Brazil's great untold environmental disaster

An excellent Audio slideshow here from photographer Peter Caton.

This is mainly focused on the Brazilian Cerrado, which is being destroyed to make way for monoculture farming. He looks at, not just the disappearance of this great Savannah, but also the effects on the indigenous tribe’s people; and also the effects on Brazil’s great rivers.

Once again nature takes second place to greed as the land is raped in the name of progress. If the main goal of this "progress" is to destroy the planets ability to sustain us then we are doing a great job.

Why oh why can people not see beyond dollar signs? And why do people seem to increasingly not care?

At this very moment in time the human race is (metaphorically) killing its own mother while still attached to the breast.

reply to post by Muckster

At this very moment in time the human race is (metaphorically) killing its own mother while still attached to the breast.

More literal than metaphorical, imho.

S&F&

Originally posted by Muckster
Why oh why can people not see beyond dollar signs? And why do people seem to increasingly not care?

Hi Muckster, ever watch the talk Dan Miller gave in the OP of this (notorious) ATS thread?


At around the 28 min mark I think he nails the question on why most people don't give a # about the bigger picture. Ironically, it's evolutionary.

Humans are trained by nature to respond to threats that are:
1. visible
2. have historical precedent
3. immediate
4. exhibit basic causality (not complicated effects)
5. brought upon us by outside threats (not ourselves)
6. have direct personal consequences (don't really care how it affects others)

All of these things are working against us when we're talking about issues related to sustainability and social responsibility further down the road.

That's not to excuse the fact that people are just greedy, apathetic, self-involved dingbats who should know better, but it does give the whole problem a bit more perspective on exactly what we're up against.



The way I see it is like this -

At the end of the day, we're just another one of Nature's Darwinian experiments. Except in this case she has happened to bestow on us a great deal of power. With that of course comes a great deal of responsibility.

If we're going to survive this crazy experiment we need to especially evolve (on our own) the mental and spiritual fortitude to go with it - by cultivating a true sense of morality and responsibility, by embracing our ability to rationalize and process complex problems and see the bigger picture rather than succumb to primitive instincts. We need to do things for the greater good rather than immediate personal benefit, not because it's "nice", but because our very place in this universe is dependent on it.

As a species we have been given a glorious opportunity to evolve to unimaginable heights. Unfortunately though there's still an entrance exam, and we are failing it miserably.

I think if We get rid of the need for money through free energy (electrogravitics, presently hidden in black ops), such disregard for Our planet will dissipate.

For more on this, visit My thread here: www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Muckster


I've spent some time in the Cerrado. Its an amazing place, and i'm not so sure that much of it is left.

The slideshow doesn't grasp the feeling of driving for 4 hours at 80km/h on a straight road where both sides of the road are endless stretches of farm land which was primary forest not too many years ago.

Also, when you fly from the north of Brazil (Manaus) to Brasilia and you look out the window you can see the scale of the destruction. First there is forest, then you can see squares cut out of the forest, the squares get more common, then after a while the squares take over and you fly over farm land for an hour or so before you reach Brasilia.

Its a very very sad situation. While there are excellent laws in place in Brazil, there is no enforcement. There are amazing amounts of corruption which hinder any kind of enforcement.

There is a mistake in the slide show though. He says the word "Mato" means "useless land", this isn't true. Mato means forest or more specificaly "bush" in Portuguese.

reply to post by fedeykin


Great reply... insightful and educational, thanks


Most corruption is due to greed... so, as usual, its greed that is our downfall.