Spretnak, Charlene. "The Ecological-Postmodern Imperative in China." in Ecological Civilzation and Marxism. Ed. Huibin Li, Xiaoyuan Xue, Zhihe Wang. China: Central Compilation & Translation Press, 2007.190-197.

Abstract

How did China, the United States, and the rest of the modern world arrive at such an advanced state of ecological crisis? The polar ice caps are melting; the oceans are saturated with carbon dioxide; and global warming is drying up previous sources of potable water in arid regions around the world. If you were observing modern societies from after, would you not find it exceedingly odd that he mounting damage to our life-support systems-our soil, water, and air-was not stopped long ago and, instead, was allowed to become increasingly critical until the destruction of Earth's processes have become, in many areas, irreparable? We do not seem able to see and register the significance of what is right in front of us. It is as if our perception and cognitive processes were truncated in some way that makes it impossible for us to take the obviously needed actions. Why is the actual, material condition of nature almost invisible to us?