because it contains information about the world population from the mid 1800's to the present. It also shows from low to high variants of the population in the future. I used this journal article in order to support my argument that 'Takers' have been overpopulating the Earth far more than 'Leavers' have. Leavers have maintained their population of 1 million for over one hundred centuries whereas Takers had a 100% population growth rate at one point.

4. Williams, Nancy M. "Affected Ignorance And Animal Suffering: Why Our Failure To Debate Factory Farming Puts Us At Moral Risk." Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics J Agric Environ Ethics 21.4 (2008): 371-84. CCNY Libraries. Web. Apr.-May 2015.

            This is a peer reviewed journal article written by Nancy M. Williams. Williams describes how humans are contributing to animal suffering and the public is choosing to ignore this. I used this article because Williams lists the types of animal suffering that humans put animals through. She explains how it can affect the animal's behaviors as well as their disorders and bodily functions. Using this information, I was able to support my argument that humans of the present, also known as Takers, are taking advantage of wildlife and interfering with nature. Not only do Takers take away animal's homes from deforestation, they confine them for breeding purposes to feed the overpopulating human race.

           

      5.  Baltz, Michael E. "Overconsumption of Resources in Industrial Countries: The Other Missing Agenda." Conservation Biology 13.1 (1999): 213-15.CCNY Libraries. Web. Apr.-May 2015.

           

            This is a peer reviewed journal article written by Michael E. Baltz. Baltz describes how the overconsumption of resources in industrial countries, especially America, is being ignored or oversimplified at the moment. He claims that overconsumption of humans/takers is the root of all the problems. Baltz states that instead of worrying about the causes of overconsumption, which are ozone depletion, famine, etc, people should worry about their own ecological footprint that they lay upon Earth. I used this article because Baltz introduces the idea that every human is contributing to the destruction of the Earth and its depletion of limited natural resources. He lists these ecological footprints left by us: electricity, cars, planes, etc. He explains that almost every family use fuel as well as electricity. I use this to show that Takers have been taking the Earth for grants for many years now and even taken advantage of it, where as Leavers lived on Earth while appreciating nature and life. Humans of the present? Not so much.