Nathan Rowley, Epilogue, Question 5

The most interesting part of the epilogue to me was at the very end when Charles Wheelan introduces a quote from Simon Johnson, who "noted, 'Overborrowing always ends badly, whether for an individual, a company, or a country.' During the first decade of the new millennium, three parties borrowed heavily: consumers, financial firms, and the U.S. government. So far, two have paid a huge price for that leverage. Is there another shoe to drop?" The culture of limitlessness that Wendell Berry speaks of is the cause of such overborrowing, and two of the three levels of society in this nation have already seen the consequences. And although the U.S. is still within a zone of relative safety with the size of its debt, the country will eventually fall if society continues to blind itself to its own limits.

The fourth and largest level of society, that of humanity in its entirety, is also overborrowing, in this case from the planet. The agreement that was just ratified in Paris is a step in the right direction, but as with the U.S. debt, it will fail if countries do not take Earth's tolerances seriously.

Tens of thousands of years ago, Homo Sapiens evolved and humanity entered its infancy. We developed agriculture and settled in villages, which grew into kingdoms and empires as humanity entered childhood. Young children don't like to share, and so it was with the various groups of humans for more thousands of years. The Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution brought us into our adolescence, and we engaged in risky and rebellious behavior just like teenagers: we chewed the rainforests like tobacco, and we experimented with different social norms (each generation seems to have their own set). We also learned a lot through science and other areas of study, just as you and me are learning now in high school. Now we are about to enter adulthood, and assume the responsibilities that come with it; it is time for humanity to do the same.