But even in the much-publicized rebellion of the young against the materialism of the affluent society, the consumer mentality is too often still intact: the standards of behavior are still those of kind and quantity, the security sought is still the security of numbers, and the chief motive is still the consumer's anxiety that he is missing out on what is "in." In this state of total consumerism - which is to say a state of helpless dependence on things and services and ideas and motives that we have forgotten how to provide ourselves - all meaningful contact between ourselves and the earth is broken. We do not understand the earth in terms either of what it offers us or of what it requires of us, and I think it is the rule that people inevitably destroy what they do not understand.Wendell Berry
About This Quote
The quote above was written by Aldo Leopold, a pioneer in environmentalism, who was also a forester, naturalist, and professor. He was an influential voice in the conservation movement, serving as chairman of the University of Wisconsin's Department of Forestry, and later president of the Sierra Club.
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