[SheikYarbhouti]

Do yourself a favor and take 15 minutes to read this essay by Wendell Berry in the May issue of Harper's. It deals with the cultural impact of the mass self-delusion of "limitlessness" that characterizes modern life. It's nothing we don't already know, but this man has an infectious way with words, and it's great to see somebody paint the Big Picture so eloquently. Quality stuff.


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')ur national faith so far has been: "There's always more." Our true religion is a sort of autistic industrialism. People of intelligence and ability seem now to be genuinely embarrassed by any solution to any problem that does not involve high technology, a great expenditure of energy, or a big machine. Thus an X marked on a paper ballot no longer fulfills our idea of voting. One problem with this state of affairs is that the work now most needing to be done -- that of neighborliness and caretaking -- cannot be done by remote control and the greatest power on the largest scale. A second problem is that the economic fantasy of limitlessness in a limited world calls fearfully into question the value of our monetary wealth, which does not reliably stand for the real wealth of land, resources, and workmanship but instead wastes and depletes it.

[Ludi]

Good old Wendell Berry.

[mos6507]

I think the unwashed masses should read this stuff, but these sorts of manifestos don't really move me anymore. The whole deal about putting humanity on trial like Q in Encounter at Farpoint is just getting a little stale.



We have to move beyond the finger pointing and the remorse. The question for me now is where do we go from here (besides throwing your hands up and embracing die off fatalistically ala Montequest).

[SheikYarbhouti]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'I') think the unwashed masses should read this stuff...

We have to move beyond the finger pointing and the remorse. The question for me now is where do we go from here.

[dohboi]

Thanks for posting this essay. I've been distributing it to folks I know. Just about everything this guy writes is brilliant, IMVHO.

By the way, you have to get the album cover image for your avatar, sheik!

moss, I agree, but every way forward seems frought with political, demographic, resource use, or ecological impossibilies or catastrophes. Do you see a best way forward at this point?

(Great image, by the way.)