I think Rod is right when he suggests that the narrator was actually referring to "old growth" or "virgin" forest. I couldn't find the source of the statistic she cited, but from looking at these maps it doesn't seem like it would be that far off.
I don't know how any video or movie or book could really unpack all the complexity that is our modern economy and way of life, get all the details straight, and be even-handed.
One thing I took away from the video is that my choices impact myself and others in ways I am only dimly aware. The video put this in the context of consumerism, but where it convicts me is in self-centeredness. The treadmill consumption cycle in the video (watch TV, get depressed, buy stuff to feel better, go to work to make money to buy stuff, get tired, watch TV...) exposes what is intrinsically a self-absorbed "Make me feel better" lifestyle... a lifestyle I grew up in and have been struggling to escape on many levels. The video demonstrates how a demand to feel better leads to choices that are both subtle and destructive.
Sometimes I think it's tempting to get overwhelmed and decide that every choice I make is going to hurt somebody or screw something up, so why bother to try and change. I conclude, like Ecclesiastes, it's all meaningless. Thanks Kelsea for that connection, and the reminder that the truth is for us to trust God, savor the life God has given us for what it is, be thankful, and be content.
The narrator wants us to think about the choices we make and think about how to change our lifestyles to be more regenerative than linear. I think this connects strongly with the Christian notion of stewardship. Now we can (and possibly should) buy organic and recycle and bike to work and refrain from taking more than our share, but apart from Jesus these things are meaningless... just like any other good work performed apart from him.
What makes me kinda sad, though, is that the ideas of how to be good stewards, the warnings that `Wait a minute, something is wrong here', aren't coming from God's people. So if someone should become concerned about our unsustainable way of life, where will they turn for answers? |