But now I hesitated, my hand hovering over the dairy case. For the first time in human history, I was aware, the appetites of our species exceeded the resources of the planet. From climate change to deforestation, extinction to depleted fisheries, we were devouring our nest. As a result, we had come to equate consumption with morality: buying one brand of butter was more ethical than buying another. It seemed bizarre that this should be so, but hadn’t the agrarian Wendell Berry written, “How could we divorce ourselves completely and yet responsibly from the technologies and powers that are destroying our planet? The answer is not yet thinkable.”
Mark Sundeen
The Unsettlers
