On Progress and Growth

Remembering Edward Abbey, an opinionated author, and a controversial environmentalist (ahead of his time). Today would be his 88th birthday.

I think many of his observations and proposals were brilliant and unpopular, like banning automobiles from National Parks. To give you a flavor of his razor sharp pen read the following excerpt on our basic premise of economical growth:

“The ugliest thing in America is greed, the lust for power and domination, the lunatic ideology of perpetual Growth – with a capital G. ‘Progress’ in our nation has for too long been confused with ‘Growth’; I see the two as different, almost incompatible, since progress means, or should mean, change for the better – toward social justice, a livable and open world, equal opportunity and affirmative action for all forms of life. And I mean all forms, not merely the human. The grizzly, the wolf, the rattlesnake, the condor, the…