Changes

The following is written as a fiction, but, like many fictitious works it has its foundation in truth.  It is not written as an appeal, or a cause, it is written to make you think.  What exactly do you want from this precious little blue planet of ours?  A factory that supplies all our wants regardless of the consequences, or a home that we both treasure and respect.

Long ago, when man did not inhabit every corner of this globe, there lived a tribe.  They simply called themselves 'The People.'  They did this to distinguish themselves from the abundance of trees and plants and animals that they shared their land with.  The People were looked after by wise elders, they taught their people to respect the land and the life upon it.  Every time the chief elder felt his death approaching he would take his wisest son gently by the hand and lead him to the top of the highest peak.  Once there he he would spread his arms wide to the beautiful vista below, it was a landscape of lush grassy plains bordered by forests, and cut through with clear, sparkling fish-rich rivers.  Then he would say this to his son, "My son, behold the beauty you see and love and respect it.  For it gives you food to eat, a home to live in, and clothes to wear.  Be sure never to take more than you need, for to keep life in abundance there must be a balance.  Be sure to bring death swiftly to the animals that help to sustain you, and take no pleasure in the kill.  Never continue to plant without resting your corn fields, and always put back the natural goodness you take from the land.  Keep the rivers flowing with sweet, pure water, never pollute them with your waste.  Most importantly, remember you came into this world with nothing, and it is with nothing you will over time leave it, it is between these times that your worthiness as a man will be judged.  This is your inheritance, you own none of it, but share all of it."

Generation after generation saw this traditional 'handing over' take place.  The land and The People continued to thrive.  Then new people came to the lands, with new ideas, and new ways of doing things.  At first these new ways were resisted, but over time they found their way into the minds and hearts of The People, and none more so than the concept of money, gold, wealth, and ownership.  The vista from the highest peak began to change.  There were fewer and fewer animals.  Their meat, pelts and the joy of killing had value now, and the killing didn't stop until the plains were empty.  The mighty forests were cut down to sell the wood to foreign countries.  The opened land was planted with crops on such a vast scale that no one tribe could eat the produce in a year.  The surplus had value and was sold.  The land became exhausted, and eventually it dried up and turned to dust.  The pure fish-filled waters of the rivers had long since become polluted and dead, poisoned with chemical man-made fertilisers, once used on the land to try to make it give more and more produce.  Although the tradition between the father and his eldest son continued, it now was without much meaning, the spirit of it had died.  It had just became something that was done once every so often. 

Then one day a middle aged man, who claimed ancestry from a tribe once called The People, drove his son in his 4 x 4 to the highest peak in the piece of land that he owned.  The son was on his summer break from university where he was studying Economics.  They sat for a while in that high breezy place looking out over the dusty desert plains.  Then the father said to his son, "You know son, they say that we are descendants of the original people that used to live in these parts.  Just think, all that you can see from up here will be yours too one day, just like in them old days.  Ain't that something?  I know it don't look much, but you never know, there might be oil under that dust, and that is where the money is.  But you would probably be better off selling it.........You know, I never could figure out what those old timers found so appealing about this God-forsaken, dried up, useless piece of real estate anyway, perhaps they knew something we didn't."

Progress is inevitable, and with progress comes changes.  There have been many changes in the history of mankind that have been of great benefit to us, the human race, and have undoubtedly enhanced our lives and well being.  However, there have also been many changes that have had their foundation in greed, and they have never benefited anyone.