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Nature and Society Quotations used in the April-May 2006 edition
On [ABC Radio National's] Australia Talks Back on Monday there was an astute comment from a caller. He said Howard's greatest achievement in his ten years as prime minister was the sense of apathy he had induced in the Australian population. To demonstrate his government’s openness, he has fostered debate on small, divisive issues like boat people, gay rights and uncontroversial bonding issues like Anzac Day, our sporting prowess, 'supporting our fine soldiers' and what is un-Australian. But he has squashed debate on the big issues like sustainability and our involvement in Iraq . Caller to ABC Radio National’s ‘Australia Talks Back’
I’m Changing the Climate! Ask Me How! Bumper sticker designed to be pasted—illicitly—on SUVs
Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof. John Kenneth Galbraith Don't under-estimate the power of distraction to keep our minds off the truth of our situation. Woody Allen
A global market requires a global identity; not just goods, but landscapes themselves must be branded and made safe for the universal act of consumption. A global market requires global tastes – we have to want the same things, like or dislike the same things. Only that way can markets cross cultural boundaries. At the same time, an advanced industrial economy requires economies of scale – which means mass production, the smoothing-out of edges, uniform and characterless development; the standardised manufacture of entire landscapes. Paul Kingsnorth
People know something is wrong; they just don’t know quite what, or why, or what to do about it. And if they complain they are told by the political classes and often by the media, that none of this really matters; their concerns are small, insignificant and local, of no importance in the grand scheme of things. They are admonished to ‘enter the real world’ and directed to think about something more important: economic growth, perhaps, or the War on Terror. And if they persist, they are called ‘nimbys’ and pigeonholed as reactionaries or nostalgic idealists and told they should have better things to do. Paul Kingsnorth
“Why didn't [the Easter Islanders] look around, realize what they were doing, and stop before it was too late? What were they thinking when they cut down the last palm tree?" - Jared Diamond. What were the Easter Islanders thinking when they cut down that last palm tree? What are you thinking right now? Question found on the internet
A journey is a person in itself, no two are alike, and all plans, safeguards, policies and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip, a trip takes us. John Steinbeck
The grand show is eternal. There is always a sunrise somewhere. The dew is never dried at once. A shower is forever falling. Vapour is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset. Eternal dawn and glowing, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn as the earth rolls. And for this I am forever grateful to be alive. John Muir, 1838-1914
If greed were not the master of modern man, how could it be that the frenzy of economic activity does not abate as higher standards of living are attained, and that it is precisely the richest societies which pursue their economic advantage with the greatest ruthlessness? E.F. Schumacher
The idea that humanity is separate from nature – that we are masters of the earth – is an illusion borne of our religious preoccupation with ourselves – we the jury and the judge! The air we breathe is the handiwork of plants, most of the cells in our body contain organelles that once were independent organisms, and we depend upon bacteria to digest our food and keep our skin in good shape. so we have always interacted with nature and we always will, for we share a common home. David Tranter
... today’s decision-makers are urged to observe the precautionary principle – if the consequences of an initiative are not known with any certainty then it makes sense to wait before leaping into the unknown, the moreso since it is often difficult to distinguish lags from trends. David Tranter
Weight for weight, the most abundant animal species on earth are Antarctic krill and human beings and there the similarity ends! One underpins a food chain, the other pins it down; one draws on renewable resources, the other draws on fossil fuels; one sustains a multitude of species, the other wipes them out. David Tranter
Our current difficulties are twofold: firstly, there is a mismatch between the rapid pace of our technology and our tardy response to impending danger; secondly, our genome is incapable of of anticipating the future because it is anchored in the past. We are genetically adapted to a hunter-gatherer existence, some of our cultural quirks, such as religious and economic fundamentalism and consumerism, having little survival value; they are not genetic adaptations at all but cultural maladaptations. David Tranter
Over the past few hundred years, humanity has become a monoculture by degrading the biodiversity of its environment. Diversity is a library of information accumulated over time about the world in which we live, its pressures, constraints and opportunities. Diversity is a source of strength in both nature and society – in government, trade, business, culture, education – whatever. The opposite of diversity is not unity but monotony, monopoly and monoculture, signposts on a long continuous slide into oblivion. David Tranter
The main contemporary debate is about greenhouse warming and its consequences. it is sometimes argued that this may be part of a natural cycle and, by implication, there is no cause for concern. However the period of the cycle may be millions of years which dwarfs our allotted life span. To argue that there is no need to do anything about an undesirable trend because it may have a cyclical component is mere sophistry if there is something we can do to reverse it. David Tranter
April-May 2006 edition accessible here
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