Before I get to the point, I have to tell you that No Impact Man is featured on Treehugger today on a very kind post written by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg (who also muses on the environment on his own Sustainablog). Mentioning the Treehugger piece feels a little like kissing myself in the mirror but—what can I say?—I’m excited.
Anyway, I wanted to point you to the words of a fellow blogger, Sharon Astyk, a farmer, mother and writer on environmental issues. It’s worried me for a long time that the reason the politicos give for not joining the Kyoto Protocol on climate change or taking other environmental measures is that they would “hurt the economy.” Wait. We’re supposed to take care of the economy? Isn’t that backwards?
I know. I know. I’m naïve. But couldn’t the planet do with a little more naivete and idealism? After all, look what the worldly people are doing. Here is what Sharon has to say:
“…human beings have come to serve the markets, rather than the other way around. We’re the slaves of something that has no mind, no soul, no ethics, nothing other than an endless, gaping need for growth. In fact, the growth economy devours its young.
Way back when in the middle ages, Christians used to have this thing about interest – they believed that allowing money to make money without anyone doing any work was creating something out of nothing, and that was territory only for G-d, not for man. It allowed money to take the place of G-d. Well, it turns out that the early Christians were right. Not only does it take the place of any other gods, but it isn’t a friendly, long hair and a robe kind of divinity – we’re talking Cthulu with the dripping fangs, people.
It isn’t market failure. It is our failure – our failure to recognize that we have devoted ourselves to a god that will destroy us. And the best solution to that one is a good, rousing, old fashioned, throw-the-golden-calf-on-the-fire rout of the false gods.”
You can read the whole of her post here.