Environment Damage in Mwanza, Africa

Xhorxho Gjoka 2125771
Introduction to Politics - Assignment

Title: “How would the environmentalist movement evaluate/criticize the elements of liberal utilitarian approach to and capitalist exploitation of environment depicted in the film?”        

        The documentary is filmed in Western Africa, Tanzania. The city is Mwanza. The documentary depicts the fishing acticity done in lake Victoria of Mwanza and the foreign influence. Also the lives of all the people living in Mwanza and how they survive are shown in the movie.
        Almost all men on Mwanza work in the fish industry. The fish they catch in the Lake is exported to Europe, Russia, Ucraine, etc. Unbelievable amounts of fish are catched and exported every day. This specie of fish they hunt and export is not a natural habitator of the Lake. Somebody had thrown the fish in the lake. This specie reproduced and considering its size and race, this specie ate all the other fish making the lake something industrial and a mine of gold. Environmentalist movement would identify this as a destruction of natural ecosystem and extinction of pristine wilderness. The natural habitate was diverse, and now it has became a house of only one race, serving the fishermen and their buyers purpose. This particular nature had been manipulated by humans.
        Another critic from Environmentalists would be against the mass export that goes out of Mwanza every day. The cargo aircrafts came empty and left full with fish every day. Environmenalists assert that the food consumption and production must be local. The population does not have the opportunity to even eat the fish they hunt every day. They simply cannot afford it. The product of their own city is being exported to enter the menus of restaurants in Europe. When the fishing reserve manager reserve is asked that what local people eat, he says that people import food.
        The whole city relies on fishing. Every cent that the Mwanza men win is provided by the fishing industry. When people are asked for their opinion regarding this mass and unlimited fishing, they simply reply that it is a good thing. It keeps people working. It gets people a job. They consider nature theirs to exploit and to profit from her. Environmentalists would consider this a pure example of homocentric perspective. The whole population is dominating the lake and using it as a profit, also the foreign importers are stimulating this never ending hunt. Unfortunately the complexity of that ecosystem is lost. The Victoria Lake has become a tool in the hand of fish Industry and not a beautiful lake inhabited with many exotic fish like it used to be.
        To continue with, the action of people clearly shows disrespect for the nature. They feel no consciousness for the fish skeletons, they are piled everywhere. I see children playing with the dead fish. Fishing has actually got them a job, but has left them poor. The foreign buyers are exploiting them.
        The desire of Europe for economic growth and the sky rocketing consumerism in the developed world has caused the need of importing goods from resourceful places like Africa. This phenomena has degraded in a nature exploitation with no limits in Africa. The need for money of African people has made them insult the ecosystems they live by using them for money, causing a resource depletion in a large scale.