“Meanwhile as we pour our millions into research and invest all our hopes in vast programs to find cures for established cases of cancer, we are neglecting the golden opportunity to prevent, even while we seek the cure.” -Rachel Carson, Page 208-
This quote sums up the entire book pretty well. I feel that Silent Spring was written with the intent to spread awareness of the ignorance our species currently chooses to operate under. Our current society is full of distractions for every walk of life and it can be quite hard to hold on to, or even find, yourself. It’s almost terrifying to think about where all the funding and entertainment for the things we enjoy in our daily lives really comes from. Supporting huge monopolies that only seek to expand their cliental instead of help them. How does it make any sense to pour money into meds for cancer and not the actually cure? I won’t just how much of the general population known just how much harm they have on their environment. A follow up question to the first would be how many would care about their effects on the environment? Our species tends to focus more on our own survival and in certain area’s, such as this country, the standard for survival is more then a modest one.
I can only hope that the author succeeded in her attempt to push our society into a new way of living. Why does sacrificing a few of the many comforts we have seem to be such a life threatening prospect to most of our culture? Our children are glued to television screens that hypnotize them with new toys and gadgets that only worth comes in the blissful moments of childhood that occur anyways. Our capitalistic culture is breeding our children without care, our at least our consent. I just do not feel that any child should be raised in such a subjective environment that could mold their reality around false idols and polished ideals. I suppose it could be a lot worse though and we should be grateful for what we have.