Although I've resisted being a fatalist most of my life, the conflict between preservation of the natural world and the inexorable march of man-made progress seems to be an insoluble one. And the most disheartening aspect of this insoluble conflict? Choices I routinely make that land squarely on the side of progress despite claims that the preservation of the natural world is sacred to me.
It's easy to label others as hypocrites when they say one thing and do the opposite. It's also intellectually lazy doing so if we don't routinely examine our own choices and see how well they line up with what we claim are our values. For example, if the natural world is that sacred to me, how to reconcile my use of an automobile? I let myself off the hook occasionally because I've embraced the use of a hybrid vehicle. I also choose often to walk or ride my bike locally in place of driving. But in this instance, progress - embodied by the automobile with its demonstrably negative effect on the environment - clearly has the upper hand over the natural world. Like many people, my way of coping with this disconnect - as well as others that plague me in the preservation vs. progress dichotomy - is to rationalize. I live in the modern world, not the horse-and-buggy era, automobiles are an inescapable part of life, blah, blah, blah. Who am I kidding, aside from myself? Inescapable?
Meanwhile, I can hear the realists/pragmatists/empiricists from here in the cheap seats. That chorus screams: Get real, Pat; find some middle ground, tree hugger; get out of the way of man's dominion, dreamer. Though I haven't yet surrendered, each uncomfortable compromise I make to accommodate progress at the expense of the loss of more of the natural world hurts a little more than the last.
I can relate to this. My concern is less my automobile and more the use of plastics. I recycle most of it but not all. I also reduce my use of plastic as much as is possible. And also making sure to collect my compost and take it to the organic farm at Fulfill since composting is impractical in my yard. I also give to non-profits that do good work. But is that enough? It feels a bit overwhelming at times. I also don't view it as progress vs preservation. I just haven't set it up in my mind as such a dichotomy. For me it is more about doing all I can to save the planet. And lastly, there are efforts that I would consider progress that fall in line with also embracing preservation such as use of renewable energy. Those should be prioritized.
ReplyDeleteInes; Thanks for the comment. In my view, that wondering about "is it enough?" and the feeling of being overwhelmed are frequently linked to the progress paradigm many of us have begrudgingly come to accept vs. demanding that the natural world must be taken into consideration more regularly in that equation. That's where I see an insoluble dichotomy.
DeleteHello, Pat. Some very points are made in your post. Ones that I can understand and, oftentimes, give myself a break for ... violating (?) them. I get that cars are pollution machines. There's no getting around that. But at the same time, there are few options for the most part. And I get that there are electric vehicles that run clean. But the work involved in creating what is necessary for these vehicles can create just as much, if not more, pollutants. We recycle all the time. But I have read that there is such a small percentage that is actually recycled from all that is collected. Risking sounding too naive about this, but if everyone, everywhere did their part ... Funny how this statement shouldn't be that difficult yet, for some reason, it is ...
ReplyDeleteBe well,
Bob
Bob; Yeah, if everyone ...When I go down that road, I usually end up discouraged more than anything else. Thanks for the comment.
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