The Shadow of Progress

How can a river possibly be declared a fire hazard? Did you know that when this was made there was an average of one car per family in Western Europe and one car per person, almost, in the USA? Those are the kind of fairly brutal statistics conveyed in this BP produced documentary that tries to remind us that food is the thing that connects us all and that mankind’s never ending expansion is only going to compromise the availability of that for ourselves and for millions of other living creatures. From polluted waterways upon which you’d not need to be Jesus to walk through to skies described as “sewers”, we are shown just how impactful our machinery is on the landscape and ancient habitats the world over. Water and air are the two resources that we can never actually run out of - but we can ensure that what there is is so toxic that it’s of no use to anyone anymore, and with bigger cities, wider highways, more affordable air travel and greater encroachment on land and sea, this uses a wide selection of archive to rather portentously suggests that we have to get our house in order before there is nothing left. Of course, the narration does make the point that a lot of the solution will rely on there being a political will and money available, and it extols the efforts of the private sector in investing millions in clean up operations so don’t expect impartiality on those fronts, but as an observation of just what we were doing to the world fifty-odd years ago, this still packs quite a punch.