The Purpose of KenKifer.com

Henry Thoreau wrote, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." The root cause of much of the good and the ill found in our society can be traced to our culture, a culture that both gives us much to be proud of and much to be alarmed about. Right now, there's evidently wide belief that cultural reform is impossible, so the solution to traffic problems must come about through improved roads, the solution to school problems must come about through greater security, and the solution to health problems must come about through better medicines. In my opinion, these solutions and others like them, while of value, are not going to solve the present problems and will not prevent future problems. I believe that cultural change is not only possible but absolutely necessary and can happen within a short period of time. I think that people have a great desire to see real changes taking place in their lives and in their society. The purpose of this web site is to encourage people to rethink their current cultural attitudes.

To me, there is a crisis that outweighs all others. Mankind has been embarked on a project of exploiting Nature for personal enrichment for generations; in fact, civilization itself, despite many good points, is in essence a turning away from Nature. I fully believe that man is designed to be a part of Nature and that our turning away has created major problems for us. But back to my point, our population has grown and our exploitation has encreased to the point where whole ecosystems are in danger of collapsing. In addition, due to the overuse of fossil fuels, our very climate is changing, and as a result, we will not only destroy all the endangered ecosystems but also badly damage the food sources we are dependent upon. The final choice is not between man and Nature because, if man creates enough damage, the final chapter will not be the end of Nature but the end of man.

However, the situation, although bad, is far from hopeless. Nonetheless, we cannot afford to ignore our own personal contributions to the problem and wait for politicians to find the bravery to force us to do what we will not do ourselves. It is up to us to begin making changes in our lives that will not only make our lives more compatible with the natural world but that will also make our lives more enjoyable and meaningful. Rather than focusing these pages on problems that we must solve, I have decided to focus it on personal solutions that are available. Changes in our diet, our transportation, our personal economy, and our lifestyle can not only contribute our bit towards solving world problems but they can also enrich our lives.

The articles in this website are all written by me and are not to be printed elsewhere, but are provided free here for your education and enjoyment. I'm sure that no one will agree with everything I say, but I do hope that what I say will encourage both thought and change.