tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611639517962742486.post8559513241775036174..comments2024-03-09T12:20:24.017-08:00Comments on We Live In A Political World: #64 / This LandGary A. Pattonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15049925834933920507noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3611639517962742486.post-37244060891675106182014-03-05T09:17:27.180-08:002014-03-05T09:17:27.180-08:00This song has always bothered me.
"This land...This song has always bothered me.<br /><br />"This land," whether "land" refers to the physical landscape or the human built infrastructure and societal systems, was not "made" for you and me.<br /><br />"This land," meaning the landscape and all its inhabitants, was not "made." It arose of itself, not for any one species, not for you and me. We are a part of "this land," but not the "owner" part, any more than the hummingbird or the bison. This land was made "of" you and me, not for us.<br /><br />If "this land" means the human modifications to the landscape, the overweening proliferation of human infrastructure and social systems, then these are most certainly not made for you and me. They are made for the profit of the few, not the benefit of the many.<br /><br />I think this second interpretation is what Woody Guthrie had in mind, that all humans are legatees of all human culture, that the human world should not benefit the few at the expense of the many.<br /><br />Unfortunately, this leaves out the rest of all life on the planet, which suffers far more at the busy hands of this one profligate species.Michael A. Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04980105313542633114noreply@blogger.com