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In December of 1996 I was charged to write a response to William Cronon's essay: "The Trouble with Wilderness." It was first published (I think) in Environmental History, then later anthologized in one of the annual The Best American Essays compilations. I don't know at this time which year. I found the essay to be provocative and written at a level of abstraction I always find myself comfortable with. It contains a number of criticisms of Bill McKibben's environmental arguments, which usually make me seethe. William Cronon is Frederick Jackson Turner Professor of American History at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A Voice of Reason by Rod Nibbe    During an undergraduate year in college, I attended a lecture by Stephen Jay Gould on a topic related to anthropology. While speculating on the evolution of man’s cognitive capacity, Gould suggested that the brain had evolved for purposes that have nothing to do with how it is now used. I had thought, “What the hell is he aiming at?” That premise sounded radical to me, I was unprepared for it and pushed so far into my own thought that I never heard him explicate himself, assuming he did. What Gould had said back then is germane to the consideration of the cognitive gap between man and the next most intelligent mammal. I recalled my uneasiness with Gould’s proposition while reading William Cronon’s essay, The Trouble with Wilderness.    The essay begins with an examination of the spiritual metaphor in the writings of Muir, Thoreau, Wordsworth and others. Contemporary examples include Barry Lopez and Edward Abbey. All these men exhibit in their writing a passion and deep reverence for wilderness, and more broadly, nature in general. What is it, I’ve always wondered, that engages the spirituality of a writer like Thoreau? And what is it that triggers the emotional response of the reader?  Examining the sources of inspiration for these writers, it is tempting to conclude that the emotive influence is western provincialism, a privileged pursuit of free men. Indeed, it may be true. The headquarters of modern global environmentalism is in the United States. As far as I know, no other country in the world is home to more writers of environmental literature. Assuming that to be true, then man’s visceral connection to nature is more the consequence of culture and less natural or evolutionary. But it by no means enjoys universal appeal. In Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey reminds the reader that even in the United States many people regard nature as nothing more than a place to dispose of empty beer cans. Thoreau’s Walden would be lost on those folks.    Cronon’s assertion that wilderness is the creation of a culture that holds it dear will disturb many readers. That claim subverts the notion that man’s existence is inextricably dependent on the conservation and preservation of nature. This core principal of modern environmentalism could be undermined if Cronon’s claim is removed from its context and misunderstood. But, if Cronon is fundamentally correct, then it means, for those who have devoted their lives to the defense of wilderness, facing the exposure of superficiality in their crusade. It means confronting the dreadful alternative of hypocrisy or apostasy.  Far apart from the virtues of protecting wilderness, biological diversity, the oceans, or whatever, is the broader question of what utopian environmentalists, unimpeded, would ultimately wish to achieve. What would the world look like if each of their ideals were achieved without obstacle? Would room remain for man?  If nature is now unnatural, as Cronon suggests, then at some level the incompatibility of man in nature must be confronted and resolved intellectually.     There exists today an eerie and unsettling alliance between environmentalists of every degree and the disciples of Thomas Malthus, the English economist and clergyman whose life spanned the 18th and 19th centuries. Malthus predicted that mankind would perish under its own weight as populations exceeded earth’s capacity for subsistence. There are many contemporary doomsday prognosticators who claim that it is only a matter of time until Malthus is proved correct. It is not uncommon to find these prognosticators at least sympathetic to the utopian environmental movement if not fully active in it. This philosophy is in direct contradiction to a more optimistic philosophy held by those who see no intrinsic limits to mankind’s growth. It is on this battleground where I see Cronon attempting to arbitrate a middle ground of reason. However, if the premises for Malthus’ prediction are not flawed, then the apocalypse is inevitable, and perhaps hurried by removing from inventory land that man may ultimately need to extend his longevity. Understanding that, the real battle ought to be with ourselves over reducing our numbers. Then possibly wilderness would become self-preserving. But how would these limits to growth be accomplished? Who or what will force them (and enforce them)? And in their worldwide campaign to do just that, how do the Malthusians and environmentalists shed the stigma of arrogant Americanism? As Cronon warns, “... [Wilderness] can become an unthinking and self-defeating form of American imperialism.”    Cronon’s morose reminder that nature will persist “ ... after we ourselves have gone the way of all flesh,” regardless of when this occurs, should serve to keep us humble and to keep the debate over wilderness in perspective. And the resulting “self-defeating counsel of despair” he refers to must also be confronted when understanding the consequences of humanitarian efforts worldwide. There is a disquieting contradiction in the goals of humanitarians -- whose efforts ostensibly extend human life and increase mankind’s numbers -- and the enterprise of environmentalism, which seeks to conserve land and thus, presumably, exempt it from human subsistence.    At its root there is a conflict between Third world agrarianism and First world romanticism. A conflict between one people’s hunger for survival and another’s appetite for subliminal wilderness. Cronon is spot on when he refers to this paradox as dualism:                                             If we allow ourselves to believe that nature, to be true, must also be wild,                                             then our very presence in nature represents its fall. The place where we are                                             is the place where nature is not.          Maybe Gould was right. Could it be that the dualism is evidence of nature’s error? Was there a mutation during the evolution of modern man that caused the cognitive capacity of the brain to exceed the intention of nature?  Will man ultimately sacrifice himself at nature’s altar, self-immolate so that she can survive? My college professor thought so. Referring to mankind, he thought that nature had made a mistake. “And,” he concluded “it won’t be long before she corrects it.” What a sobering thought. © Copyright 2008 RKN. Nonsense, distribute widely and freely! Last update: 7/23/2008; 8:30:01 PM.			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