Aaron Sachs
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“My hope, for all future generations, is that they will have (in addition to sunshine, fresh air, clean water, and fertile soil) a somewhat slower pace of life, with plenty of time to pause, in quiet places . . . haunted places—everyday, accessible places, open to the public—places that are not too radically transformed over time—places susceptible of cultivation, where people can express their caring, and nature can respond—places with tough, gnarled roots and tangled stalks, with digging mammals and noisy birds—places of common remembrance and hopeful guidance—places of unexpected encounters—places that breed solidarity across difference—places where children can walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before—places that are perpetually up for adoption—places that have been humanized but not conquered or commodified—places that foster a kind of connectedness both mournful and celebratory.”
― Arcadian America: The Death and Life of an Environmental Tradition
― Arcadian America: The Death and Life of an Environmental Tradition
“The point was simply that people had to wake up before they could be expected to embrace full citizenship. And it seemed better to emphasize a subtle reshaping of consciousness than dramatic political action, for Mumford shared Melville’s distrust of revolutions: “Revolution in the light of the constant miscarriage of every revolution from 1789 onward is nothing more than the form through which a decadent civilization commits suicide.” Basically, the first order of business was to cultivate human beings who would never allow demagogues to sway them, who were self-critical enough to resist movements like Nazism; the world could have no more of Melville’s “moderate men.” “The danger to human society today,” Mumford asserted, “does not come solely from the active barbarians: it comes even more perhaps from those who have in their hearts assented to the barbarian’s purposes.” Look to your heart, Mumford was saying. And fortify it with an understanding of our ancestors’ sacrifices and our vast inheritance.”
― Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times
― Up from the Depths: Herman Melville, Lewis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times
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