Response #3

Sarah Pearson

 

In 1949 global problems were not as large of a concern as they are today. People weren’t as aware of how much damage was being done to the earth. On the other hand I believe that people were more aware at that time of what they were consuming and where products/ food they purchased came from. I feel that people are ignorant today and literally do not care where their food comes from or where products are made.  People are more concerned with money and having more of everything. I think this ties into the concept of “there are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace” (Leopold 6). This doesn’t mean literally owning a farm, rather I think it serves as an awareness for how things are provided for us and the processes and systems that allows everyday life to flow smoothly in our society. I think the word spiritual is used in the sense that we should be less concerned with material things and we should be thinking about issues outside our own lives. One definition for “spiritual” says “1.relating to, or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.” Meaning if people were more aware of what was going on in the world and how the material things that we have our hurting the planet; maybe our planet wouldn’t be going through so many drastic changes.

 

Sources:

wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

 

Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1949.