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. LEARN ABOUT HR408 "Dolphin Death Bill" SIGNED INTO LAW 8/15/97 John's Letter to the Wall Street Journal, 09/14/97
Humans seem to view the earth from a united, narcissistic point of view, somewhat as follows: The other species on this planet and the planet itself are here for the exploitation of man, for the economic good of man. Animals, plants, the land itself, and the ocean are considered "economic resources" to be "managed by human institutions."Scientific knowledge is to be put in the service of the rest of humanity and is to be put under the service of the economic exploitation of natural resources. Another portion of the philosophy of man is in the use of scientific advisers and the scientific community in the service of the development of warfare among humans. The development of atomic energy was made possible under the stimulus of World War II and man's fear of other men. The philosophy of the law is to use scientific consultants and the scientific community in the service of exploitation for profit of the natural resources, and in the use of force to insure the unimpeeded progress of that exploitation. Scientific research for purely new knowledge is no longer fashionable. Public policy based on an intellectual and moral view of the earth and the environment is most certainly out of style. Let us hope for better days. |
