David Barash has a thought provoking article in the Chronicle of Higher Education comparing our relationship to the natural world to a giant Ponzi scheme. Hence the title, We are all Madoffs. Heres a sample:Make no mistake: Our current relationship to the world ecosystem is nothing less than a pyramid scheme, of a magnitude that dwarfs anything ever contemplated by Charles Ponzi, who, before Madoff, was the best-known practitioner of that dark art. Modern civilization's exploitation of the natural environment is not unlike the way Madoff exploited his investors, predicated on the illusion that it will always be possible to make future payments owing to yet more exploitation down the road: more suckers, more growth, more GNP, basedas all Ponzi schemes areon the fraud of "more and more," with no foreseeable reckoning, and thus, the promise of no comeuppance, neither legal nor economic nor ecologic. At least in the short run.Its hard to think of oneself as a Bernie Madoff, but its also hard to dispute Barashs basic point that we live lavishly today at the expense of humanitys future.You can read the entire article here.