Aldo Leopold-A Land Ethic

I am not going to lie, the first time I read through all of Aldo Leopold: A Sand County Almanac: With essays on conservation from Round River, “The Land Ethic” in the Colloquium Reader, I had no idea what I had just read.  It wasn’t until the 3^rd time I read the entire thing that something finally clicked and began to understand what I was reading.  The first quote that really had an effect on me is when I read, “I am glad I will not be young in a future without wilderness.”  Not only was this the first thing I understood in the text, but it really hit home because I live in a time that wilderness is disappearing by the day!  Yes, the wilderness will not be completely gone by the time I am dead, but by the time I have kids and they grow old that is a great possibility.  In recent future there was been a great increase in global and environmental awareness, but is it really enough?!  I would hate to grow old have hear my grandkids talk about how trees or even something as simple as a palm tree is becoming endangered. 

The most debatable topic that Leopold brought up is when he stated, “Is education possibly a process of trading awareness for things of lesser worth?”  I currently in my 4^th year of college and still have another year until I will graduate with my degree.   I have taken some classes that will help me with my future job, but if you honestly break it down, I have paid for a lot of classes that I will probably never use again in my life.  Would I have benefited for if I went straight into the real world to start making money for these 4 or 5 years instead of paying to trade away my awareness of the real world?!  Yes I want a college degree, but people who decide to go straight into the work force have a very fair argument for their decision. 

The last quote that really sparked my interest is when Leopold said, “We all strive for safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness.”   I found this very interesting because it couldn’t be more true.  People grow up working towards having a stable family with a stable job.  When you really think about this, this in a sense is a very dull life because there is no excitement.  You don’t hear about very many people anymore that grow up saying they want to live in a different country every year.  I am one of those people who does want a very stable life with the whole “white picket fence” lifestyle, but that’s just me.