What is Sustainability?

So what is this "sustainability" thing that is such a good idea? 

Well, I have found it hard to define, and even harder to live.   I struggle to see it clearly, to simplify what seems complex, and to apply it in my daily life.

Listing the things that I want to sustain helps me, but the list is very long.  It includes sunny days, baseball at the old ball yard, doing work that matters, friends and family, movies in theatres, freedom to go into the wilderness, political freedom, freedom of speech and religion, the rule of law, the ability to create wealth through individual effort, wild places with wild animals and plants that I may never see, a good income, a nice car and house, a microwave oven, and on and on.   There are items on it that conflict,  I can't have all of them, so I must decide priorities - trade one for the other. 

Sometimes, by choosing one thing for myself it means others cannot have something on their list.  There are not enough resources on earth for everyone to live as I do.  And not just the amount of things I consume, but also, the diversity.  Most of the food I eat, the clothes I wear, the gasoline I burn is not from where I live.  It is brought from other places I have never been by people I do not know.  Not everyone can do this.

And, what of that great mysterious thing called the environment - animals, plant, insects -  all with their own ideas about sustainability.   Each with its own priorities.  The choices I make from my list of things to sustain affect their ability to sustain their lives and species.  Of course, I do not have to look them in the eye, or negotiate their demise.  Others do that for me.   They clear the forests, dam the rivers, fish the seas, irrigate the land, and package the food.  These others help me sustain the life I have chosen and I do not know the impact on the land because I do not see it.

So, deciding what to sustain carries a huge responsibility.   I must be conscious of what is lost.  What is lost within my list, and by the other lives who do not even know I am choosing for them also.  It is so very important that the choices be made consciously.  I must  have the courage to face the decisions and know what they mean.  I must look in the eyes of the elephant whose ivory I want and tell him my need for his tusks is greater than his need for his life.  I must look in the eyes of the woman who cannot breathe and say that my need to drive my car is greater than her need for clean air.