Dozing polar bear, Indianapolis Zoo

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Imagine

(If you're looking for my posts on Sancho and Carolina Vargas, they are all directly below this one, in reverse chronological order, for those of you unfamiliar with this blog. Carolina has answered several questions, and there are more questions in the last post, but we must be patient. Carolina is very busy, and thinking and writing in a different language takes a lot of time!)


Michael, a recent Sancho-inspired reader, e-mailed me a link to this post on his real estate blog. According to the post, there is a parcel of land for sale in the Brazilian Amazon -- a mere 1.2 million acre parcel.

That's a little less than twice the size of Rhode Island and a little larger than my beloved Glacier National Park -- though it's only a tiny part of Brazil, which is an enormous country.

Michael observed that there are only about 24 individuals on earth who could afford, on their own, to purchase this plot of land. Michael further reflected that those 24 individuals could afford to make, with only a few limitations, pretty much any positive environmental impact they want.

Imagine it. In a world in which ordinary people are (justifiably) exhorted to drive less, use less energy, install compact flourescent bulbs, and buy carbon credits, what, if anything, is the moral duty of the super-rich? (This may be, ultimately, an irrelevant and silly question. It seems that very few people in America are interested in imposing moral duties upon the wealthy; and really, who'd listen anyway?)

I wish that 1.2 million acre parcel would be used for the good of the Brazilian environment and the world at large -- sustainably managed, a haven for stressed wildlife, gently productive for the Brazilian people. But I don't think we live in that kind of world -- yet. Perhaps one day, all around the earth, we won't have to fantasize about buying such pieces of land ourselves in order to see them responsibly used.

7 comments:

A Lewis said...

$$$. Corporate. Rich. Conglomerate. I love big words.

Unknown said...

I love the colors in your mushroom pic--minky browns and shell pinks ;0)!

kris said...

Thought provoking...what if...imagine...

It would be pretty cool if someone actually did something, wouldn't it?

Trailhead said...

Lewis, you're totally right.

Thanks, wyldthang. It's one of my all time favorite shots. I'm pretty sure they're conifer psilocybes.

Kris, yeah. I only wish our world was structured so someone conservation-minded wouldn't have to buy it for us to trust that it would be used sustainably.

Anonymous said...

Hi this is from Anonymous who use to have the ferret but now I have a Kitty Tootinheimer. From now on it would be shorter for me to be known as Toots, my kitty's nickname,

Anyway yes that has always been my fantasy. To own a LARGE piece of land and I would take in rescued endangered animals. That would be great! It would be some place tropical so all my pet birds (don't have any birds but I would) could fly wild, I could take in rescues for any type of animal that could live on my land. Then in the evening I would return to my full time job as a famous Sci-fi writer, and artist. But my reality now it’s just dirty Chicago and an office cubicle. I would love to move! Somewhere along the coast would be Ideal. Funny but I saw somewhere you were talking about Oregon? That’s going to be my next trip! To start off in San Fran and just drive up the coast. I was looking into a small train trip to Montana as well. I do need more nature in my diet. I was thinking of moving somewhere for a while now, It just depends on that thing called a full time job that pays the bills. But I am tired of all the rude people in Chicago, it’s dirty, the train stations smell like urine and this morning a homeless person ( I think) tore my garbage bags open and left them all over the alley! If I saw them I would have just given them money for food. I would love to wake up in the morning to nature instead of smog and people screaming “FU!” out the window of their cars!

Toots

Trailhead said...

Toots: You've given me an idea for a post.

Trailhead said...

And as much as I hate to quote John Denver (actually, I don't, really), your comments remind me of his song "I'd Rather be a Cowboy (Lady's Chains)":

I'd rather live on the side of a mountain
Than wander through canyons of concrete and steel.