Love Canal and Existentialism - Essay Example

College Love Canal and Existentialism Existentialism is a twentieth century approach that emphasizes on the primacy of individual existence as a human being over any other presumed natural essence (Warnock 34) Proponents of existentialism, (Sartre, Jaspers, Kierkegaard, Beauvoir, Camus, and Heidegger), supposes that the fact that an individuals’ existence as a human being involves both his/her unqualified freedom to make of himself/herself of whatever he/she will and that awesome responsibility of employing the given freedom as required, without the anxiety towards escaping into the self-deception or inauthenticity of any sort of conventional rules for behavior, even though the project may turn out absurd (Warnock 43). According to Sartre, “all human actions are equivalent and all are on principle doomed to failure, and it is only in our decisions that we are important” (Warnock 43). The key proposition of the Existentialism is that essence is preceded with existence. This implies that, what is more important to consider for an individual is the fact that she or he as a person is responsible and independently acting, and conscious being (existence) rather than the labels, stereotypes, definitions, roles, and other preconceived categories fitting the individual (essence) (Thomas 23). Basically, what this means is that the actual life of a person is what constitutes his or her true essence instead of other arbitrarily attributable essence used by other people to define her or him. Therefore, going by existentialism, a human being, through his or her own consciousness creates his or her own values which determine a meaning to his or her life. Though existentialism has its strong point, other approaches refute it. Generally, existentialism approach can offer practical and useful solutions to psychological problems, it overemphasizes three different themes namely: meaningless, isolation and death. Proponents of these approach then place (Thomas 42). Existentialism alongside the ethics arising out of it can be such an attractive package. The fact that in existentialism one can create his or her actions, shows that this approach can give a person a good moral base line. However, it does not imply that it necessarily does that, as it has an assortment of belief and tenets but fails to involve detailed code of ethics (Warnock 46). Each individual is left to work the issue of ethics himself or herself but within the tenets of existential through system. This gives an individual a lot of latitude to decide what is wrong and right. However, it is worth noting that some individuals may reach a spurious notion of what is right and wrong. This is one of the key weaknesses of this ethics. The second weakness is that existentialism ethics is tied up with other systems (Thomas 43). This way, it can lead those who adhere to it into wrongheaded decisions. Existential principles are entwined with established, detailed, and complex ethical systems (Thomas 25). The third weakness is that existentialism is hard to be interpreted by many people. The result of which is that few people end up using its principles as their ethical guidelines The Love Canal is the Niagara Falls chemical disaster (Brook 3). This town was not arguably known for what it was designed for “love” but for being the largest chemical disaster in North America. As existentialism will have it, William T. Love had envisioned creating a town near Niagara Falls, which will run off hydroelectricity. His plan was that the hydropower would be supplied to this town by running these canal from the upper Niagara Rivers to the lower part of this river (Brook 5). Mr. Love’s plan was to turn this canal into a shipping route with a model city, which surrounded the canal. However, this did not happen. This is because the “Panic of 1893” caused the financiers of the project to pull out their money. Mr. Love went broke which meant the end of these project (Brook 8). The aftermath of Mr. Love’s dream was the abandoned of the trench which was one mile long, 40 feet deep, and 50 feet wide. While searching for a dumping zone for their chemical waste, Hooker Chemical Company possessed this land and started dumping their chemical wastes (Brook 9). Contrary to what Mr. Love had envisioned, the Love Canal was turned into the worst environmental disaster, in the history of America. On one hand, it can be argued that It seemed inconceivable in 1892 that Mr. Love’s plan will dramatically fall apart. He was a charismatic man driven by hope and filled with brochures of promises and other hyperbole (Brook14). If principles of existentialism are anything to go by, then it is expected that Mr. Love would be successful at creating what he wanted to make basing on his choice and action. Certainly, Love’s wish was creating a town near Niagara Falls, which was to run off hydroelectricity. However, this was never to be considering uncontrollable variable beyond his control. This means that existentialism principles do not always hold true as far as an individual decision are concerned as there are other variables that come into play to determine a person’s destiny. It is ironical that Love’s envisioned “most perfect city in existence” turned into a home to a disaster. Proponents of existentialism belief that everything that happens in life is basically a personal choice and that the ultimate goal is the