Publisher's Synopsis
Throughout history, one can make connections to sustainability through the interpretation of a simple three-legged stool. Each leg represents a tenet of sustainability: environmental resilience, economic responsibility, social justice. In order for the stool to be stable, each leg must be the same length; if one or more legs is shorter than the others, the stool will wobble, becoming unstable. This is a familiar scenario throughout history, the Earth's inhabitants taking advantage of the environment and each other for economic gain.Feasted Landscrapes: Sustainability in American Topics provides excerpts from many sources that illustrate the history of un-sustainability in the New World from the time of colonization through the Civil War and the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. A simple example lies in the fur trade, where European colonists traded goods with Native Americans for beaver pelts. Seemingly innocuous on the surface, the trade pattern bolstered the wealth of a few at the expense of entire ecosystems.The wealth of resources available in the North American continent were carved up and decimated, wreaking havoc on the land and its natural capital. Timber, deer, beavers, water they all became commodities to be bought and sold with no consideration for the effects in either the future or simply downstream.According to Ted Steinberg, the good fortunes of a few came at great expense. The new trade mechanisms transformed the landscape of North America and these continue, almost unabated, today.It was a New World. And we continue to make the same mistakes today.
