To the editor:

Strange! How thoughtlessly we use terms such as “growth” and “development” as though they represented some great “good,” when in fact, each may represent disaster or worse. “Development,” as currently used, usually means first of all “destruction,” destruction of whatever is to be “developed” without regard to the value of what is to be destroyed. That value may include land and vegetation that help protect water supplies and/or contribute to pure air. The land may be increasingly scarce and irreplaceable fertile soil, so necessary to maintain our food supply. Thus, bit by bit, we destroy the resources that sustain life on earth. We call that “progress”!

As for “growth,” cancer is exuberant growth, devouring and destroying its own support system. That’s a pretty good analogy, actually, for uncontrolled and thoughtless growth of cities and industries and of excessive consumption and waste.

Clearly we need new ways of thinking, a new kind of economy, an economy based on the well-being of the entire community – both local and global – rather than on exploitation of both natural and human resources with no regard for the future and generally for the benefit of the few. The longer we wait to change our destructive ways, the fewer resources there will be to work with and the greater the misery we will have caused. Please think, BEFORE you act.

Doris Dort,

Lawrence