Jason+R.+-+Essay

The human experience, no matter where you live, is relatively the same.
 * Prompt:**


 * Essay:**

The above statement, when compared, contrasted, and examined within the confines of the countries of Japan, Egypt, Brazil, and the Philippines, is found to be invalid. The human experience is a truly unique one, compared to both other organisms on the planet, and to other humans. And while some humans can say they relate to other human’s experiences, there are some experiences that are simply too different for comparison.

First world countries like Japan are wealthy and advanced enough that their biggest concerns are on a larger scale, tackling concerns such as climate change while still being able to focus on issues back at home. Japan is industrious, creating goods and inventing technologies for use around the globe. Because of this, air and water pollution are among their challenges. The size of the country also pays a key role; large cities like Tokyo are cramped to the point that it is several degrees hotter inside the city itself than the actual temperature for that day. And yet, the Japanese are dealing with the space that they have and are creating solutions to deal with it, like building gardens on the tops of skyscrapers to reduce the heat.

And from heat, comes more heat. Egypt, like Japan, also contains industry. Their brick-making industry have been making bricks for centuries, using the same general methods every year. The fuel used in production, however, was a horrible source of greenhouse gases. In recent years, though, the industry has begun to switch to natural gas, which is cheaper and produces better brick. Their reasons may be economic, but the switch also happens to be much better than the environment. But Egypt has a problem larger than air: water. Egypt’s ever-growing population is all mostly centered on the Nile, the country’s only river. In a land so arid, clean water is a major need and priority, both for drinking and agriculture. New filtration facilities are being built, but until they are operational, there’s only so much that people can do.

Too little comes from too much. The Philippines, being an archipelago in the Pacific, suffer from continuous typhoons, which lead to widespread flooding. The floodwater can get deep, and many homes cars can be greatly damaged. However, flooding is not the least of their issues. Deforestation is a major issue in the Philippines, where coastal mangrove trees have been removed for the sake of filling in the coast to make more land to build on. Rainforests, which used to be widespread over the Philippines, have also been cut down to a fraction of their former glory.

Where one falls, more may fall elsewhere. Brazil’s defining geographical landmarks, the Amazon River and the Amazon Rain Forest, are under attack, and have been for years. Illegal logging has been chipping away at the forest for the sake of farmers wanting cheap land and loggers wanting the lumber to sell on the world market. Of course, Brazil has been fighting it every step of the way, with limited success. At the same time, Brazil has been making plans to place dams along the Amazon River, planning on using it as a source of hydro-electric power.

As seen above, each of these four countries have vastly different problems. And while some of them may overlap, the overall picture is that each country stands on its own in terms of environment. While the human experience is, in part, made of the sum of individual experiences, these experiences are simply too unique to be called the same.