self-fulfillment (Thomas 31). In William Love’s case, he had chosen to create the most perfect city in existence. Going by principles of existentialism, his ultimate goal was self-fulfillment. However, this never came to be as other factors such as the financial crisis, and change of mind of the core investors stopped him from achieving his ultimate goal. However, worth noting is that despite his failure to achieve his lifelong fulfilment, his decision and action still defines him. The fact that he conceived the idea of “the most perfect city” is in itself self-fulfilling and in the spirit of existentialism his choice defined his destiny, and it still shapes the existence and morality of other Americans who still hold the idea that his belief about the Love Canal shall come to pass. Arguably, the gradual resettlement in the love canal site confirms his belief. A lot has been done in the Canal. In fact, in 1990s some parts of the Canal area was declared safe again, which now makes up the neighborhood referred to as Black Creek Village. With the announcement that certain clean up goals had been realized, the Canal area was removed from the list of those areas to benefit from Superfund. However, much of the area itself, still remains suctioned off by the chain-link fence raising the question, “Will Mr. William Love’s envisioned city come into existence”. It has also been reported that later Hooker Chemical Company possessed this land and started dumping their chemical wastes (Brook 14). The company later sold the land to a school, which was in urgent need of more space for classrooms. When informed about the foreseeable chemical dangers of radioactive chemicals, the Board of Education constructed a new elementary school. This prompted parents to bring their children to school with 100 homes being erected within the surrounding area (Brook 10). Residents of Niagara Falls were aware that the land had been used as a damping zone for chemical wastes. However, no body cautioned them about the possible dangers. Unsurprisingly, strange substances and odors were reported by residents of the area especially those residents with the basement. Soon Phosphorus and other dangerous chemical substances made their way into the surface and children within the schoolyard were exposed to these toxic substances. In 1976, record-breaking blizzard and water from heavy rains caused a lot of chemicals to move to the surface (Brook 12). This ended up contaminating the entire neighborhood. This followed years of high rates of miscarriages and stillborn births. Moreover, many babies who were born that time had birth defects. This clearly indicates that as far as life choices are concerns, existentialism holds true only to a certain extent. In existentialism, it is believed that human beings often create themselves through their will and choices. In the context of the adversely affected children, the choice was not with them. They are instead victims of other people’s decisions. Their parents’ choice to settle in this filed without putting into consideration the impacts of the chemical wastes dumped in such fields. The school board members, as well as the responsible industry, had a stake in the children’s’ suffering. However, they are not the bearers of the brand. In the same vain, it can be argued that as postulated in existentialism, an individual’s choices does shape and affect the existence, as well as morality of all humans. This means that an individual’s will and choices carry the weight of creating his or her morality, as well as the society in which he or she is part of. Although it is not clear whether Hooker had knowledge about the potential effects of its chemical wastes, it decision to burry such chemical wastes in areas settled by people and later selling the land to the school shows how in view of existentialism an individual’s decision can affect him or her and the society around. This case shows clearly the applicability of existentialism in people lives. In this respect, there are various incidences, which show that existentialism had practical applicability in this case. In the first instance, Mr. William Love envisioned a city made him choose to start the project, which was never completed. However, it is from his choice to construct a Canal, which ultimately turned into dumping zone of chemical wastes, which in turn became disastrous to the innocent children. In the second incident, it is the choice of Hooker Chemical Company to purchase land to dump the chemical wastes that later made it be taken in court to answer charges and pay for the damage caused. In the third incident, the school choice to purchase land from Hooker Chemical Company without considering the dangers of such chemicals, ultimately resulted into the suffering of the community in totality. On the other hand, children who were passive member but part of the wider society had to bear the pain of other people’s the wrong choice. This clearly shows the practicability of existentialism. It shows that people should make decisions after considering the wider picture of how it shall impact on the society as a whole. Work Cited Brook, Marisa. The Tragedy of the Love Canal. Web accessed Dec 1st 2013 < http://www.damninteresting.com/the-tragedy-of-the-love-canal> Thomas, Flynn. Existentialist. New York: Sterling Publishing Compnay. Inc, 2009. Print. Warnock, Mary. Existentialism. New York Oxford U.P, 1999. Print. Read More