Are We Stewards Or Pillagers?

Here’s a very solid insight from Greg Krumm:

…We have progressed as humans in the basic chores of humans such as sewage control, trash pick-up, crop rotation and recycling…Our collective human intelligence should enforce the theory that we are stewards of the Earth as opposed to pillagers … By using human intelligence for protecting our home, climate control as a problem becomes more solvable.

Thanks, Greg. That’s a wonderful and well-expressed sentiment; I only wish it were shared by more people.  And, though I know it sounds cynical, I would argue that the “basic chores” you name were taken on largely because of the interests of the people who accomplished them. They got tired of the stench, the litter and the crop failure. The reason most Americans recycle is that it doesn’t cost them anything; they have a blue trash can out back that’s just as easy to load as their gray one.

This, btw, is the point I was trying to make in my earlier piece about eco-consciousness where I noted:

At the same time, public consciousness of right and wrong eco-behavior is going to have to spread well beyond the sophisticated part of Europe and the very most enlightened parts of the rest of the world. It’s great that single-use plastic bags and Cadillac Escalades don’t exist in Santa Monica or Berkeley, but notice that these are exceptions in the entire rest of North America–in terms of affluence, educational level, and normative behavior.

Fortunately, there are some fantastic people in the world, like this one here.

Thanks again for writing.