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Recently I was asked to comment on an article written for publication on Nova Nada. Below are the comments that I made. Best, David Orton > >Thanks very much for sending your article on Nova Nada and >Irving and asking for my views. I appreciate that you have >this confidence in me. I think the article is fine, as far >as it goes. I hope it is published. Generally I do not like >economic arguments to oppose the earth destroyers like >Irving. If one follows the direction Bahro was pointing, >after the coming industrial collapse, there will be a >totally different economy and "jobs", as we know them, will >be a memory. > >Of course I am on the side of Nova Nada. In following this >issue from media accounts (I have never visited the >monastery/nunnery although "Sister Susan" was part of a >forest caucus meeting that I attended), the following points >are important for me: > >1. The struggle of Nova Nada against the noise of industrial >forestry is something which countless rural Nova Scotians >are forced to put up with. This is why I personally >empathize with them on this. Sometimes for months at a time >I have suffered from these sounds. I think that two miles >would not be a large enough muffle. Larger than the noise of >industrial forestry is however that anytime, a rural person >can have their personal sanctuary totally transformed by >"development" - industrial forestry, a gas pipeline, a >roadway, an open pit coal mine, etc. Nothing can stand in >the way of a growth economy. > >2. Both sides, the reactionaries and Nova Nada supporters, >seem to invoke the sanctity of property rights. I have yet >to hear the position that humans cannot "own" the earth. In >a larger context Irving's ownership destroys the Acadian >forest and its ecology, and undermines any long term future >for human society. > >3. The friends of Nova Nada often invoke the image of a >"retreat" from the industrial world. The assumption seems to >be that the industrial world can continue, providing there >are Nova Nada style retreats. The dysfunctionality of >industrial capitalist society is accepted in this manner. >I often think of the early "wilderness" supporters in the >States, who saw parks and protected areas as rest places for >jaded humans. > >4. Nova Nada's concerns seem human-centered. There is little >ecological concern or ecocentric awareness in the stories I >have seen. > >You can use any of the above, or none of it! > >Best. For the Earth, David Orton >
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