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Show V; 3 ' - THE ZEPHYRJAN-FE- B PAGE 31 1996 1 Dear Jim: While you were out at Balanced Rock on your illegitimate safari playing road kill of the day you missed the National Park Service Memorial to dear Abbey. Located within 30 feet poco mas o menos of where Ed spent two summers dreaming up Desert Solitaire and other such literary gems the memorial has some merits for and some detractions from that event Sincerely, Lloyd M. Pierson ip, j t Jim Stiles, Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting we end the debate. We need to talk, hell, we're addicted to it. I just got a little antsy when that's all it seems to be, a lot of talk. God, goddess, Gaia knows we need a debate, but when is somebody going to actually do something about it I can't believe the way we proselytize about wilderness designations and point fingers at the defenders of the status quo when we're all as guilty of same At least they're up front about their priorities. I don't see any of us advocate giving up our consumptive appetites. We live insular lives that never directly communicate with the nature we purport to love. Instead, we shirk the responsibility of life by placing ourselves in the hands of entrepreneurs and corporations and the prevailing cultural wisdom. When was the last time any one of us let the environment dictate our lifestyles? Show me one single aspect of our lives that isn't an utter manipulation of nature. How can any claim to find harmony in nature when it's always an abstract "out there." We're all concrete and asphalt, Kentucky Bluegrass, television, and processed food. Do we take responsibility for any of it? The roof over our heads, the shoes on our feet, the food in our bellies? the only value attached to our lives is in dollars and cents. When you remove a rock or disturb the soil it has an effect; but who gives a thought to the consequences of that load of gravel we had somebody put on the driveway? Or the old standby, the deforestation required to process a bulk mailing. Or the human resource we just flushed down the toilet Divide and conquer. When was it ever anything else? Our entire way of life is a rape of the environment; the BOOK BOB... CALL BOB SWARTHY" GREENSPAN "an unforgettable experience" Letters to Feedback should be received by the Zephyr by the 20th of the month to be considered for publication. Winners of the Tetter of the Month" receive a one year subscription. Write: The Zephyr, POB 327, Moab, UT 84532 "wilderness." now what, pass laws to protect us from ourselves? From Jim Stiles? From MA. Marooney? What's that gonna do? Human systems, culture; laws are static. Changing the rules won't fix anything. Nature by its very nature is dynamic. The only balance and harmony to be realized is in giving up our perception of control and dominance. Forget the rules. Allow ourselves to trust the universe and one another. Give up our horrendous attachment to the finite. There's a much bigger game being played. Better we should change our way of living. Listen to what nature and our environment is telling us, it's plain enough for anyone to see. So we yield, respond, learn and adapt Explore our potential by letting go of our limitations, those sacred cows. Nothing is sacred. Let go of the mental gymnastics, folks, every thing and every one is sacred. Hey, we're all in this together, that's the point isn't it? for crying out loud, let's act like it. Let it all go to hell, we're headed there anyway, and not because of a few politicians. We buy the product, we drive the cars, we shit in our rivers. How much more shit can one politician unload? Yes, it has to change. But we can only do it ourselves. No one can do it for us. Show the way. Somebody has to stop consuming. Somebody has to knock out the walls and fed the seasons, somebody has to appreciate foe value of what the environment we live in has to offer the way it is. and somebody has to stop making so many babies. We, the children of the sixties and seventies think we're such hot shit for stopping the Vietnam War. We didn't stop the war, we cut our losses on one bad investment. We're still out to get the bogeyman. Ah, but none of us seem to fully realize that the "bogeyman" is ME. Native landscape at the Visitor Center, bravo! How about the rest of us? why don't we bring nature back to the community? How about a little "wilderness area" in our own front yard? Hey, why don't we take out the sidewalks, tear up the asphalt; buy a couple of trams and limit the rest'to foot traffic? If we're gonna get on the map, why don't we do it right Moab, ecotopia of the southwest. We could make a living and still get to live in this place we all love in a way we can love it. there's a market for just about everything. Why can't we produce what our "wilderness" has to offer In a way that won't destroy it. We can do this. So f : i Q Tens t PailylCanoe. Rentals self-impos- ed i i R. Kerchen Cliff dweller. Canyon denizen WHAT J THE 'MUSK OX THINS?' MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS 1996. NOW-FO- |