Ishmael: The story of the Takers

"The world was made for man, and man was made to rule it"

Chapters 3 and 4 of Ishmael basically uncover the beginning and middle part of the takers story. How did they become takers, how did it begin? The character and Ishmael uncover it is because the premise is, creation was not complete until man was created and therefore nature needs man to conquer it.

I found this particularly interesting, since we are in a class titled "Our Place In Nature", the first two chapters make you ask yourself whether you are a taker or a leaver? Now I found myself wondering what role do I play in nature, what role do I believe I should be playing and what do I actually do? Ishmael reiterates often how this culture story has been told so much, that we don't stop to think about what it means.

Alexander the Great

This passage made me think of my little 11 year old brother, who is being told countless times that as humans we are the epitome of creation, in whichever way he looks. We are constantly told to conquer and that's all our culture is built on. Alexander the Great is revered because he was a great conqueror, "I came.I saw. I conquered".

That mentality is what we apply to nature everyday without even questioning it. It is why like McKibben says we don't question growth, we just do it. How would we look at the world differently if we just saw creation as just that, there was no hierarchy but separate niches that needed to coexist together? I also wonder what is the story of the leavers?