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Jean Cronon The Trouble With Wilderness

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As of today, in American society, culture has developed a preconceive construct, labeling nature. To many individuals, the wilderness is a destination or place, one can visit in order to view the last remaining spots on earth that are “pure.” These designated places have, therefore, not been infected by human civilization. In American culture, wilderness is seen as an experience where one can go out and hike through the mountains and families can go camping in order to experience what is is like to be “out in the wild.” According to both, Cronon in “The trouble with Wilderness” and Guha in “How much Should a Person Consume,” there is a distinguishable misconnect between society and the idea of wilderness. For instance, Cronon states that
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In his 1995 essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon declares that “the time has come to rethink wilderness” (69). From the practice of agriculture to masculine frontier fantasies, Cronon argues that Americans have historically defined wilderness as an “island,” separate from their polluted urban industrial homes (69). He traces the idea of wilderness throughout American history, asserting that the idea of untouched, pristine wilderness is a harmful fantasy. By idealizing wilderness from a distance, he argues that people justify the destruction of less sublime landscapes and aggravate environmental conflict.

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