Reminds me of a line by Ralph Waldo Emerson that we'd we wise to
consider:
"That no single end my be selected and nature judged thereby,
appears from this, that if man himself be considered as the end, and
if it be assumed that the final cause of the world is to make holy or
wise or beautiful men, we see that it has not succeeded. The world
leaves no track in space, and the greatest action of man no mark in
the vast idea."
Bernie
On Nov 3, 2007, at 7:00 AM, wrote:
>
> Lots of good points Martyn... and everyone else of course, a good
> (but depressing) topic for sure. My modo is, I do the best I can to
> preserve nature where I live, not just where I visit. Not only do I
> WANT to do that, but it also?makes me feel "less depressed" about?
> it all. After all, my contributions are probably equal to a
> molecule of a drop of water in a an Olympic sized swimming pool,
> but hey, I'm trying and I care. I'm sure all of us in this group
> feel the same.?But one can't help but feel helpless against an ever
> growing population against shrinking nature. Can you imagine if
> some politician?actually (openly) wanted to push a law like they
> did in China for only being able to have one child per family in
> this country (U.S.)... talk about a touchy subject! Wow, would that
> be interesting!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Martyn Stewart <>
> To:
> Sent: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 10:31 pm
> Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] I heard the owl call my name
>
> My answer would be almost unprintable here, Bernie!
> As a species we have lost touch with the real world, we are
> materialistic and greedy. we can not see past our own noses.
> from the days of when i was a kid to present day we have destroyed
> habitat after habitat, i remember when i was about 7 years of age
> wondering what the word extinction meant, i looked at the Dodo, irish
> elk, Passenger pigeon etc and wondered how the hell could we loose a
> species and with it, a million years of history. 45 years on from then
> there is so much on the brink and yet WE grow and flourish! we expand
> without reason and we pillage the very earth we rely on for life.
> Yet we look at non-native species and become judge and jury. Certain
> animals have had to adapt to new horizons because of us.
> We talk about new recorders and gadgets to record with, we talk about
> low noise microphones and quiet pre-amps and yet the only thing that
> is getting noisier is us.
> I could record for ages when i was younger in pristine habitats, not
> anymore. i believe half of this group would not know what a quiet
> environment was if it crept up on them.... we don't do enough for the
> world we live in and we are on a self destruct mission.
> I dislike my own species because we have lost the very simple
> fundamentals of life. Love, sharing and compassion.
> To see a magical animal like a polar bear possibly disappear in 20
> years is unthinkable, with a decrease in mankind it would stand a
> chance as would many other species too.
> How can a dove singing on someone's roof be bothersome or turkey's
> clucking in the countryside compare to the mindless idiots who make
> noises with their cars and off road vehicles etc?
>
> You are right, Jim, Bernie. this surely is a conversation stopper, i
> get a little depressed to say the least when all you can do is sit
> back and watch us destroy each other.
>
> off my environmental soap box..........
>
> Martyn
> *************************************
> Martyn Stewart
> http://www.naturesound.org
>
> Redmond. WA
> 425-898-0462
>
> Make every garden a wildlife habitat
> **************************************
> Listen to the Birds and the Bees at
> http://naturesound.libsyn.org/
>
> On Nov 2, 2007, at 7:11 PM, Bernie Krause wrote:
>
> > Good point, Jim.
> >
> > More to the point (always a conversation stopper): exactly whom
> do we
> > eliminate? Who decides?
> > Who administrates?
> >
> > Food for thought...
> >
> > Bernie
> >
> > On Nov 2, 2007, at 5:54 PM, Jim Morgan wrote:
> >
> > > Martyn,
> > >
> > > You have just described the major cause of almost all of our
> > > environmental problems, excess population! An issue that is of
> > > major importance that few wish to discuss.
> > >
> > > Thanks for pointing this out to the group.
> > >
> > > Jim
> > >
|