There are a few quotes that don't need elaboration - they speak for themselves. Here's one that seems particularly apt given the rhetorical flourishes to which we are becoming accumstomed in these austere times...
Kenneth Boulding, President Kennedy's environmental advisor nearly fifty years ago said, "Anyone who believes in indefinite growth in anything physical, on a physically finite planet, is either mad or an economist."
And something else that speaks for itself is wildlife. It is amazing. And, to selfishly remind me of a wonderful Saturday afternoon at Wicken Fen with the kids, here's an image of a barn owl. Enjoy it and then go and find one yourself. It's worth the hunt...
Sooty - just goes to show that American politicians have always been good at campaigning in poetry and sometimes their prose leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Well the kennedy's were great at speech making and in a way President Kennedy probably saved the world from lots of problems but USA has in my opinion a very poor record on wildlife,native peoples and the environment,they have been major polluters and have left several countries in ruins.Vietnam a typical case with no end benefit for anyone.
And here is another one that I have been sent, this one from President Kennedy's brother...
Robert Kennedy said in 1968, GDP “measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile”.
Robert Kennedy was speaking at the University of Kansas in March 1968. Kennedy was describing Gross National Product rather than GDP, but the quote is still highly appropriate. The USA used GNP rather than GDP until 1991 as its primary measure of total economic activity. A fuller quote would be:
“Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product – if we judge the United States of America by that – that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.
“It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armoured cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife. And the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
“Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”
And here is another quote for the day which I have just been sent:
Re your blog quote today, President Kennedy (that very far sighted President) said, himself, of conservation,"In the work of conservation, time should be our friend, not our adversary,.....monies invested today will yield great benfits in years to come".