--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first…" description: "\"Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century, the money and traditional economies are slowly destroying their own support system. Increasing demands of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/410/stuart-l-hart-64474_agriculture_indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-cent_2776503.jpg" --- # Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century, the money… ![“Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century, the money and traditional economies are slowly destroying their own support system. Increasing demands of the two economies are surpassing the sustainable yields of the ecosystems that underpin them. For example, one-third of the world's cropland is…” quote by Stuart L. Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/410/stuart-l-hart-64474_agriculture_indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-cent_2776503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/410/stuart-l-hart-64474_agriculture_indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-cent_2776503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/410/stuart-l-hart-64474_agriculture_indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-cent_2776503.jpg) > “Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century, the money and traditional economies are slowly destroying their own support system. Increasing demands of the two economies are surpassing the sustainable yields of the ecosystems that underpin them. For example, one-third of the world's cropland is losing topsoil at a rate that is undermining its long-term productivity, fully half of the world's rangeland is overgrazed and deteriorating into desert, and the world's forests have shrunk by about half since the dawn of agriculture and are continuing to shrink.” [Stuart L. Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Economic growth harms ecosystems, demanding sustainable practices to preserve resources. **In simple terms:** Growth harms nature; need sustainability. Key Takeaway Prioritize ecological balance in policies. Themes environment economics sustainability Mood concerned urgent Type environmental strategic When to use this quote - business strategy - government policy - community projects - null Key Concepts systems thinking ecology Questions to Reflect On - How can profit align with ecological health? - What incentives foster sustainable practices? A Different Perspective Economic change may resist sustainability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agriculture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture/) [Dawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dawn/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Ecosystems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecosystems/) [Forests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forests/) [Long term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-term/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Productivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productivity/) [Shrinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrinks/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Support System](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support-system/) [Support systems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support-systems/) [Topsoil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/topsoil/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Globalization in part means that a lot of people are walking into the room and in some cases becoming influential or even dominant voices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/globalization-in-part-means-that-a-lot-of-people-are-walking-into-the/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [What made traditional economies so radically different and so very fundamentally dangerous to Western economies were the traditional principles of prosperity of Creation versus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-adamson/what-made-traditional-economies-so-radically-different-and-so-very/) [Rebecca Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-adamson/) > [When the Europeans first arrived in North America, the average depth of the topsoil was 53.34 cm (1¾ ft) and it was rich in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-hartmann/when-the-europeans-first-arrived-in-north-america-the-average-depth/) [Thom Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-hartmann/) > [We are already engaged in World War III. It is a war against nature, and it is simply no contest. As a result, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-myers/we-are-already-engaged-in-world-war-iii-it-is-a-war-against-nature/) Norman Myers > [Power. What do we mean? 'The ability to determine another man's luck.' ...how is it that some men attain mastery over others while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/power-what-do-we-mean-the-ability-to-determine-another-man-s-luck-how/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Your topsoil's a disaster area — it's starved for nitrogen, it's been fertilized for years by the criminally insane, and whatever thief put in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-s-beagle/your-topsoil-s-a-disaster-area-it-s-starved-for-nitrogen-it-s-been/) [Peter S. Beagle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-s-beagle/) > [The essential role of the environment is still marginal in discussions about poverty. While we continue to debate these initiatives, environmental degradation, including the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/the-essential-role-of-the-environment-is-still-marginal-in/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [“It turns out that accelerated topsoil formation is doable, with the tools required as modest as livestock, hole digging, organic amendments, and simple cultivation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-d-schwartz/it-turns-out-that-accelerated-topsoil-formation-is-doable-with-the/) [Judith D. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-d-schwartz/) > [Nations endure only as long as their topsoil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cantwell-wallace/nations-endure-only-as-long-as-their-topsoil/) Henry Cantwell Wallace > [Topsoil is a place of digestion. It sucks and chews things into smaller pieces. When it's hungry, it turns grey and stony; when it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/topsoil-is-a-place-of-digestion-it-sucks-and-chews-things-into/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [“the overburden like that they’ve turned the geology upside down. Topsoil is on the bottom and rock that was on the bottom is now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baldacci/the-overburden-like-that-they-ve-turned-the-geology-upside-down/) [David Baldacci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baldacci/) > [God must be a smell, one of those delicious dreamy aromas that float into the soul on the warm hopeful days of spring. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-prechtel/god-must-be-a-smell-one-of-those-delicious-dreamy-aromas-that-float/) [Martin Prechtel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-prechtel/) > [Man — despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments — owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-harvey/man-despite-his-artistic-pretensions-his-sophistication-and-his-many/) [Paul Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-harvey/) > [Moss is inconceivably strong. Moss eats stone; scarcely anything, in return, eats moss. Moss dines upon boulders, slowly but devastatingly, in a meal that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/moss-is-inconceivably-strong-moss-eats-stone-scarcely-anything-in/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [There’s nothing under the ground that’s worth more than the little layer of topsoil sitting on top of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/there-s-nothing-under-the-ground-that-s-worth-more-than-the-little/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by Stuart L. Hart > [Roughly two billion people participate in the money economy, with less than half of those living in the wealthy countries of the developed world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/roughly-two-billion-people-participate-in-the-money-economy-with-less/) [Stuart L. Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/) > [For those who believe that ecological disaster will somehow be averted, it must also be clear that, over the next decade or so, sustainable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/for-those-who-believe-that-ecological-disaster-will-somehow-be/) [Stuart L. Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/) > [Although population and consumption are societal issues, technology is the business of business. If economic activity must increase tenfold over what it is today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/although-population-and-consumption-are-societal-issues-technology-is/) [Stuart L. Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/) > [The money economy thus leaves a large ecological footprint, defined as the amount of land and resources required to meet a typical consumer's needs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/the-money-economy-thus-leaves-a-large-ecological-footprint-defined-as/) [Stuart L. Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/) [Explore all 5 Stuart L. Hart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/) ## More Agriculture quotes > [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [As the first Member of Congress from western Washington to serve on the House Agriculture Committee in over 50 years, I am proud to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-larsen/as-the-first-member-of-congress-from-western-washington-to-serve-on/) [Rick Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-larsen/) > [Conventional agriculture has never succeeded in feeding the world, and it's never produced anything good to eat. For the future, we need to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barber/conventional-agriculture-has-never-succeeded-in-feeding-the-world-and/) [Dan Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barber/) > [I would say my fraternity was nothing but a bunch of farm boys; we weren't really in the whole fraternity scene, but yeah, that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/i-would-say-my-fraternity-was-nothing-but-a-bunch-of-farm-boys-we/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [I grew up in Italy, and our country is a country of great agriculture and food produce. It wasn't like I was urban and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/i-grew-up-in-italy-and-our-country-is-a-country-of-great-agriculture/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [Farmers, get out your sense of humor. Congress meets to relieve you again next week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/farmers-get-out-your-sense-of-humor-congress-meets-to-relieve-you/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Because Iran understands Afghanistan far better than Americans do, making Iran a partner in a long-term effort to transform Afghan agriculture makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/because-iran-understands-afghanistan-far-better-than-americans-do/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Sara Scherr and Jeff McNeely have given us a thoughtful, sensible book about a topic of great importance to the world. There is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-serageldin/sara-scherr-and-jeff-mcneely-have-given-us-a-thoughtful-sensible-book/) [Ismail Serageldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-serageldin/) > [People want development, modern thinking. They want to encourage and support research in agriculture and other fields.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharad-pawar/people-want-development-modern-thinking-they-want-to-encourage-and/) [Sharad Pawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharad-pawar/) > [Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn into food, has in no small measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/growing-corn-which-from-a-biological-perspective-had-always-been-a/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [When politicians talk of loan waiver, they are accepting that agriculture is not economically viable. They are giving a wrong signal that farming is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-swaminathan/when-politicians-talk-of-loan-waiver-they-are-accepting-that/) [M. S. Swaminathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-s-swaminathan/) > [Nitrogen-based fertilizers, which came into wide use after World War II, helped prompt the agricultural revolution that has allowed the Earth to feed its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-schlossberg/nitrogen-based-fertilizers-which-came-into-wide-use-after-world-war/) [Tatiana Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-schlossberg/) > [Agriculture is one economic activity that does not obey the laws of demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/agriculture-is-one-economic-activity-that-does-not-obey-the-laws-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [More than a mere alternative strategy, regenerative agriculture represents a fundamental shift in our culture’s relationship to nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/more-than-a-mere-alternative-strategy-regenerative-agriculture/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) [Browse all 889 Agriculture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agriculture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century, the money and traditional economies are slowly destroying their own support system. Increasing demands of the two economies are surpassing the sustainable yields of the ecosystems that underpin them. For example, one-third of the world's cropland is losing topsoil at a rate that is undermining its long-term productivity, fully half of the world's rangeland is overgrazed and deteriorating into desert, and the world's forests have shrunk by about half since the dawn of agriculture and are continuing to shrink.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stuart L. Hart" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-century-the-money-and-traditional/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Agriculture" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-century-the-money-and-traditional/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/410/stuart-l-hart-64474_agriculture_indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-cent_2776503.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/410/stuart-l-hart-64474_agriculture_indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-cent_2776503.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/410/stuart-l-hart-64474_agriculture_indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-cent_2776503.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century, the money and traditional economies are slowly destroying…” — Stuart L. Hart", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stuart L. Hart", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-l-hart/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-century-the-money-and-traditional/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-l-hart/indeed-as-we-begin-the-twenty-first-century-the-money-and-traditional/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```