The essence of the Deep Green way of thinking

. . . entails a questioning of the modernist idea of “progressive” development.

Consider:

When White persons of either sex have been taken prisoners young by the Indians, and lived awhile among them, tho’ later ransomed by their friends and then treated with all imaginable tenderness to prevail with them to stay among the English, yet within a short time they become disgusted with our manner of life, and the care and pains that are necessary to support it; and they take the first good opportunity of escaping back into the woods [to live again with the Indians] — from whence there is no reclaiming them.

— Benjamin Franklin, 1753

Prior to 1492 the vast majority of the indigenous communities of “the Americas” were doing just fine. Across the two continents the various tribes exhibited lifeways that were diverse. Some were fully flourishing, some less so, but in general they were thriving.

In regard to quality of life, what if we conjecture that theirs was, on average, no worse than our own?

Our mindset directs us to think about what’s been gained. Our medicines, our conveniences, our powerful technologies seem to make our lives safer and easier. On the other hand, it may be that our circumstances and our mindsets are such that we can’t appreciate what’s been lost — like community, stability, and a healthy relationship with the natural world.

Is it possible that the Europeans of the 18th century — and us moderns of the 21st century — were/are no happier? Then: If our touted “progress and development” has engendered ecological imbalances and we’ve overall gained little in the way of a better quality of life . . . what have we accomplished?

Or: What have we wrought?