David Bourque's Choice for Best Paragraph

What will become of the human race 50 years from now? Not only the human race, but mother earth itself? As human beings have come more civilized, sophisticated, and technological, we have had an increasingly large impact on earth. Every action has a reaction, and everything we do on this planet affects it in one way or another. In today’s society, where a country’s GDP is a measure of their greatness, we produce goods without care for how our methods of production affect the earth. We have forgotten about the central importance of our ecosystem, opting instead to put the greater emphasis on the “econosystem.” And the results of our actions? We are seeing ever higher national GDP’s, alongside the deterioration of our planet. Farsighted individuals see the consequences of our actions and caution us to change our ways, yet we still do not do enough. It is possible that in the next half century our attitudes will change, yet many people have varying viewpoints on if we are capable. David E. Nye, a believer in the ability of humans to stay away from technological determinism, would most likely say that human civilization 50 years from now will be healthy and growing. Carolyn Merchant, who is not much of an optimist, would probably say that human civilization is headed for doom and gloom. Rachel Carson, who sees great hope in the future of our dealings with nature, would most likely see hope in the future of our existence as well. Although optimism is a virtue, it is in human nature to put the economy ahead of the ecosystem. Humans will continue their course of actions, until it becomes economically advantageous to protect our earth.