“Healthy Taker” Culture

Jeremiah Pope
P/AP Geography
Professor Salber

May 22. 2017

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 The book “Ishmael” is a philosophical novel written by Daniel Quinn. The book details

the many flaws in taker society (human society). The main character is a gorilla (Ishmael) who

telepathically speaks to a man. He considers the man his pupil and teaches him that human

society is flawed and is doomed to fail. Ishmael says that human society is a taker society. In the

book a “taker” is living thing that exempts itself from many laws and thinks they are better than

all others. The “others” are leavers who did not exempt themselves from laws. They are usually

destroyed by takers. The way taker society is structured always to leads to extinction for takers

and leavers. Due to this reason Ishmael says human society is doomed to fail. Ishmael's believes

that human society cannot become a leaver society. Based on Ishmael's teachings the only way to

save human society is for them to evolve into a “healthy taker society. Technology is a way that

humans can help change society to a healthy taker society (Ishmael).

The reason taker society is doomed to fail is because they run out of food. To become a

taker a certain organism must exempt themselves for the law of the food chain. Humans (takers)

let nothing eat them. This causes the taker population to skyrocket, while the leavers’ population

decrease, and finally they go extinct. This means there is less competition for food, which means

more food for the takers. Takers are the only ones to practice agriculture which means more food

for takers. However the taker population never stops growing. Eventually takers run out of space

to grow food. This causes massive extinction for takers. Human society is structured this way.

Human society has been doomed from the start (Ishmael).

There are 7,505,461,993 people in the world (worldometer). Logic suggest that it is

impossible for everyone in the world to become a leaver. Based on Ishmael’s teachings, human

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society must evolve into a “healthy” taker society. A “healthy” taker society is one that exempts

themselves from certain laws, practices agriculture, but does not destroy themselves.

To truly become a”healthy” taker society humans must mainly focus on correctly using

technology. Creating practical eco-friendly cars would tremendously benefit human society.

According to the EPA, motor vehicles collectively cause 75 percent of carbon monoxide

pollution in the U.S. Henry Ford created the Model T in 1908 ( Biography.com). The car

business has boomed in the U.S. and the world. There are around 243,023,485 registered

vehicles in the United States ( How stuff works Auto). This invention provide quick and easy

transport. However they release pollution and carbon emissions which pollute the environment.

It would be impossible to make everyone give up their car. Human society needs to figure out

how to create cars that are affordable, reliable, but do not emit pollution. People have created

electric cars that do not use gasoline thus not polluting the environment. However these electric

cars cannot drive far and they are expensive. A 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV cost $37,495. While a

2017 Chevy Malibu cost $22,555. A 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV can go 238 mi on a single charge,

while a 2017 Chevy Malibu can go 351.00 mi on a single fuel up (Chevrolet). For electric cars to

become mainstream, people must make them affordable and reliable. Companies such as Tesla

have created electric cars with large ranges however they sacrifice affordability when trying to

improve these cars. The people concerned with the state of our world and environment need to

make a push to make electric cars mainstream. In a ‘healthy” society electric cars must be main

stream.

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 Energy is what powers the modern world and human society. From light bulbs to cars,

energy powers everything. Modern society uses oil and coal to provide energy, which destroys

the environment by releasing pollution. To truly become a “healthy” taker society, humans

must find an abundance of clean energy. Solar, hydro, and wind power provide clean energy, but

coal and oil are still widely used (EPA blog). Power plants are usually powered by oil, coal

natural gas, wind, water, and even nuclear power. Though power plants use mostly clean

sources for energy, in a “healthy” taker society fossils fuels are not used. A small of amount of

fossil fuel burning can damage the environment. In addition fossil fuels will vanish in the future

due to overuse. To make up the void humans must develop technology to increase the energy

production from wind, hydro, and solar power. Nuclear can produce tons of energy. A nuclear

power plant is able produce around 3,937 megawatts of energy (eia). The only problem is the

fact that nuclear power is dangerous. One accident and their can be a massive explosion that

sends tons of radiation, which is harmful to humans and the environment. This is the reason

there is not many nuclear plants in the world. Instead of governments funding projects for

massive nuclear weapons, they should create projects to create a safer nuclear power plant. In a

“healthy” taker society no fossil fuels are used and nuclear power is completely safe.

Humans need to develop technology that increases productivity of food production. Food

production is major piece in taker society. Agriculture is what separates takers and makes them

dominant over the leavers. However it is also a fundamental issue with taker society. Takers

practice agriculture which destroys the leavers, because the takers how more time to create

weapons, start disease and etc.

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They no longer have to worry about finding food 24/7 because they grow and store food . This
cause the population to rise. This means food production must increase. Eventually humans will

run out of space to grow food and then run out of food, destroying the whole population.

Acclaimed scientist Stephen Hawking believes humans have 100 years to find a new planet

before extinction (News Week). A reason for extinction would be overpopulation which would

cause worldwide famines. To try and stop rapid population growth people need to create more

practical and reliable contraceptives. Humans also need to develop technology that helps them

make use out of every inch of agricultural land they have. An innovation that would benefit

modern society would be greenhouses in the middle of urban living areas. Instead of isolating

farming to rural areas people should build greenhouses in urban areas to produce more food.

Pesticides that do not harm crops or people but keep away all pests would be a great innovation.

Pest destroy around 10 to 16% of crops a year (Science daily). That is 10 to 16 % percent less

food in the world. In order to become a “healthy” taker society takers must have reliable and

practical contraceptives and innovations that allow efficient food production.

Taker societies are fatally flawed. Ishmael said that human society is taker thunderbolt.

“[They were in the air but not in flight.” Human society believes that they are succeeding

(flying) by practicing agriculture, but instead they are dooming (falling) themselves. The

“healthy” taker society movement would have to begin with people who want a change. Those

people would have to reach out to scientist, politicians, and whoever else will listen. A mode to

contact these people would be social media. If people truly want a change they would have to

reach out to the scientist, politicians, and etc on social media and tell them their message. They

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would also need to hold protest for change, and even develop things such as reliable, affordable

electric cars themselves. If the scientist, politicians and etc would listen, humans would have a

chance in becoming a “healthy” taker society.

Taker (Human) society has been doomed since the start. The only way for the human

species to continue, while preserving their current way of life is to become a “healthy” taker

society. This is modern society’s only option for survival.

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Works Cited
Biography.com Editors. "Henry Ford." Bio, A&E Television Networks, Accessed 21 2017.

Chevrolet Cars, Trucks, SUVs, Crossovers and Vans, General Motors,

www.chevrolet.com/. Accessed 21 May 2017.

Editorial staff. "Spread of Crop Pests Threatens Global Food Security As Earth Warms."

ScienceDaily, Accessed 21 May 2017.

Goffman, Joseph. "Coal | The EPA Blog." U.S. EPA Web Server, blog.epa.gov/blog/tag/coal/.

Accessed 21 May 2017.

How Much Electricity Does a Nuclear Power Plant Generate?" U.S. Energy Information

Administration (EIA), EIA, Accessed 21 May 2017.

HowStuffWorks Auto, HowStuffWorks, auto.howstuffworks.com/. Accessed 21 May 2017.

Osborne, Hannah. "Stephen Hawking Says We Need to Find New Planets to Live on."

Newsweek. Newsweek LLC, 19 May 2017. Web. 21 May 2017.

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. Distributed by Paw Prints/Baker & Taylor, 2011.

World Population Clock: 7.5 Billion People (2017) - Worldometers." Worldometers - Real Time

World Statistic, Accessed 2017