"Faustian Economics"

In "Faustian Economics" Wendell Berry brings about the issue of human wastefulness. Berry believes that for generations humans have been so wasteful due to greed and limitlessness. “We will keep on consuming, spending, wasting, and driving, as before, at any cost to anything and everybody but ourselves.” (Berry, 1) Since humans have believed that there is no limit to anything, we constantly waste away the resources we have in order to produce “necessities”. For example, instead of using other resources besides fuel, we continue to waste away all our fuel in belief that we will “always” find a way to produce it. Of course people KNOW that fuel will run out but do humans actually believe it? I personally think no and I think Berry would agree.

Even though we watch plants and animals go extinct, humans never stop to worry about resources. Yes there are global warming programs and save the environment organizations but if humans really believed there was a limit to resources then EVERYONE on the planet would try and make a change.

This goes into Berry’s idea that humans are greedy. “—the real names of global warming are Waste and Greed—and by now it is manifestly foolish.” (Berry, 1) For how many years have our scientists and culture begun to question global warming? Yet, there is still this fear of it worsening. If the human species weren’t so greedy in giving up things they love, desire and “need” then maybe our environment wouldn’t be withering away. But oh yes I forgot about Berry’s point of limitlessness. No worries because things are never going to run out for REAL, right?

“We are, in short, coming under pressure to understand ourselves as limited creatures in a limited world.” (Berry) Sooner or later or species will realize that our world is truly limited and our resources will diminish to nothing. By that time it will be too late for any significant change and we will end up in an unlivable world. (Like the Pixar film WALL-E!) How many clues will people need to see before there are no more? Eventually, “Where there is no more, our one choice is to make the most and best of what we have.” (Berry, 10)