Skip to main content

Explain elaborately why "We don't inherit earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."

As we command and consume the resources of the earth, all that we reap is what our children will not be able to reap.  Every redwood that is cut down is borrowed from our progeny.  Every barrel of oil we take from the ground is a barrel of oil our children will be unable to use.  Every acre of woods that we built a McMansion on is an acre of land that the next generation cannot enjoy. The destruction of the rain forest is a borrowing from our offspring, not only its destruction, but also potential cures not yet found.  As we continue in this manner, it may very well be that we are not simply borrowing this earth, but that we are making it impossible for the next generation to use it at all.  If we were to begin to behave as caretakers of the earth for our children, we would have something to hand down.  What we borrow now can never be paid back - or forward.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more