Issue 121: should we make extraordinary effort to save endangered species?

 

I fundamentally agree with the speaker on the basis that we need not make extraordinary efforts to save endangered species. It is certainly reasonable that money and effort should be paid to save species in jeopardy, I concede. Nevertheless, my points of contention with the speaker involve that the extinction of species cannot be attributed casually and totally to we humans, and it is also beyond the rationale to spend unnecessary and inappropriate amount of resource to ensure the preservation of all endangered species.

First of all, most endangered species are placed on the edge of extinction by themselves thus it is neither reasonable nor fair to put a duty on humans for that. The widely accepted Darwin’s evolution theory argues that extinction of species is a natural and common result in the process of so-called “Natural Selection”, which means in the competition for living resource, the weaker and less adaptive species lost the fight and can not obtain necessary resource to survive. In the billions of years before humans existence, numerous species failed to survive in this plant and were buried in the prehistory, for instance, the well known giant Dinosaur which roared around the entire earth ten millions ago, and also the mammoth, and trilobite. Consider the fact that extinction of species is always proceeding in this planet, we humans need not blindly blame ourselves for the result of natural progress, need not to say that we are the ultimate beneficiary of this progress, till now.

Even some species do become endangered or extinct due to the influence of humans activities, it does not necessarily lead to the consequence that we have to commit the responsibility totally. Since we humans are also involved in the fight for the limited natural resources and we have to win (otherwise we are hoping for protection from other species now), it is again a Darwinian argument that if we have to sacrifice certain species for the overriding concern of our own welfare and survival, so be it. If our ancestors did not annihilate the ferocious smilodon, fight their way through deathly threat of vipers, beasts and other compelling natural enemies, it would be just fantastic for us today to discuss species-protection issues.

Another important argument, and the one I find most compelling, is that it is unreasonable even cruel to place first priority on the protection of other species while we human race have enough immediate problems waiting to be solved. Some extreme advocates of animal protection claim that we have to spend whatever we have to save, for instance, a certain kind of bird living only in a specific forest merely for it appeals attracting and lovely (the flinthead). However, consider the simple but uneasy fact that there are millions of people are now struggling in desperate living condition in Africa and dying from starvation, incurable AIDS, civil war, and totalitarianism. Indeed they have no shining feather or melodic tone, however, they are human being after all. I believe it is not a difficult choice between a few wonderful birds and a group of starving poor people.

It must be said that we must not totally drop the responsibility of species protection. Many species are of great use to our industry and daily life, and some other species always fill our life with more joy and interesting variety. The more important issue is: we human are not live in this world alone, we are dependent on the entire ecosystem, in which every species plays its certain role – some of them are crucial to us. To watch animals dying with no action taken is neither appropriate nor beneficial, and on an acceptable scale, protective responses should be launched.

In sum, admittedly we must protect endangered species from extinction for it is ultimately to guarantee our own interest. Yet for this very reason, I agree that we should not make extraordinary effort to save other animals and plants but leave our own immediate and pressing problems unsolved. After all, the extinction of species is inevitable in the life evolution and we human only have partial responsibility for some of them, consequently we need not blame ourselves too much for this misfortune.

今天是本学期第二次在老馆自习，11点，灯光从门口向馆内顺次熄灭，顿时安静的老馆人声开始嘈杂。收拾着电脑和书本，不知为何突然想起了高中时候的晚自习。

我 想我高中的时候还是一个好孩子的……五点半下午放学，冲回家六点吃完饭回学校开始做题，做到六点五十出教室门看着喜欢的女孩子从楼梯口走上来，然后我和兄 弟出校门买一袋雀巢的巧克力奶，七点钟和老师一起进门。如果说什么时候我喜欢过学习这件事本身的话……应该是那个时候吧。那个时候总觉得，如果上不了T 大，不就完蛋了么……现在想来真是很汗……

集体自习一直就是我不喜欢的事情……我喜欢以各种诡异的姿势缩在宽大的椅子上自己给自己讲解， 而不是端端正正坐在灯下做题，厌恶不能说话，不能站起来乱走，不能让我自由自在的自习室，I hate unneeded discipline. 所以去自习室我也偏爱相对独立的新馆三楼，那里至少我可以轻声自言自语。

Till the roof comes off
till the lights go out
Till my legs give out
can’t shut my mouth

什么时候我才会再像高考那样为一个目标那样单纯那样虔诚地奋斗呢？

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“有国于蜗之左角者曰触氏，有国于蜗之右角者曰蛮氏，时相与争地而战，伏尸数万，逐北旬有五日而后反。”

何等惨烈呐！那双方的勇士们为了伟大的蜗角，前仆后继，战到尸山血河，何其壮也！

 

期末有感于大作业