Editor: If you have been led to believe that growth in population and development is inevitable, it is simply not true!
There are countries in the developed world where the population growth rate is zero and in some cases declining. That is not the case in many developing countries. Millions of people emigrate to countries like Canada to get away from over-crowding, pollution and noise. The population increases when a culture is unaware that too many children per family is simply not logical or healthy.
Developers thrive on immigration and the increase in population, and in the most part are insensitive to wildlife habitat and the need to preserve our farmland. This insensitivity extends to those who would sanction this greed, because in the most part, it is greed, or self-interest for the sake of profit.
I think the saying, "there is no one so blind as those who cannot see," applies to those who have little sensitivity to the beauty and magnificence of the earth and all who inhabit it. Long range vision is needed to see where this destruction is leading us.
This problem is intrinsic to the madness within our overly materialistic society. It has been said that, "competition may be the life of trade, but it is the death of spirituality."
The word "spirituality" is used here in the deepest and broadest sense. Arable land (top soil), like oil, is not renewable. Oil can be replaced by other energy sources while top soil, through erosion, ends up at the bottom of the sea or underneath cement and blacktop.
In the meantime, while our population is increasing, let us keep our precious small community as it is, and send a message to developers and municipal councillors that they build the infrastructure to a growing metropolis in areas where they cannot destroy existing beauty.
It has been well written that, "small is beautiful." We do not need growth in the quantitative sense but in the qualitative. Some of us have been accused of being responsible for causing stagnation. That criticism comes from measuring life solely from a materialistic point of view.
Life is precious, but it seems so only to those whose sensitivity includes the totality of life and who dare to spend time cultivating good relationships, beautiful families and quiet walks in nature. These considerations cannot be ignored in an evolving community.
Clayne Conings
