Disappearing Desert Summary

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Schipper’s Disappearing Desert addresses suburban sprawl, especially in the case of the Southwest, and especially the Phoenix metropolitan area. Low-density development causes land degradation and habitat loss all over America, and is particularly a problem in the West. Disappearing Desert discusses the problems with the spreading of development, while juxtaposing the viewpoints of Western culture with that of traditional Native American culture, especially that of the Salt River Pima Community located in the Phoenix Area. The Salt River Community is one that has experienced land once rural being developed around them, and continue to feel pressure to develop. In Disappearing Desert, the Salt River Community has beliefs central to their culture which are inconsistent with economic and urban development. Land should not be owned by any one person or people, land is everyone’s, both all people but also the land belongs to the wildlife. Their traditional view of land use is much …show more content…

I believe what Schipper described as the “Southwestern American dream” is the modern remainder of manifest destiny. In the pioneering days, the Western frontier was viewed as endless landscapes in need of taming. Many white ecologists viewed indigenous living as the “wrong way” to live. They viewed wilderness as “pristine” land, away and separate from human life and influence. Today we have started what’s called suburban sprawl. Suburbia began after World War II, when people who once lived in cities, moved toward the outskirts seeking more space for their family, a house and a yard away from the dirty inner city. In the 1950’s, the “American Dream” was born and formed around the idea of suburbia, and family cars became popular. As this idea spread, more and more families followed, and today it is viewed as normal, as we lose more and more natural area and

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