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A brilliant and inspired professor of zoology, who will not be named out of respect for his privacy, shared with me his vision that the world will be saved through education; that the wanton ravishes of our rain forests will end; that the manufacture of toxic chemicals will cease because public outcry will cause the manufacturers to seek other ways to be profitable; that people will cease to be unthinking and careless in using or dumping these agents into our waterways; that, given time, the insidious accumulation of toxic chemicals will end, and the earth will cleanse herself. I should live so long.

I reluctantly shared my belief with my friend and mentor that it's too late; that, in fact, it was too late at least 50 years ago; It's too late because of what we have become through the shifting of values; It's too late because we now have a society that demands immediate gratification through technology which, in itself and the byproducts of its manufacture, is foreign to nature; It's too late because we live and work in a service based economy to acquire the basic necessities of life rather than producing them ourselves, which skills we've forgotten. I would have you understand that I am sympathetic to the professor's vision and share in his hope. However, I believe that the basic priorities of mankind will have to change, or the loss of our world as we know it will compel us to change.

Very few currently recognize their responsibility and stewardship over the earth. The countryside is swathed in rubbish. Virtually every roadside grass fire originates from a cigarette butt. Some would have you believe we don't belong here; that nature is more important than mankind; that mankind should be excluded from nature. I am not optimistic; I am in fact dubious and apprehensive of social engineering by governments to solve the problems of humanity and this earth due to their propensity to consolidate power at public expense. I am, however, optimistic of the potential of mankind when we see ourselves as the pinnacle of creation, rather than evolved brute beasts driven only by passions, without agency, and therefore without responsibility to control our destiny.

I think of myself as an optimist. I'm grateful for the advances we've gained in medical technology, but I'm not convinced that the acquisition of material goods best serves the inner needs of the masses. I envision the return of an agrarian society, which could happen by our own choice or otherwise, whose inhabitants have respect for themselves as well as others, seeking the best interests of their fellow beings and having all things in common.

My vision is as probable as the good professor's. It can happen, voluntarily and without the interference of ineffectual government programs through personal resolve and the acceptance of responsibility on an individual level "One backyard at a time."

Learn more about this author, Jonathan Wesley.
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