An Assault on the Amazon

    I am extremely passionate about the environment. I have a huge problem (as I'm sure most of you do) with selfish human beings depleting the grand and vast canopy of life you may know as the rainforest! Now, if you're not a big eco-freak like the rest of us, then perhaps this will hit a cord; humans are dying because their life depends solely on resources from the ever-shrinking rainforest and hundreds of animals and plant species are losing their homes and coming to the brink of extinction. The reason behind this heartless deforestation? Commercial housing, tourism, and farming land. Basically, it's a capitalist's world; it's all about the money. Brazil's government doesn't care about the devastating results their economic pursuits have thrust upon many natives that have lived off of this environment for generations. Every seconds  1.5 acres of rainforest are being destroyed. This TRUE fact seems impossible to believe/comprehend, but it is undeniable. "Nobody suspected that the forests could be destroyed. But in only 50 years, the impossible has come to pass: almost 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed and even more has been severely degraded." So if you're not a tree hugger, maybe the humane side of this will appeal to you. At the rate we're going now, the rainforest will be GONE by 2030, and trust me, you do not want this to happen. Not only does this mean thousands of animals and plants would become extinct, but it would completely uproot  the lives of thousands of Brazilian natives. Whats more important? Plants and  animals, or people?....People. What's more important, people or money?....still people. 
     The author of "An Assault on the Amazon" Leao Serva, appealed strongly to pathos and logos. He compares Brazil's refusal to allow their internal affairs to be influenced by outside forces concerning their right to strip and burn the remains of the tropical rainforest, to their refusal to allow abolitionists to interfere with internal affairs concerning the abolishment of slavery over a century ago. He painted the picture of a stubborn, wealth obsessed, cool, and indifferent government. That paired with the cold hard facts of deforestation was enough to outrage and stir up emotion in readers. He sure managed to stir up some emotion in me! 


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