Ignorant Destructions
I think it is quite clear that we are destroying everything we touch. The air polluted. The rivers and underground waters poisoned by pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The earth dug empty. The trees cut down in droves. Animals hunted for our taste. The mountains become bare, burned by wildfire or grazed by our own machines. The plastic particles entering the ocean, and into the beers we drink. And all this action, tremendous, large-scale, destructive action is for our material gain. There seems to be a common understanding, that somehow happiness can be gained in materials, in a plate of delicious salmon, or in a Christmas tree made out of plastics or real wood from a rainforest somewhere. We like gifts. We like money. We like food that tastes strange or exciting or exotic. So we burn large amounts of fuel and human energy to deliver these things all around the world. It could be a toy, a book, a piece of silverware, or a gigantic yacht. But, in the end, are we happy? Or is that happiness so ephemeral that we are left wanting ever more?