We erode our soil physically, and we degrade it chemically. We pollute our waters and our air with chemicals. Air pollution has a direct effect on soil and water, and in turn affects the quality and quantity of sunlight that our land has available as energy. There are those who say that we can intensify land management, and have more of everything simultaneously, because science and technology will find the answers. Choices for the Long Term So long as we have a commodity consciousness, we will view the land as a commodity, exploit it as a commodity, and destroy it as a commodity.
Humanity stands today at the crossroad between the end of living and the beginning of survival.
It is imperative that we heed Chief Seattle's words, and there is still time because today's choices belong to us. Tomorrow's consequences, however, belong both to us and to the future. February 19, 1987. Chief Seattle and the Long View. Chief Seattle 0.3.