These individuals are
avowedly anti-civilization in so far as its material incentives are
concerned.
Similar attitudes were expressed in previous civilizations. Socrates
went barefoot through the streets of Athens. Diogenes lived in a tub.
Uncounted numbers of Indian holy men and early Christians rejected all
affluence, embraced poverty, lived simply and austerely. Religious
asceticism is no novelty. But the wholesale rejection of acquisition and
accumulation as a way of life certainly marks a turning point in the
popular attitude toward the utilitarian axiom that human happiness is
directly proportioned to the quantity and variety of material
possessions.
Civilization presupposes getting, keeping and exercising power over
nature, society and man. Each civilization has added to man's
utilization of nature. This has been a notorious aspect of western
civilization since the inauguration of the scientific-technological
revolution. After a century of intensified exploitation of the natural
environment, entire communities are reacting with dismay and disgust
against the resulting pollution of air, water and land, the wanton waste
of soil fertility, forests and minerals, and extermination of various
forms of "wilderness." Freedom to exploit nature's storehouse has not
brought happiness. On the contrary, it threatens the existence of other
life forms and even the continuance of human life on the planet.
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