The redistribution of resources

The Redistribution of Resources In an article d ” Don’t Mess With Mother” appearing in the Sept. 15, 2005 issue of Newsweek, columnist Anna Quindlen asserts that the recent history of eroding our natural resources and devastating our environment has led us to the edge of a national disaster. The author further contends that our unchecked development has scarred the landscape leaving little more than wreckage in its wake. Though her critics will raise the objection that conservation impedes our constitutional rights, it can be shown that the opposition raised is based on the disregard for the greater good which our freedom is built upon. Quindlen advocates a more modest approach to our unbridled construction and thoughtless consumption of natural resources, and calls on our nation’s leader to take a more active and responsible role in dealing with the rampant over-consumption of our resources.
Quindlen’s article is as timely as it is poignant and its easy to see the truth in her well reasoned argument. The raw consumption of petroleum in the past several decades has earned America the distinction of being the most energy hungry civilization in the history of the world, and while we have squandered this finite resource our thirst has leveraged the government into a position of inaction. The time has come for car owners to adjust their choice of vehicle based on need not greed. Society can no longer tolerate the 10 MPG fashion statement made by an SUV. When the well runs dry, the power structure, who have kept any hope of reasonable regulation at bay, will be able to seek a safe harbor. It will, however, leave the impoverished unable to cope in the scramble for scarcer resources.
The air we breathe is being poisoned as we ease standards of pollution in a misguided attempt to spur the economy. But again, it is not the economy of the poor that is being energized. Our water supply, food supply, and rivers are all falling victim to our overzealous need for speed and greed. Even the farthest points on the planet are not immune. Yet, the escalating production of oil does not aid in heating the cold winter night of an elderly citizen on social security. Our belief in human rights demands that we institute measures that will benefit all of mankind, and we must extend those rights to the fair use and distribution of our energy supply as well as the health of our environment.
The opposition will cite ” pursuit of happiness” and ” private property” to rationalize their unbridled misuse of what in reality is public property. Human rights dictate the fair and equal treatment of all people. The abundant resources we are endowed with are the property of all mankind. The air, the water, and the health of the planet are the providence of all men, and the purpose of government is precisely to protect these human rights. Man did not inherit the planet, mankind did. But once again, the lust for more energy, space, and material leaves many standing at the end of the line. Law as well as good reason limits private property use. The land will be passed on to be used by future generations. Our air, water, and landscape are more obvious areas of public ownership. The pursuit of happiness does not extend to destroying or depleting these scarce and vital resources to cater to an individual’s selfish comfort. Private property owners could more properly be known as property guardians.
We must closely examine our use and misuse of our environment. The government should be impelled to work for the human rights of everyone and protect the resources we inherited as part of our birthright. Jump starting the economy is a shallow excuse to drive the world to the brink of a disaster from which there will be no recovery. We can not continue living with the fallacy of capitalistic ideals that place no limits on our behavior as caretakers of the planet. It’s time for the people to demand that our leaders take a firm stand for conservation and raise the voice of reason before it’s too late. Or maybe it already is.
Works Cited
Quindlen, Anna. ” Don’t Mess With Mother.” Newsweek 15 Sep 2005. 10 Dec. 2005