The present rhetorical climate labels humans as “consumers”, which is true to a degree, but we are much more than just consumers. The value in such a label being used as the most apt for humans merely furthers the environmentalist’s agenda and miscasting of humans as intruders into an otherwise pristine universe.
The formula goes like this; the environment is damaged when there is an increase in population, affluence, and technology. The damage is caused from depleted resources and the emission of pollution. This formula was espoused by Paul Ehrlich in his 1968 book, The Population Bomb, which predicted in no uncertain terms that population would grow at such an enormous rate that hundreds of millions of people would die from famine. Although this did not happen, his formula ((A repetition of the Malthusian Catastrophe argument)) is still relied upon by those who seek to stifle capitalism and eliminate human beings through the barbarism of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.
His equation, like that of other environmental alarmists and catastrophists, ignores the human component of being a producer as well as a consumer. For example, “While the population grew [in the United States] by 19% from 1976 to 1994, the index of air pollution fell by 53 percent. During the same time, affluence tripled, and technology also increased dramatically, with more and more computerization and automation not only in industry and commerce but even in private homes.” ((Environmental Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition, (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Acton Institute, 2007), p82))
They fail to consider man’s enormous contribution to life by his use of the natural resources. They see only a consumer and miss that man is created in the image of God. Beware when you are referred to as merely a consumer and be quick to remind yourself and others that you should be most readily known as a producer.
