Homeowner Forum / Construction / August 2005

The average "conserv"ative has great respect for nature, as long as
they can mine, drill, hunt, fish, drive, snowmobile or jet-ski in it.
The agenda has always been clear: nature has minimal value unless
people can take something from it, and that doesn't mean photographs.

When it comes to Man and nature, "conserv"atives have an interesting
way of interpreting the word "balance." They define balance as people
taking over more and more wilderness with a few token pieces spared in
each foray. An example is leaving 10 acres of park space in a new 1,000
acre subdivision. 990 acres get developed but those 10 acres are hailed
as a "victory" for preservationists who should be grateful a rare plant
or lizard wasn't wiped out. Accommodating more and more people is all
that really matters, or course.

The standard joke is to cut down 1,000 trees and call the development
"Whispering Pines" or "Green Oaks" when it should really be called
"Houses Unlimited" or "Growth-Addict Manor." Clever names are how we
kid ourselves that a semblance of balance still exists.

The net result of those apparent compromises is less wilderness and
more development, but that's the whole idea in our grow-forever pyramid
scheme economy. Finite land is treated as virtually infinite as long as
there's _some_ place on the horizon left to develop. A time when growth
will finally end is something developers never talk about. All they see
is money from the next acquisition, and the next, and the next...

The reason why the GNP (aka consumption) "must" never stop growing is a
mystery; unless we want the population to never stop growing? Making
the land ever more crowded is improving our quality of life? Never mind
that were not getting richer in real terms; just deeper in debt with
fancier toys. Chasing a fantasy of infinite wealth via mindless growth
has become the American way. Lots of big thinkers out there.

Actual balance between Man and nature would mean that for every 100
homes built, an equivalent 100 would be torn down somewhere to free up
wilderness. Or, for every mile of new paved road, an existing road
would become a dirt trail and eventually be masked by vegetation. But
that's not how it works.

There is NO balance, just more mindless growth each day, with
economists hailing it as a good thing because it keeps the sacred GNP
growing (for what ultimate purpose they can't say). Every time you get
happy over more housing-starts, be aware that nature's just lost
another round to overpopulation.

E.A.

http://enough_already.tripod.com/
If any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague.