Aldo Leopold The Land Ethic Analysis

Aldo Leopold’s ‘The Land Ethic,” makes an attempt to appeal to the pathos of the audience. He urges man to use ethic not only for their satisfaction and needs, but to also apply ethics to the land where he says, “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” (204) Leopold is urging man to take care of our resources because we have a moral obligation to do so. Leopold continues to say that man has claimed to love the land and surroundings when asks, “…do we not already sing of our love for and obligation to the land of the free and the home of the brave?” (204) He is obviously peeved that in contrast, we are diminishing all the resources “without batting …show more content…
He explains that although we tend to be optimistic, no one really focuses on the “real future,” instead we only think about a quick solution which encompasses no more than “a score of years.” (219) In his example of coal, Pinchot states that man has a “habit if declaring certain of our resources inexhaustible,” and so there are no limits as to the mining of these resources. He continues his essay describing that man has a very selfish nature in their actions of land hunger instead of conservation. He points out that the forests have already begun to fail with all the need for more and more lumber and general deforestation practices, and when this happens, “the daily life of the average citizen will inevitably feel the pinch on every side.”(294) In his closing he makes a fair claim that we are entitled to take pride in our growth, but there needs to be some sort of regard for the future—and as a nation we need to be concerned about conserving to avoid our downfall like others who preceded