Last weekend my grandson, a young adult, an apprentice carpenter and joiner - aha, you thought they were a thing of the past, didn't you - rang and then came over for an enjoyable four hours or so of tuition by me, in the almost defunct art of sharpening handsaws by hand.
As he was leaving, and very proud of himself - he'd set and sharpened one of mine and two of his own - he commented on some pithy quotes I have written out above my stove. For example:
As to whether the human race will survive the 21st century: If you were a gambler, you wouldn't back us with stolen money (Professor Ian Lowe), or: If the whole human race lay in one grave the epitaph on the headstone might well be, it seemed like a good idea at the time (Dame Rebecca West).
'Grandpa, are you pessimistic about we humans and where we're going?'
I understood what he was thinking. Why was I, an anti-war activist since coming out of five years' service in World War II in 1946, a civil libertarian for just as long and one who was concerned about the environment before Rachael Carson's 1962 Silent Spring putting up on the wall such seemingly pessimistic quotes?
I told him both of those quotes were by people who had faith and cared, and that humanity needed prodding. For instance, not long ago in the USA President Bush had been galvanised to address a gathering of environmentalists for the first time ever, quite obviously because a few days before a gathering of American church leaders representing over 58 million US citizens, had criticised the Bush administration for not doing anything/enough for the environment. Bush had needed prodding. Whether he will do something is up to the people of the USA.
Whether anything/something/enough is being done in Australia is up to the people here. I think nowhere near enough is being done to investigate what is being done to our environment. Certainly no leadership is coming from our politicians. A few pay lip service.
According to Dr Catherine Badgley in The Fatal Harvest modern intensive agriculture is the major contributor to what could well be the most alarming loss of species since the cataclysm of 65 million years ago. The second half of the 20th century saw the industrialised regions of the world move to intensive large-scale production of monocultures involving machinery, soil additives and biocides. These are destroying soil, mammals - especially large ones - birds, fish, insects and plant species.
In the case of soil, it has been estimated that in the US one inch (25mm) of topsoil is lost every 20 years, yet to replace that one inch would take between 300 and 1000 years. Then of course there is the introduction of animals, plants, birds and insects (bees) which humans have domesticated and now rely on to feed out ever-increasing populations.
The deserts of today's Middle Eastern countries, the ever-extending Sahara of North Africa - all man-made - were once rich agricultural lands. For example, the domestication of hard-hoofed animals, particularly goats, followed by sheep and cattle, began the desertification of North Africa. Carthage was known in 250 BC as the bread basket of Europe. It was near modern Tunis, known by Australian soldiers in World War II, as sand and stone desert.
In the early days of agriculture as arable land was destroyed, humans moved on to another area. Now with the whole world virtually occupied by humans, there is nowhere for them to move onwards to. This means the likelihood of war, and ever-increasing famine and starvation. It's time to examine our agricultural methods. Broadacre monoculture farming methods with its pour-on fertilisers and biocides eventually destroys the very soil we all have to rely on.
to be an optimist, but hope isn't enough. It's up to us as to whether . . .
All of this from sharpening handsaws by hand - phew!
-Jim
