Maybe this world is another planet's Hell. Such prosperity as we have known it up to the present is the consequence of rapidly spending the planet's irreplaceable capital. Modern man no longer regards Nature as being in any sense divine and feels perfectly free to behave toward her as an overweening conquerer and tyrant. Nothing living should ever be treated with contempt. Whatever it is that lives, a man, a tree, or a bird, should be touched gently, because the time is short.
Civilization is another word for respect for life.
Pigs and cows and chickens and people are all competing for grain. But I think the most harmful change brought about by Victorian science in our attitude to nature lies in the demand that our relation with it must be purposive, industrious, always seeking greater knowledge. An act of violence against nature should be judged as severely as that against society or another person. The turning over of a stone, the unnecessary felling of a tree, or the slaughter of an animal is a crime to be weighed in judgement against the wants and needs of the person and the values of his society. I would not be comfortable appearing in a country where they have permitted the destruction of such beautiful and intelligent animals.