April 20, 2017
Class Reading: Ecology of Eden
“If the source of life is upstream, downstream is where the
fact collects: the rich bottomlands, the canals, the cities, the good life. The
mountains may give life, but in these matters it is better to receive…It was
easy to forget that the water came from somewhere.”
This passage was fascinating because it so clearly
articulates the paradigm and logical inconsistency of most first world
societies. We become consumed with all the things that we have, convinced that
they are merely a product of working hard. The entire American Dream is built
on this notion of working hard and achieving success. However, this is ignoring
the source, the inalienable element, that we have life in the first place. To
accept life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as inalienable rights means
we have to accept that those rights come from somewhere. How quickly we forget
the source, content to simply receive the benefits. Additionally, how selfish
it is to simply receive and receive and never even acknowledge the giver.
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