Dear Editor,
In spite of being characterized as a good source of rare earth minerals, no such mining is occurring in the Bear Lodge. The Homestake Mine ran out of gold and closed. However, gold is still being mined on the other side of Terry Peak. We have not depleted all of our natural resources yet, but we are working on it. Our fields are becoming devoid of the elements that make food crops grow. The Ogalala and other important Aquifers are running out of water.
Here it is, decades after Rachael Carlson’s “A Silent Spring” was published, and we are still poisoning our rivers, lakes and air with industrial effluent. Our atmosphere is not immune to massive degradation. We continue to fill it with ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide, hastening the day when the term “Heat Stroke” fills newspaper headlines.
The point of this litany of woe is to reveal that we must start addressing the deadly problem of excessive consumption and concomitant waste. The lack of appropriate stewardship of the only livable planet our great-grandchildren will inherit is our great moral shortcoming.
We lay waste our talents badgering each other about political agendas and accomplishments. Our pursuit of more— ever more— consumes our humanity, but still leaves us unsatisfied. With a couple of minor exceptions, this is the natural response that was essential to survival back in the good old prehistoric days.
We may not be in danger of starvation now, but that ‘getting’ or ‘hoarding’ characteristic has stayed with us. Unfortunately, it has grown to be a much stronger urge in some. They tend to fraternize with each other and form political parties— the underlying purpose of which is to control all the assets, thus assuring themselves of “all that they want.” In some cases, they recognize no limit to what they want.
In self defense, those not in the aforementioned fraternity rise up and form a countervailing force called “The Opposition.” It is the oldest story on earth, beginning with Cain and Abel and retold over and over. It is guaranteed to generate conflict, sometimes quite bloody.
Some European countries have developed a method to quell this dispute and more equitably distribute the necessities. Thus, everyone enjoys peace and comfort. It is really too bad that we are so blinded by our own magnificence that we wont even consider using a plan developed elsewhere.
—Jerry Baird