Ecology with Mike the Bike
A Refuge For Humans
The environment we are creating
is so aggravating, manipulative, and enervating that many
people now need some means of finding solitude and/or privacy
which takes them completely away from the hassles and temptations
of modern culture. A place with something real that has
no television, computers, automobiles, bars, drugstores,
or drug dealers. A quiet, natural, non-commercial preserve
for human emotions which have not been perverted by the
commercial environment. Something which provides beauty,
solitude, excitement and serenity: the American wilderness.
Why are the developers so anxious to chop it down? Because
they sense that the wilderness experience in the hands of
intelligent non-profit organizations does not have to break
your back or your wallet. Simple yet comfortable cabins
for ten or so dollars a night and free transportation within
our parks could provide privacy, beauty, and excitement
without drugs or violence for the average American and provide
security and inspiration for those who are in various crisis
situations. The most beautiful parts of America can be made
accessible, enjoyable, and explorable without hurting the
people or the land.
Instead we spend hundreds of dollars to get there, another
ten to get in, and then sit in a traffic jam staring at
each other. The best way to protect our environment, our
freedom, and our money is to provide cheep, easy, comfortable
access to the most beautiful places in America for any American
citizen willing to give up their TVs and autos for a couple
of days. You should not have to be an athlete or a millionaire
to sleep next America's mountains and rivers.
It is time to forget about Mars and the space station and
use the money to make America's natural beauty available
to everyone. I know there will be no rush back to the land
but why not use a small amount of the public's money to
give natural America back to the public.
If the American public would provide fifty dollar train
trips to any park, free transportation within the park,
and primitive cabins for about ten dollars a night, many
people would have another alternative to dangerous, self-destructive
escapes like drugs or computerized TV vegetable-ism.
Give Americans the real thing cheap; let them see the Tetons,
the Pacific Ocean, the desert, or the Great Lakes without
neighbors, without hassles, without sores on their feet.
The potential benefits of giving people with limited incomes
access to the most beautiful parts of America are many and
vital. Depression and drug addiction are expensive problems,
which are exploited and intensified by the loneliness, danger,
temptation, and aggravation of the urban or suburban environment.
The solitude, privacy and beauty of the natural environment
made comfortable, safe and cheap could easily make the difference
between addiction and violence on the one hand and stability
and self confidence on the other. Just getting away from
the conniving neighbors could make a personal crisis much
less dangerous.
The congestion on our roads would be reduced. The privacy
and beauty of a secluded look at natural America might easily
mend a dysfunctional family or a broken heart. Today's version
of American vacation has probably broken many a marriage
and not too few hearts. A good look at what the original
Americans saw hundreds of years ago could not help but give
greater meaning to America's history. And most importantly,
think for a moment how much more beneficial it must be for
a young mind to contemplate the sun setting behind the glorious
Tetons rather than watching two bit hoods and cops on TV.
The best way to preserve the beauty of America is to give
the average American a good chance to appreciate its importance.
The rich who own so much of it are a fickle lot who could
easily sell it to buy cocaine. The bureaucrats of the Interior
Department just want to keep their jobs. The best way to
preserve natural humans is to give them a refuge from other
humans. As soon as the average American can comfortably
go to sleep next to a secluded waterfall and wake up watching
the sun come up snow-capped mountains and do this without
walking fifty miles or spending half his savings, we will
be closer to a healthier, more beautiful America.
People are much easier to appreciate if you get away from
them. The problems people create are easier to understand
if you can see the world without them. We can protect people
and nature by bringing them together in a 'Refuge for Humans'.
