Thoreau is a brilliant connoisseur of nature however, he contradicts himself a little by making such a huge difference between nature and the insane man-made world: if we accept that we all are part of nature then nothing about humanity can be consider artificial.
It is a universe’s natural tendency to get more complex throughout time (like the minerals which evolved into live beings) thus our lives and inventions, yet unnecessarily and unhealthily complex, are but just another way for nature to express itself; in essence everything (even our idiocy) is natural.
The main problem with our dreadful superficial lifestyle it is not just that it make us being in a constant existential exasperation but also that we are contaminating the only home we have, our planet.
For us, as a specie, is going to be a vital question whether we are able to change our mentality and live in harmony with the planet or kill ourselves by making the Earth uninhabitable.
Our survival depends on our capacity to create an economic and social system grounded in a new set of values that reflects Thoreau’s ideas of simplicity, love and respect for nature, and personal development.
However, we will not probably get serious about ecology until some major catastrophe hit the developed world, then we may assume that something needs to change; meanwhile the vast majority of us will keep worshiping our IPhones and throwing trash to the sea.
If people lived in “quiet desperation” in 1854 how are we living now?
Nowadays the situation has got even worse: many people live miserably working long hours for little money and many of those who are economically stable live depressed in conformity, feeling lost, without purpose.
However it is not such a big deal after all: we like to think that there are some ways of living better than others, but in reality there are not rules for living, happiness and sorrow are just two sides of the same coin.
Life is life, go and live it.
March 2016
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