Sometimes The Answer Is No

"Our way of life depends not only on cheap, abundant oil but also on a seemingly endless line of credit. Within a single lifetime, the U.S. has gone from creditor nation to debtor nation. The current crisis in the mortgage industry, which threatens to derail the entire economy, derives from the conviction that desire is its own justification. That is, if you want something, you are entitled to it, no matter its cost – and anybody who tells you different is a knave. Politicians of both parties depend on telling this lie.

Technology has aided and abetted our false sense of freedom, leading us to believe that scientists, the sorcerers of a materialist age, will conjure new spells to extend man's mastery of an unruly natural world. The idea that human ingenuity might not be able to save us never seems to cross anybody's mind."

Rod Dreher
Read more...