Spring Break
The name of the game: sustainability
Grits and Greens
Christopher Vincent
Issue date: 8/22/07 Section: Opinion
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In the world in general, words are bandied about and some are repeated so often they bounce around in my head until it rings like an empty tin pan. Some words become codes for things they don't mean at all. "Liberation" is used to mean the toppling of a dictator, regardless of whether the people actually acquire liberty. "He's sweet," or "She's got a great personality," are code for describing people who are not considered attractive. "Green" means trendy.
So, I hope to make clear what I mean by the word "sustainable." I mean what the dictionary says: to be able to sustain, which is to continue, hold or give life to something. In this context sustainable means that we encourage lifestyles, business practice, infrastructure and agriculture that can continue giving life to the people and other living things on earth for as long as we possibly can. Sustainability is common sense with the long view.
This goes directly with some basic elements of our culture, and directly against others. Long-term common sense clashes instantly with the philosophy of instant gratification.
Remember when you were five and you always wanted to skip dinner and go straight to desert? I assume that your parents told you to finish your dinner first. Of course, when you're five, twenty minutes seem like an eternity and waiting is a difficult concept to fathom. In some ways our culture is not much more mature than the typical five-year-old. Since I was an adolescent I've heard the rhetorical question "Why wait?" used to excuse anything from drinking, to debt and beyond.
The same kind of thinking drives some people who own or manage forest land to cut down as many trees as they can now, to sell them, not thinking that, by doing so, they will deplete the soil. Soon the soil will be useless, and instead of allowing descendents to reap the benefits of well-managed land, they choose to get as much money as they can in this life, grasping for money as if it would accompany them when they die.
So, I hope to make clear what I mean by the word "sustainable." I mean what the dictionary says: to be able to sustain, which is to continue, hold or give life to something. In this context sustainable means that we encourage lifestyles, business practice, infrastructure and agriculture that can continue giving life to the people and other living things on earth for as long as we possibly can. Sustainability is common sense with the long view.
This goes directly with some basic elements of our culture, and directly against others. Long-term common sense clashes instantly with the philosophy of instant gratification.
Remember when you were five and you always wanted to skip dinner and go straight to desert? I assume that your parents told you to finish your dinner first. Of course, when you're five, twenty minutes seem like an eternity and waiting is a difficult concept to fathom. In some ways our culture is not much more mature than the typical five-year-old. Since I was an adolescent I've heard the rhetorical question "Why wait?" used to excuse anything from drinking, to debt and beyond.
The same kind of thinking drives some people who own or manage forest land to cut down as many trees as they can now, to sell them, not thinking that, by doing so, they will deplete the soil. Soon the soil will be useless, and instead of allowing descendents to reap the benefits of well-managed land, they choose to get as much money as they can in this life, grasping for money as if it would accompany them when they die.
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