Moving

The pioneers, cowboys, and the explorers were and still are considered the heroes of America.  To constantly move and discover new places is an ideal situation that many wish to be in.  However, in Sander's essay, "Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World," Sanders counters the positive views of Rushdie on moving, and affirms his position that people who stay put care for their community and the environment that surrounds them.  

Throughout his essay, Sanders using a mocking and almost condescending tone towards Rushdie's view.  Through words to make travelers seem barbaric.  He also lists several examples in which travelers and explorers devastated the environment in which they moved to.  For example, he points out the effects of the Spanish explorers on the Native Americans.  He shows that the Spanish conquistadors brought smallpox and nearly killed all of the Natives, which cared and tended the land.  Further, he mocks Rushdie by incorporating Rushdie's style into his own work.  Through all this mockery, Sanders clearly makes his view the stronger:  that those who do not move care more for the environment they live in, and they are not reckless and harmful like the explorers of the past.

I agree with Sanders:  By remaining in one place, people can protect and improve the places around them and help enhance the community that they live in.  People who constantly move do not feel the same sense of protectiveness over the land they live as compared to someone who has lived there for 20 years.  Its this sense of protectiveness that can become a positive force in any community.