A PERFECT WORLD
Not in this Worldy Life
UNTIL recently, people in heavily industrialized areas of the world considered the smoke pouring from their factory chimneys as a sign of prosperity. They saw in it the solution to their problems, and security for the future.
The problem of pollution first reared its head in the 1960s. At that time the Germans tried to deal with it by building colossal chimney stacks, which, it was hoped, would serve to protect the environment. It turned out, however, that this measure only succeeded in spreading pollution farther afield.
Now the destructive properties of the smoke, which used to be considered a sign of prosperity are becoming fully apparent. This smoke contains a high quantity of sulfur dioxide, which is transformed into sulfuric acid in the atmosphere. This sulfuric acid then mixes with the rainfall, and falls to the ground in the form of acid rain. Acid rain is causing immense damage to the environment. A report published by the National Academy of Sciences in America states that in eastern Canada and the northeastern part of the United States, some lakes and streams have been stripped of aquatic life. Scientists are also concerned that acid rain may lead to great releases of soil heavy metals to surrounding ecosystem, posing a potential threat to drinking water supplies.
The perfect world that man desires is destined for another world; only if we seek it there can our dreams be fulfilled. But man’s misfortune is that he seeks perfection in this ephemeral world where experience shows that it cannot be obtained.
The damage is heaviest where industrialization is heaviest. In Germany, for instance, 300,000 acres of trees in Bavaria alone are reported to be suffering from the effects of acid rain. More trees died in Germany in 2020 than in any other previous year. A record 1.7% of the trees under observation died between 2019 and 2020—almost 10 times the average. Vast measures are being proposed to meet this threat, but all of them are either scientifically impractical or economically unfeasible.
What hopes man associated with industrial civilization but how savagely those hopes have been dashed! He thought that industrial civilization would provide the perfect world he longs for, but it has only provided him with more affliction.
Man has been given everything he requires in this world: he feels hungry and he has been given food to satisfy his hunger; he feels thirsty and has been given water to quench his thirst; he feels tired and he has been given sleep to replenish and restore him. There is one thing the man has not been given, and that is the perfect world that he longs for more than anything. The means required for such a perfect world are present in this world, but every time it seems to be within man’s reach, worldly limitations prevent him from achieving it. One can only conclude that the perfect world that man desires is destined for another world; only if we seek it there can our dreams be fulfilled. But man’s misfortune is that he seeks perfection in this ephemeral world where experience shows that it cannot be obtained.