“Go forth and subdue the earth; slay every beast of prey….”
I’m enjoying a resplendent Waxing Gibbous moon this weekend and anxiously awaiting one of my favorite times of year, the Vernal Equinox and Rite of Spring. There have been a number of bats racing back and forth beneath the moon, most likely “Evening Bats,” (Nycticeius humeralis) a very important part of the Lower Mississippi Riverine Forest Bioregion because they control the insect population.
As spring nears, my thoughts are on the resiliency of the earth and its ability to somehow renew itself despite the actions of humans. Daffodils and Dogwoods bloom, Black bears in the Smokies emerge from their winter slumber, Red-bellied woodpeckers forage for food and build new homes (this photo is high res so you can see the woodpecker burrowing deep inside the tree), and if we can manage to reverse the damage done by criminal coteries like Trugreen, we might even see frogs and toads again.
But environmental “recovery” and sustainability requires sufficiency in living. It requires that man live within limits and recognize that he is just another component of the biosphere, not a lord or governor able to do whatever he chooses. Choices have consequences and even a cursory glance at my bioregion and my community reveals that humans have made some very poor choices and don’t seem to be anywhere close to making better ones.
One of the greatest issues in my bioregion is over-development. “Welcome to the club,” you might say. A burgeoning population finds that its “needs” for housing and economic “progress” are readily met by eager, fat cat developers with more money than brains. The problem is no one is in the business of meeting need. Everyone is in the business of satisfying gross overindulgence. Trees are cut, roads are built and the current residents are moved out to make room for hundreds of new seven and eight thousand square foot homes with three car garages and massive energy bills to match.
To make matters worse, it’s now being done in the name of Jesus. Our local paper recently ran a story (“Clark Building Treasures In Heaven”) about a well known developer, Ben Clark. Turns out that Mr. Clark is facing some opposition to his latest plan for yet another mega-development in Collierville. Collierville used to be a small, sleepy town safely buffered away from the busyness of Memphis, but not any more. It’s now one of the fastest growing cities in Tennessee, with a new highway and $350 million shopping center. Now Mr. Clark plans another one, and to get his way, he’s attempting to portray himself as a good carpenter like Jesus.
Clark sent a feel-good, joy filled missive to the Aldermen stating “he was at peace with their character.” In other words, “I know you’re all good Christians and will do the right thing by approving my profit motivated contribution to urban sprawl.” That’s what Jesus would want. But Mr. Clark shouldn’t worry. The so-called opposition is really just a façade to appease residents concerned their community is going down the tubes. It’s a little masquerade designed to make citizens think government is working to protect their interests, when in fact the job of government is to foster economic growth and protect the capitalist status quo. When the chips are down, every single one of those Aldermen will support the metastasis known as economic growth. After all, to do anything different would be un-American and more importantly, un-Christian.
I’m of the opinion that folks like Mr. Clark are dangerous people. Not only is he a developer that builds unnecessary projects at the expense of the environment, he’s a delusional one that apparently believes an invisible, mythical entity is directing his daily activities and should also direct yours. That’s frightening.
It seems to me that we have a simple choice in such matters. We can choose concrete, steel and stores filled with cheap plastic crap or we can choose trees, meadows and song birds. There’s no such thing as “smart growth,” because this type of growth cannot be maintained. The only thing that’s smart is to live sufficiently and sustainably, and that means a community does not consume more natural resources than can be replenished by natural biological and geophysical cycles, and does not produce waste faster than can be dispersed by natural biological and geophysical cycles.
It’s either green space or more parking lots, traffic and sprawl. And someone should remind Mr. Clark that no one named Jesus is making any more green space.