Wendell Berry: INTEGRATIVE HUMAN BEING

What We Need Is Here

Geese appear high over us,

pass, and the sky closes.

Abandon, as in love or sleep,

holds them to their way,

clear in the ancient faith:

what we need is here.

And we pray, not for new earth or heaven,

but to be quiet in heart, and in eye, clear.

What we need is here.

Wendell Berry

Dan Carraco:
Critics and scholars have acknowledged Wendell Berry as a master of many literary genres, but whether he is writing poetry, fiction, or essays, his message is essentially the same: humans must learn to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the earth or perish. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, which analyzes the many failures of modern, mechanized life, is one of the key texts of the environmental movement, but Berry, a political maverick, has criticized environmentalists as well as those involved with big businesses and land development. In his opinion, many environmentalists place too much emphasis on wild lands without acknowledging the importance of agriculture to our society. Berry strongly believes that small-scale farming is essential to healthy local economies, and that strong local economies are essential to the survival of the species and the well-being of the planet. In an interview with New Perspectives Quarterly editor Marilyn Berlin Snell, Berry explained: "Today, local economies are being destroyed by the 'pluralistic,' displaced, global economy, which has no respect for what works in a locality. The global economy is built on the principle that one place can be exploited, even destroyed, for the sake of another place."

Berry further believes that traditional values, such as marital fidelity and strong community ties, are essential for the survival of humankind. In his view, the disintegration of communities can be traced to the rise of agribusiness: large-scale farming under the control of giant corporations. Besides relying on chemical pesticides and fertilizers, promoting soil erosion, and causing depletion of ancient aquifers, agribusiness has driven countless small farms out of existence and destroyed local communities in the process.

 

CAREER

Writer and farmer. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Wallace Stegner writing fellow, 1958-59, lecturer, 1959-60, visiting professor, 1968-69; New York University, New York, NY, lecturer, 1962-64; University of Kentucky, Lexington, member of faculty, 1964-70, distinguished professor of English, 1971-72, professor of English, 1973-77, 1987-93; farmer, 1993—.