Final Part of Lost Mountain

I believe the difference in the two minds explained by Berry is simply the difference between the coal mining companies and the local population. The rational mind belongs to the coal companies because it says within the rational mind profit is the bottom mind. Obviously the coal miners are not interested in much else than gaining profit the coal. Another important point is that the rational mind is explained as individualism and this is an important point because many times in the book Reece refers to the importance of community and the lack there of within the coal mining industry, but that sense of community is one of the things that keeps the local population strong. The sympathetic mind favors the organic and the wild which is obviously siding with the local population whose main concern is the preservation of their local environment.

The first example the last part of the book where Reece exhibits his sympathetic mind is when he participates in the RFK in EKY. This really gives Reece an opportunity to experience firsthand the true interests of the local people and the pride they have in their land. The visit of Robert Kennedy was a big sign of hope for the local population because they were finally getting the sort of national attention that they deserved. Normally politicians sided with big business and the coal companies but the RFK visit exemplified the slow progress the effort was making. The second example of where Reece uses his sympathetic mind is when he files a complaint with the coal mining company. Reece explains this as one of the only true resources a normal citizen has against the coal companies. This was a significant part of the book because Reece had observed the effects of strip mining by himself and with other locals but not standing side by side with the people who were causing such devastation. Even though Reece came to this story as a journalist, it is obvious he truly cares about the situation.

The quote that really stuck with me towards the end of the book was “As a consumer-driven culture, we have chosen to no longer think of the world as God-given. It’s too convenient. Instead, here in Kentucky, our forests and streams are supposed to be protected by a Department of Natural Resources, because that’s all we see them as—simply a resource” (230). This quote really hit home with me because I am absolutely guilty of thinking the earth as simply a resource as I have said in an earlier blog. I think we do have the right to utilize the earth to fit our needs however this book is proof, with an undeniable composition of evidence, of the negative effects that sort of thinking has on the environment. Reece goes on to say that we forget to see the “value” in the world and that we don’t appreciate what the natural landscape has been put on this earth for, for us to enjoy it, not profit from it. We as a human race see the world as a means to an end. Once that end is met, we no longer care about or appreciate what we have just utilized. We have gained our profit and if we have destroyed an ecosystem, so be it. As I have said in an earlier blog, the reason many people put up with such treatment of our environment is because of what we demand as a race. We put up with strip mining because we demand energy and a cheap and efficient rate and strip mining for coal is one of the most efficient ways to meet that end. So the issue becomes not whether or not to simply care or not care about the environment, but the way we live our lives.