Julio Felix

English 101 If We Ruled The World

Dr. Cuddy

10/11/19

Humans have been on this earth for about 36,000 years, animals and nature started

growing 350 billion years ago. What makes humans qualified to destroy and take everything they

want? It only took 10,000 years 500 generations of humans to create this world today; this world

lost half the wild animals that live on this planet in 40 years. Half of Europeans have synthetic

molecules in their blood due to pesticides and there are people who kill for sport. Yann

Arthus-Bertrand & Micheal Pitiots documentary ​Terra​ (2015) sheds light on how humans are

pushing nature out of our lives and only referring to them as a resource to eat and make money

off of. By using historical landmarks, data, and captivating photos and videos of endangered and

underappreciated animals Paradis’s documentary is able to make the audience feel ashamed,

heartbroken, and inspired in one fell swoop.

The relationship between Humans and animals is no longer mystical but purely

economic. Around 10,000 years ago the relationship between humans and the natural world

drastically changed. Cows “were a rich source of food, their leather was used, and above all they

were used for work in the fields”(43.17, Arthus-Bertrand & Micheal Pitiots). Since humans saw

that Cows brought prosperity they became the most precious thing that people had, and with that

the most profitable thing. Humans started realizing that money can be made off of certain parts

of animals so they decided to go hunt them. It has gotten so bad that at this point “Rhinoceros
 Felix 2

horns are worth more than gold”(1:11:54-1:11:59, Arthus-Bertrand & Micheal Pitiots). Gold

which has been thought to be the most valuable and expensive thing in the world ends up being

less expensive then the horns of a Rhino. How does it ever become possible for a horn to be of

more value then pure gold? People have changed their mindset through the years. They now

think that the more they kill, the more they will be able to get. The progression of humans as a

society is also to blame for the endangerment and relationship with animals. As humans began to

make classes and wanted to be rich they started to feel like they deserved something more

fulfilling and worthy then wheat and rice. Thus they turned to meat. Times have changed since

then people do not eat meat because it means your rich people eat meat because it is a good

source of protein. The demand for meat has gotten so high that “each year humans kill and cut

up 60,000,000,000 animals”(59:35-59:38, Arthus-Bertrand & Micheal Pitiots). Not only do they

kill the animals because they feel like they deserve to eat the meat but then they talk about how

they want meat but do not want to see animals being slaughtered, so what they do is close their

eyes. Pretend that the meat they are eating is not pig but steak or bacon that came from an

anonymous source. When this is said enough they make it seem like there was no life that existed

in the first place.

Although humans have been wrongfully doing animals and nature for thousands of years

it does not mean that there are not people attempting to make changes to the way we interact

with them. In order to move forward as a species the human race must look back on what it has

done not only to animals but the earth as a whole. Once this happens there will be space for

improvement and growth, because no matter what the world goes through it always resits.

Whether it be a meteor crashing into the earth, volcanoes erupting and lava flowing into cites,
 Felix 3

tsunamis, or earthquakes. It always holds its ground and works its way back up. There are

scientists and people who want to preserve the earth that create and maintain resuvars and zoos

were animals and nature have the ability to roam free without worry of being killed. All that is

needed from humans is to have more consideration and respect that was once had for other living

species. Doing this can have a monumental impact on the way the next generations live.

Animals and nature have been here for 350 billion years and if they could talk, they

would be able to give insight on how to survive while keeping harmony with the other species .

Since they can not people have to make their own decisions, and the fact that they often make the

wrong one is sad. Almost every species on this earth has a partnership with mother nature, other

animals, insects, or birds. The only“connection” humans have is that they eat all of them; this is a

problem and needs to be fixed. Being called a wild animal does not insinuate that you are a

barbarian or uncivilized it just means they live in the wild. Humans will have to understand that

just because animals and nature are different doesn't mean they are less worthy of life and

growth.
 Felix 4

Works Cited

“Terra”, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Micheal Pitiot, Cast Vanessa Paradis, Documentary, 2015,

Netflix