The emphasis on the interests of humans indulged by our society certainly is a “good thing,” as John Schleifer claims in his March 21 letter to the editor. However, it is only a good thing for the humans who, in their transitory moment of power and glory, reap the resources for what they are worth. The idea that self-interest should direct and control our environmental actions is devastatingly shortsighted and embodies the human-centric illogic that has brought us to the present crises - not only with our natural resources, but also with our land, water and air. Individuals should seek atonement for what their selfish interests have done to the planet, and until we can look beyond our desires and accept responsibility for the future consequences of our present actions, the environment will continue to spiral downward as it has since the industrial revolution.

The idea that self-interest can improve lives is certainly true. I read Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead in high school,and it piqued my interest enough for me to make it through Atlas Shrugged too. I understand that the desire to make one’s life better can drive people to work to effect change and that, when nothing is to be gained, often people do nothing.

But my point is that our “interests” have gone too long unchecked, and that taking whatever we can in the name of self-interest is no longer a viable option. Humans today have too much power for destruction, and the ever-expanding concept that the resources of this world were put on this planet solely for our enjoyment needs to be revised.

There is a Simpsons episode that mocks this human-centric logic: a human stands in the middle of a picture of all types of plants and animals. Big cartoon arrows point toward the human. That is the way my 3-year-old thinks. She is at the center of her universe, and her mother, teachers, friends, dogs, Elmo, and everything else revolve around her. That’s great for a 3-year-old; it’s not so great for the adult world.

In fact, unless balanced with a concern for others and the environment, self-interest amounts to no more than selfishness and greed. Throughout history this type of self-interest has brought nothing but destruction. Someone’s self-interest is, after all, at the root of every war ever fought. Someone’s self-interest is what led to the removal of the Cherokees and other Native Americans from their land. Someone’s self-interest is what caused millions of Africans to be captured and sold into slavery. Self-interest is what has led to the depletion of the rainforests and ozone layer. Self-interest has brought about the extinction or near-extinction of numerous species of plants and animals. Self-interest is what motivates the drug dealers on the inner-city streets. Self-interest is what allows one high school student to shoot another.

The unbridled self-interests of humans have plagued society and have wreaked havoc on the environment. Once I was riding my bike in Burningtown, near Franklin, and as I approached a bridge I saw a man take a recliner from the back of his truck and pitch it into the Little Tennessee River. When challenged, he retorted, “I pay my taxes. I pay my taxes,” as if you can buy the right to pollute a river. But people do. Every time I drive by Canton, I am reminded of that fact. Last week I stopped to look at the river flowing into the plant. I watched this beautiful water flowing in and sadly thought about what would come out the other side. Yet, it is in someone’s self-interest and someone has bought the right to pollute a river.

Once, in Mexico, I camped on a remote beach miles and miles from anything resembling a town, electricity, or running water. The trip there had been so long and arduous that I felt like I was at the end of the world, but the knee-deep pile of plastic bottles, flip-flops, and Styrofoam on the beach let me know that the rest of the world wasn’t too far away. I spent my first day there raking the plastic into huge piles that I could later haul out and at the end of the day happily looked at the beach the way it should be - uncluttered by human trash - but the next morning the tide brought a whole new load of plastic back.

The perspective that it’s OK to pollute and destroy the ecosystem, that one day “fossil fuels will go the way of buggy-whips,” and that we-humans-are-just-so-smart-that-we’ll-come-up-with-an-alternative-to-all-the-natural-resources-we-are-so-rapidly-depleting seems a bit naïve at best. Will we come up with another ocean? Another ozone layer? Maybe we’ll be so advanced that we’ll colonize the moon or another planet after we’ve finished destroying this one. I’m sure that would be a great new opportunity for our free market capitalism to grow and flourish.

The earth is not a disposable planet, and furthermore, humans and their interests are not the most important things on it. The idea that humans could take what they wanted might have been feasible a thousand years ago, even two hundred years ago, before the developments of mass production, automobiles, weapons of mass destruction, and other advancements in technology. Back then, the radial impact of our actions was small. Today, it is enormous. Unless we modify our self-interest with a concern for the future of our environment, we will continue to destroy the earth as a living space for all forms of life - not just humans.

(Esther Godfrey teaches English at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. She can be reached at egodfrey@wcu.edu)

 

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