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Humans are always trying to make things better, faster, or nicer, but there are somethings,
like the worlds ecosystems that should just be left alone. Manipulating the worlds ecosystem to
benefit humans ends up doing more bad than good. Although most of the time humans have good
should just be left alone and restored to its formal glory. In the book Monkeys are made of
Chocolate there are a series of essays Burgers vs Biodiversity in the Mangrove, The Good
Guys and the Bad Guys, Buffalo Herds, Beer and Disease Free World, Viagra Brings New
Hope for Vanishing Marine Turtles and The Cards Came Tumbling Down written by Jack
Ewing and a foreword written by Danial Quinn, that are about the ways that humans have
damaged the environment while also expressing that humans have the power to change and fix
In The Cards Came Tumbling down, Jack Ewing compares life on earth to a pyramid
made of cards. He explains how he realized that the pyramid was stable as he warbled the table
and removed cards from the top. But noticed that certain cards would cause a large disruption or
even cause the pyramid to collapse. This can be seen in life on earth, if we put the smallest oldest
organisms at the bottom and the newer bigger organisms at the top. Removing large animals
from the top wont cause much of a change. However, the pyramid of life is beginning to sag
(Jack Ewing 187) because of other human activities, for example the destruction or habitats and
ecosystems, chemicals and waste pollution, and global warming. Ewing gives a choice, to
continue living as we are and risk suffering the same fate as the parasite that kills its host, or to
go to work to restore the damage caused by past mistakes and learn to live in harmony with
nature.
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At times, the things that are seen as minute, useless or as a burden, can have the largest
impact if removed. In Burgers vs Biodiversity in the Mangrove Jack Ewing talks about how
mangroves were seen as ugly and useless. One person even suggested they should be filled in
with dirt. However, when he finally saw one in person, he saw the complete opposite of what he
had heard What I saw and experienced was so dramatically opposedthat I wondered if I
might be looking at something else (Jack Ewing 178). Ewing, quickly realized the importance
of the mangrove, as it was home to many species of animals and insects, Never again would I
entertain the idea of converting this bubbling caldron of life into the cattle pasture. A similar
occurrence is explained in The Good Guys and the Bad Guys where Jack Ewing talks about
the importance of predators. After a large number of bird species disappeared in the Barro
Colorado Island, it was discovered that the extinction of large predators, such as pumas and
jaguars, lead to the increase of their prey species, such as coatis and raccoons. Both of these
species eat birds eggs which is what caused the disappearance of the birds. Predators are needed
to have a well-balanced ecosystem as Jack Ewing says, Let the predators do their thing. Their
In Buffalo Herds, Beer and Disease Free World Jack Ewing talks about how important
natural selection most people that survived having malaria as children where immune to it, as it
has been working for years. However modern medicine declared war on malaria and created a
drug called dichloro -diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) to kill off all mosquitos carrying Malaria.
DDT helped for a while but then it created a super mosquito, Mosquitoes achieved close to 100
percent immunity (Jack Ewing 53). Afterwards, the people who had immunity to malaria lost it,
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and birds, insects, humans and the environment were harmed because of the use of DDT. In
There is still time to fix the damage that has been done to the environment, as explained
in the foreword by Danial Quinn. Quinn stresses the importance of raising awareness and talks
about domino effect. Books like his Ishmael, The ecology of commerce by Paul Hawken and
monkeys are made of chocolate are examples of dominos that fall and change the perspective of
one person, then they become a domino that affects someone else. Jack Ewings changed mind is
what created Hacienda Baru national Wildlife Refuge, its examples like this that remind Quinn
Slowly but surely humans are starting to understand the worlds ecosystem is already
perfectly balanced and is no need of alteration. This can be seen in Jack Ewings essays as he
shares personal experience and knowledge of the environment. We learn the importance of
maintaining ecosystems such as the mangrove and the need we have for predators to maintain
balance. Jack Ewing shows us how some changes we make can be devastating for example the
creation of DDT, while others can be positive for example the life change that Juan Ramon and
ASANA are doing to help turtles. Danial Quinn, expresses that as long as we have people like
Jack Ewing starting a domino effect there will be hope for the environment.
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Works Cited
Ewing, Jack. Monkeys are made of Chocolate. Colorado: Pixy Jack Press Inc., 2005. Print.
Quinn, Daniel. Foreword. Monkeys are made of Chocolate. By Jack Ewing. Colorado: Pixy Jack