The era of the colonists was one of wonder and exploration.  Imagine the awe-inspiring feeling of landing on a massive new continent, never before mapped or seen by a European person.  Seeing a social structure that greatly differed from their own, the colonists did not deem the Native Americans “civilized” and in their wide-eyed greed claimed the vast expanses of rich and fertile land for themselves.  In the eyes of the colonists, all of this land was simply an enormous bonanza to be utilized as they wished.  This habitual hegemony of less powerful peoples and unresisting environments practiced by Colonial era European nations is well documented.  Consequently, it should be of no surprise that those elements of the environment that seemed superfluous were either discarded or altered to fit the needs of the colonists.

Although the fundamental value system of earlier civilized nations was flawed, I think that part of the impetus for these destructive tendencies in colonial America was the most basic of all urges: the need for survival.  In order to acclimate to a strange environment with a relatively difficult living situation, the colonists resorted to whatever means they thought would help them flourish and survive.  It is obvious that the colonists did not have the technical wherewithal or the mindset to be concerned with potential damages that were inflicted on the environment.

While our intellectual and scientific capabilities may have dramatically improved since the times of the colonists, our values have not.  We cannot be afforded the same leniencies that are granted to our ancestors because, put simply, we know better.  Even with our knowledge of the havoc we wreak on our environment, we as a society continue our opportunistic harvesting of our planet’s resources with myopia more severe than that of our predecessors.  We can either continue to be aware of, but neglect the consequences of our actions or use the knowledge that we have been blessed enough to acquire as a tool to repair the damage we have caused.