Naturally

From time to time, I run across someone – usually a flavor of environmentalist – that, for whatever reason, places native people and third-world tribes on a pedestal. Usually, the reason has something to do with those people living closer to the land or in some sort of idyllic “balance” with Nature. Nevermind the fact that Native Americans practiced land-management techniques consisting of clear-cutting, massive burning, and aggressive animal culling. And let’s forget that for the most part, third-world denizens are trying like hell to grab hold of whatever amenities they can to drag themselves out of their situation. Little things like clean water, reliable power grids, and food for the day. Stuff we take for granted.

When I lived on the Cherokee reservation, I convinced the owner of the shop I worked at to stock an herbal collection, because I knew that we’d sell out every month (we did). It’s the same romanticized utopian vision at work in that case. Granted, there are herbal medicines that have been used for thousands of years, but people in clean white lab coats have studied those roots and leaves, determined which compounds were the effective ones, then extracted, purified, and synthesized them. If you have a headache, what would you rather do: chew on a willow branch (which will most likely make your headache worse), or take an aspirin? Despite what the rabid vegetarians claim, neither our dentition nor our digestive system is suited for processing raw cellulose. We are perfectly adapted, however, to working a child-safety cap (it’s the opposable thumbs that make the difference!).

See…I’m an unrepentant first-worlder, because I know that without the great strides we’ve made (particularly in the medical fields), Kitten would be a flat-footed, cross-eyed mouth-breather who, when not falling over while standing still, would be walking into walls. That’s the difference between living in a mud shack somewhere “in natural harmony,” and living in a country where you can take your child into a doctor’s office to get orthotics, eye surgery, allergy treatments, tubes in their ears, and glasses. Now, instead of knocking down the thatched roof every time she misses the door, she’ll be able to be a productive member of society.

Maybe even the one that finds that perfect balance between industrialization and Nature.