Rachel Carson Pesticide

Earth is the only home we know. It is our source of food and shelter, allowing its inhabitants to thrive. Without it, life will cease to exist; and yet with the way humanity is treating it, our planet will not survive for very long. For years, synthetic chemicals have been polluting the environment and slowly killing it. In order to stop the blatant use of these chemicals, efforts have been put forth and it all started with Silent Spring. In her work, Rachel Carson presented the horrors of pesticides and how they are irreversibly damaging our environment. By shifting the world’s connotation of pesticides and DDT from one that praised it, to one that is cautious and understands their harmful effects, Carson created an environmental movement

She needed to sway the opinions everyday people in order to challenge the pesticide industry. To do this, Carson explained how insecticides are created and why they are so dangerous. She stated, “…insects, in a triumphant vindication of Darwin’s principle of the survival of the fittest, have evolved super races immune to the particular insecticide used, hence a deadlier one has always to be developed – and then a deadlier one than that.” (Carson, 742). These chemicals need to be deadly in order for them to work; raising that point made people question how dangerous these substances are in actuality. Even if the environment could take on DDT, the magnitude of its use was so high that nothing could adapt to it. “To adjust to these chemicals would require time on the scale that is nature’s; it would require not merely the years of a man’s life but the life of generations…” (Carson, 741). However, one of the biggest questions Carson brought attention to was why was the public allowing corporations making profit from these pesticides, to continue use without regulation. She said, “I do contend that we have put poisonous and biologically potent chemicals indiscriminately into the hands of persons largely or wholly ignorant of their potentials for harm.” (Carson, 745). Those who produced DDT were making such a large profit that ethics did not matter. They did know the consequences

Not only were people now educated on the matter, they were standing up for what they thought was ethically right. The public learned to not take pesticides and chemicals at face value and blindly believe those in power. The whole situation was incredibly foolish and Carson established that. “How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by a method that contaminated the entire environment and brought the threat of disease and death even to their own kind?” (Carson, 742). Businesses only wanted to stop insects from growing and had a complete disregard for any damaging effects that were created in order to reach their goal. Carson even knew that these corporations would try and sway the public even after being told the facts. “When the public protests, confronted with some obvious evidence of damaging results of pesticide applications, it is fed little tranquilizing pills of half truth.” (Carson, 745). She saw past efforts for change be thwarted so she made it very obvious why the public did not know the reality of the situation. By enlightening others and giving people knowledge to fight, Carson was able to become the forefront of a movement whose effects are still seen today.

The protection of the environment is a neglected but very important need in life. By altering the views of others and educating the public, Carson was able to create a paradigm shift in how people should