Archaeology and genetic analysis of remains place the arrival of humans to the Americas at somewhere around 15,000 years ago across an ephemeral land bridge connecting Asia to North America. A gradual warming of the climate melted ice caps to raise sea levels, which eliminated the land bridge and stopped the first immigration wave soon thereafter. If we define a generation as 30 years, that calculates to about 500 generations ago. The 500 years since Columbus’ landing in 1492 AD, marking the beginning of the second and continuing wave of human immigration, is only 17 generations. The indigenous population of North America at that time has been estimated to be as low as 8 million to as much as 112 million.

The present population of North America is estimated to be 367 million. Since the indigenous population was reduced to about 6 million (about the present population of Colorado) within 5 generations of the beginning of the present wave of immigration, we can compare the care of the environment exercised by these two waves of immigration. The first immigrants spread through North and South America and differentiated into about 500 separate nations (cultures). Some remained as hunter-gatherers while others developed agriculture and division of labor. Generally the ontological view of reality of these cultures was: We are a part of what we see, if we do violence to what we see then we do violence to ourselves. As a result, over the generations of their hegemony little modification of their environs was effected.

The second wave of immigration brought also a different ontology. These new arrivals brought with them a view, mainly from the Christian religions, that humans were superior to all other life forms and were bestowed by their creator with dominance over them and the environs. From Enlightenment thinking they developed an opinion that the individual has precedence and agency. Thus, the ontological view is: What I see is mine, and I can do with it what I want. A weak caveat cautions that along with dominion comes a caretaker’s responsibility.

Some nine generations ago was the birth of The United States as a nation which quickly grew to include a large portion of the North American continent. Coincident with this was the development of technology which enabled the controlled release of energy by the combustion of carbon-based fuels. To obtain these fuels required significant insult to the natural environment, but this new dominant ontology facilitated the commission of this environmental insult.

This insult to the biosphere is not without consequence. Interactions of lifeforms has been affected in ways which have disrupted stabilizing negative feedback loops. The human species has increased its population greatly at the expense of most other life forms. The stability of weather phenomena have been reduced. Record occurrences of extreme weather events are increasing in frequency.

At the same time the paradigm of cultural beliefs is shifting from respect for knowledge and direction from philosophy and liberal arts to a faith in commercial activities fueled by technological refinements being the guiding principle for our “pursuit of happiness.”

I propose that we are at a nexus in our cultural evolution. Will we choose to continue to make our life-affecting decisions based upon an answer to the question could we do it rather than should we do it. As you consider your political decisions which are aggregated into the action plan for our communities, our state and our nation I urge you to consider what future generations (if they materialize) will think of you.