Riding Two Horses
Incidents like [the eastern Illinois spraying] raise a question that is not only scientific but moral. The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called civilized.
Rachel Carson (1962)
A series of studies have found that between 80 and 89% of the world’s population want to see strong action being taken by their governments to tackle the climate crisis. But listen to most mainstream politicians and much of the world’s media, and you may be forgiven for thinking that you’re in a shrinking minority.
Katherine Viner (2025)
Above, divergent challenges presented through the media of
photographs,
On the balance of words and images; that the latter is not always more efficient.
books and newspapers. We see bulldozers making reservoirs to provide power but thereby
destroying
There are so many examples of the damage we are doing, this is from Wendell Berry.
ecological systems that are part of the fabric which supports us; then there is Carson’s detailed description of the ingenuity of companies whose chemists were (and are) poisoning the natural life surrounding their targets, and consequently harming humans themselves; and thirdly the challenge to our present population which knows that the climate is changing, and that action is needed, but who fail to act
collectively.
What does it take for there to be action?
Shouldn’t those illustrative problems help us grasp more readily that our woes have a single source - human activity. However, such generalities must not be allowed to reduce the importance of Carson’s lesson: the very specificity of her points on chemical misuse did make a difference in those years. Here are the two horses that we must learn
to ride:
Another approach to relating parts and wholes.
having a broad enough picture to be able to see what matters; while being specific enough in our actions to promote change.
Carson's Silent Spring was originally published in 1962. The quote is from page 81 of the Penguin edition of 2000. Katherine Viner was editing The Guardian’s Saturday Internet Newsletter page on 26th April 2025, this was from her introduction, now removed from their webpage; however, the quote is recognised by “Milled”.
The photograph was taken in Lai Châu Province in north-west Vietnam. The display board shows the dam which was being built there. The scale of the enterprise is shown by the tiny yellow dots - these are diggers.
Above, hovering on blue introduces a link: click to go, move away to stay.
Saturday 10th May 2025
...guide to this site