In a message dated 1/4/00 2:55:05 PM Central Standard Time,
bradbury@genebee.msu.su writes:
> Does anyone familiar with these movements know of any good sources on
> the "philosophy" of "Greenism"? I.e., someone who has looked closely
> at how much "greenism" is "enough"? How do they resolve the inherent
> paradoxes in nature? E.g., it used to be that conservationists would
> try to put out fires, now it is realized that the "natural" thing to
> do is to let them burn. How do they resolve the question that extinctions
> have occured "naturally" for billions of years? How do they make
> a distinction between man and a volcano causing extinctions which in turn
> may create new niches, allowing for further evolution)? It seems that
> in taking on the extremists, we should be very clear about what we
> do support in cases where we are aligned with the moderates.
An EXTREMELY good book that discusses these issues both in philosphical terms
and in terms of practical public policy is "No Turning Back" by Wallace
Kaufman. It may be out of print, unfortunately. Beyond this, there are a
number of groups now exploring a more rational approach to balancing human
needs and the value of wilderness and undeveloped resources. You can find
links to some of them at:
http://users.aol.com/gburch1/exenv.html
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know
enough to get by. Every question we answer leads on to another
question. This has become the greatest survival trick of our species."
-- Desmond Morris
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