song for theme #25: Anthropocentrism

“Wise Use”  by Stephen P. Cook

to be sung to the tune of “Proud Mary” by John Fogerty / Credence Clearwater Revival

I like it here in the city

Concrete and buildings wherever I look

Monuments to progress, legacy, largesse

Dominion over¹ nature says the good book

Machines work to keep us free

Wise use² of technology³

Rolling, rolling, rolling over nature

No one would call me tree hugger

Forests are here for us to use

Paper from pulp, homes from wood

Cutting ‘em down brings much good

Machines work to keep us free

Wise use of technology

Anthro, anthro, anthropocentrism⁴

Rolling, rolling, rolling over nature

Let’s dam this free flowing river

Control floods, make electricity

Irrigation, recreation

Use it or lose it to the sea

Development sets us free

Wise use of technology

Controlling, controlling, controlling nature

Rolling, rolling, rolling over nature

SONG—NOTES / COMMENTS

1— “Dominion over” is a phrase from the Bible’s book of Genesis used in God’s instructions to man: “Be fruitful, and multiply,

       and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over…every living thing.”  Supposedly the original Hebrew this

       was written in communicates a gentleness and familiarity that is less like subjugation and more like stewardship than the

       meaning communicated in the English translation above. 

2— “Wise use” refers to a supposed common sense philosophy about how land should be developed. The movement with this

       name is led by people who feel that the government has no right dictating what private landowners can and can not do with

       their land.  The movement, linked to the “Sagebrush Rebellion” in the western U.S. which also involves public land

       management concerns, grew out of increasing frustration with laws containing environmental restrictions, protecting

        endangered species, limiting development, etc. 

3— Technology, which increasingly is linked by some to computer based tools and information, is more traditionally defined in

        various ways: 1) what humans do to gain control over nature in shaping the environment to their liking, 2) the sum total of

        special knowledge and the tools / means employed by people to provide goods and services for human sustenance and

        comfort, 3) knowledge relating to how available resources can be turned into goods and services.

4— Anthropocentrism refers to a human being centered viewpoint that sees humans as the most important thing in the universe,

       and assigns value to other things based on their usefulness to humans.   

Comment:  Emotionally charged content appears in the second sentence of this theme’s description. Suppose you live where the forest surrounds you, seemingly going on forever—and you value this theme. You feel there’s no need to apologize for, or feel guilty about, cutting trees to build shelter and to facilitate planting a garden, and to otherwise creatively develop your land to meet your family’s needs.  Since working to provide basic necessities/increased comfort using whatever technology is available is as old as the human species itself, how could it be wrong? Working like this each day and seeing the land slowly transform as your children grow is rewarding, it seems healthy—how could it be wrong? (see comment, theme #27.)