Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

Seeking a 'healthy equilibrium'

Pope John Paul took hold of the ecological crisis and once again made it a religious issue during the Nov. 11-12 Jubilee for Farmers (WCR, Nov. 20). The pope spoke of "an irrational consumerism, a type of 'culture of waste' that has become a widespread lifestyle."

New Age groups who hold a belief that there is no inherent distinction between humanity and the rest of nature have often championed the environment as an issue. But this outlook has no vision for the humanity other than a romantic utopia of all men and women living in no-tech farming communes in total harmony with a placid but helpful Mother Earth.

This, fortunately or otherwise, is not humanity's future. The Judeo-Christian outlook sees human beings as intelligent beings responsible for all creation. We do not abandon technology, but use it for the common good rather than, as today's world does, for the profit of the few.

In his Nov. 12 homily to 100,000 farmers and their families, Pope John Paul said, "If the world of advanced technology is not reconciled with the simple language of nature in a healthy equilibrium, human life will face ever-greater risks, of which we already see worrisome signs."

What is this "healthy equilibrium"? It certainly involves much less reliance on fossil fuels and much greater reliance on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. It involves less use of herbicides and pesticides and far less production of hazardous wastes. It involves far greater respect for traditional farming - higher commodity prices, smaller farms, less corporate control and more reliance on local consumers to buy locally produced food. It means more range-fed beef and chickens and an end to steroids and other additives in the diets of livestock. It also means an end to clear cutting forests and rampant over-fishing.

A healthy equilibrium between technology and nature would mean much less reliance on the automobile and a greater use of public transportation. It would mean re-establishing urban neighbourhoods not only as the focus of social contact, but also of economic enterprise. It would mean greater equity between rich and poor. It would mean consuming less and sharing more. Above all, it would mean the development of an attitude, especially among society's most powerful and wealthy citizens, of gratitude for what we have and an end to the perennial grasping for more.

This perhaps sounds idealistic. It isn't. It is a program for the survival of the human species in the face of global warming which threatens to throw not only our climate, but also whole societies, into chaos.

What is idealistic is the view that Western society can continue indefinitely as is. Its unspoken mantra is, "Growth is good, nature is to be exploited." This is a pipedream which will certainly collapse in due time as a result of runaway stock markets, dwindling petroleum reserves and the build-up of greenhouse gases in the environment.

We have known the choice for decades: Either build a sustainable economy or collapse into chaos when the energy runs out. Yet, our Western mindset has been one of denial: Things are good (for some of us) and they need not change. And so we will not change.

But this refusal to change testifies to our own heresy. We don't really believe Genesis 1:28; we don't really believe Pope John Paul when he says that man is not the absolute ruler over the created world, but a collaborator with the Creator. For the sake of the many generations still to come we have to do a much better job of building a healthy equilibrium between technology and nature.

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