Virtues of Renewal

For over fifty years, Wendell Berry has argued that our most pressing ecological and cultural need is a renewed formal intelligence—a mode of thinking and acting that fosters the health of the earth and its beings. Yet the present industrial economy prioritizes a technical, self-centered way of relating to the world that often demands and rewards busyness over thoughtful observation, independence over relationships, and replacing over repairing. Such a system is both unsustainable and results in