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I have no interest in going back to tribal living, but I'm not presumptuous enough to think that tribal members want to give up the pressures of tribal living a

I have no interest in going back to tribal living, but I'm not presumptuous enough to think that tribal members want to give up the pressures of tribal living and replace them with the pressures of modern life. We have no uncontacted natives in the USA AFAIK, we have Natives that had their population decimated (through disease and outright war) and lost their land, then we parked the survivors on isolated reservations in a world that's nothing at all like they once thrived in. There is an alternative, it's just not economically viable or socially popular, but it would be to quarantine much of the Amazon and prevent modern humans from moving in.

letitgo12345 9y ago
Well the alternative is not better for most of the rest of humanity.
- Johnny555 9y ago
  Humanity benefits from continued mining, deforestation, and development of the Amazon rainforest? Sure, some humans (and corporations) benefit, but is there a benefit to humanity in general?
Johnny555 9y ago
Actually, it wouldn't be as outrageously expensive as I thought -- some sites say an acre of rainforest can be bought and protected for $10/acre. [1] The entire Amazon rainforest is 2 million square miles or around 1.2B acres. So you could buy the whole thing for around $12B. Or about half the price of building a wall between the USA and Mexico [2] that many people see as unneeded and unwanted. [1] https://www.rainforesttrust.org/10-for-1/ https://www.rainforesttrust.org/10-for-1/ [2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wall-exclusive/exclusive-trump-border-wall-to-cost-21-6-billion-take-3-5-years-to-build-internal-report-idUSKBN15O2ZN https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wal...
- schoen 9y ago
  When I talked to some Brazilians about the American enthusiasm for buying the rainforest in order to protect it from deforestation, they were pretty concerned about how well the property rights in the purchased land could be protected. They pointed out that there is a whole lot of poaching going on in the Amazon and even in Brazilian parks. The Rainforest Trust that you mentioned sounds like they're donating the land to national parks, which seems like a great solution because there will be forest rangers and so on, yet my Brazilian friends were concerned about how effectively they can deter poaching, especially in remote areas. I don't have a clear sense of this but I wonder if it might provide a greater marginal benefit at present to pay for more protection of existing "protected" areas, compared to purchasing additional land.
- squeaky-clean 9y ago
  Thanks for sharing this. I'm looking into Rainforest Trust now and they see to be one of the most credible and highly rated charity organizations (it's always so hard to make sure your donations aren't just bring taken advantage of).

letitgo12345 9y ago

Well the alternative is not better for most of the rest of humanity.

Johnny555 9y ago
Humanity benefits from continued mining, deforestation, and development of the Amazon rainforest? Sure, some humans (and corporations) benefit, but is there a benefit to humanity in general?

Johnny555 9y ago

Actually, it wouldn't be as outrageously expensive as I thought -- some sites say an acre of rainforest can be bought and protected for $10/acre. [1] The entire Amazon rainforest is 2 million square miles or around 1.2B acres. So you could buy the whole thing for around $12B. Or about half the price of building a wall between the USA and Mexico [2] that many people see as unneeded and unwanted. [1] https://www.rainforesttrust.org/10-for-1/ https://www.rainforesttrust.org/10-for-1/ [2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wall-exclusive/exclusive-trump-border-wall-to-cost-21-6-billion-take-3-5-years-to-build-internal-report-idUSKBN15O2ZN https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wal...

schoen 9y ago
When I talked to some Brazilians about the American enthusiasm for buying the rainforest in order to protect it from deforestation, they were pretty concerned about how well the property rights in the purchased land could be protected. They pointed out that there is a whole lot of poaching going on in the Amazon and even in Brazilian parks. The Rainforest Trust that you mentioned sounds like they're donating the land to national parks, which seems like a great solution because there will be forest rangers and so on, yet my Brazilian friends were concerned about how effectively they can deter poaching, especially in remote areas. I don't have a clear sense of this but I wonder if it might provide a greater marginal benefit at present to pay for more protection of existing "protected" areas, compared to purchasing additional land.
squeaky-clean 9y ago
Thanks for sharing this. I'm looking into Rainforest Trust now and they see to be one of the most credible and highly rated charity organizations (it's always so hard to make sure your donations aren't just bring taken advantage of).