by margaret hillcroft

Created on: August 11, 2008   Last Updated: October 08, 2008

The earth is a little ball of matter, liquid and gas which, over a period of millions of years, has developed into a small paradise capable of sustaining a stunning diversity of life forms. These life forms themselves have, in turn, developed to adapt to the conditions of the environmnent. Where there is liquid, they have learned to swim and "breathe" water through gills. Where there is desert, they have learned to exist with the minimum need for water. where there is ice, they have learned to live on an under it . Where there is wetland or bog, the creaturs and plants on the earth have eveolved to live on it. All life has evolved to fit together in all the different habitats like a beautiful living jigsaw, in symbiotic harmony. The aboriginal man saw this and found his place and his survial strategy in the order of things.

Then, along comes "modern man" who sees himself as of greater intelligence than the natural world. He sees himself as able to "conquer" mountains and deserts, to "improve" habitats, to "reclaim" land from nature. He views nature as an enemy to be subdued, modified and brought under his control. He sees "progress" "wealth" "power" all within his grasp and to his small mind, this is all infinite. Everlasting comfort, wealth and pleasure. Like Icarus he begins his ascent towards the sun.

And so it begins. The atmosphere is filled with an excess of noxious gasses. Lesser beings that get in the way of his plans are eradicated, be they plant, animal or human. Vast tracts of land are buried beneath a tarry mass of asphalt. The land and its waters of life is drilled, blasted, dug up, torn down, diverted, re-routed. Smoke billows into the clear skies, water runs yellow and thick with effluent. And man stands rubbing his hands with self satisfaction and glee as his stack of gold increases and his power grows daily more impressive and omnipotent.

Then, one day, he notices changes. Trees are dying. His buildings are being eroded by acid rain, the fish in his rivers are belly up. it matters not. there is always MORE! So he turns a blind eye, again and again, and again. The catastrophes become more serious, whole species face extinction, the seas become devoid of life, the deserts grow bigger, a great whole opens in the protective atmosphere. Man becomes alarmed. "I haven.t done anything!" he whinges like a naughty school child. "It wasn't me!"

Earthquakes, floods, famine, disease begin to ravage the world. "It wasn't me, was it?" man cries as hurricanes

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