The Ever More Beautiful World

On a blog that I happened upon, the host lamented the declining beauty of the world.

If you live in a city where graffiti "artists" piss with paint to claim their territory and businesses have been shuttered to escape crime, I suppose this point of view may be understandable.

The writer blamed it on capitalism's emphasis on money as the bottom line.

Even in urban environments, however, God blesses humans with the gift of selective perception, whereby you can choose what among the infinite amount of stimuli you allow to be processed by your brain.

Sometimes, however, your brain needs to get unplugged from that more harsh reality and escape to enjoy a land filled with beauty to the point where your brain overloads on the positive side to get recharged.

It can come with a weekend drive to the country, but better yet is a week or more on the ocean or in the mountains, making occasional visits to a more civilized civilization.

I would argue that as capitalist society has responded to the demand for beauty, and as a result we now live in a more beautiful world.

Gorgeous cruise ships carry us over serene oceans to visit fascinating locales and resorts bloom on seemingly perfect tropical beaches or on gorgeous mountainsides.

Some decry this commercialization as destroying nature, but the truth is that it harnesses nature and makes it more accessible to humanity.

That perfect beach often had tangled seaweed, rotting driftwood eyesores and a terrible stench of decaying neglect before an entrepreneur with vision tamed it into a resort that welcomes thousands of people each year.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear, does it make a sound?

Obviously, whether it does or not is irrelevant.

Similarly, if no one can access the most beautiful mountainside in the world, then whether it is beautiful or not is marginally insignificant.

Loggers harvest timber, helping to manage the forest by preventing random forest fires that waste resources, pollute the air and also create danger for the inhabitants of the forest and surrounding areas.

They build access roads, and someone like Yellowstone Club founder Tim Blixseth, whose mother, incidentally, depended on welfare to make ends meet while raising her son in poverty, may realize that a previously hidden treasure might make a perfect four season resort with ski runs, bike trails and golf course.

In order to maximize the value of the resort requires not only roads and chairlifts but also beautiful architecture that takes advantage of the breathtaking views.

As a result, the world becomes more beautiful.