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Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene


            After significant thought and analysis, I have determined that Roy Scranton's essay "Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene" would be appealing to the UTA community, but some revision would be recommended as the issue at hand may be viewed as pessimistic to some. Many readers are likely to find the piece interesting as it addresses the issues regarding humanity's heavy involvement in shaping the world we share today. The essay argues that due to scientific evidence pointing towards the fact that the planet is plunging towards its inevitable end, humanity's focus should not be on how to stop or save the planet anymore, but on how to deal with its impending death as well as facing whatever problems the present offers. As you can see, the article in question offers a controversial as well as relevant topic to many therefore making it a suitable addition to The Shorthorn. .
             Scranton supports his central claim and establishes his credibility by drawing information from his own personal experiences in order to provide his claim with a solid base. Not three years after witnessing the military "unleash the end of the world" on a city of six million, Scranton returned home only to witness the "shock and awe" brought about by Hurricane Katrina (Scranton 1). His time spent providing relief in post-Katrina New Orleans gave him a glimpse of an apocalyptic future. He mentions, "I saw the same chaos and urban collapse I'd seen in Baghdad, the same failure of planning and the same tide of anarchy The grim future I'd seen in Baghdad was coming home: not terrorism, not even W.M.D.'s, but a civilization in collapse" (Scranton 2) It is at this point that Scranton realizes that there's little difference between war and natural disasters as both have the power to completely disrupt infrastructure and throw civilization into chaos. So how does one come to terms with the inevitable? For Scranton, as well as anyone else I imagine, learning how to die is a bit of a process.


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