AS YOU may have noticed, these book excerpts have so far begun with and included only the words of their author, R.D. Lawerence. For this book, Cry Wild makes an exception.
For it should be acknowledged that while some of the poisons and industrial methods detailed in this book have, in some countries, been curtailed or mitigated, the core message of The Poison Makers remains absolutely and urgently relevant — 52 years after its initial publication.
R.D. Lawrence pulls absolutely no punches in this book which he described as a “tragic record of waste and destruction and death.” And yet, it is not wholly grim reading but rather a frank and unsparing account of the mess humans are making of the natural world – and the ecological systems all life depends on.
Yes, the truth can be messy and difficult and tiring, yet through R.D. Lawrence’s unblinking telling it is never tiresome. Don’t let his unapologetic and direct approach drag you down or put you off. Instead, take up his call to speak truth to power and unfettered greed.
Because The Future, Earth’s children, human and wild alike, are counting on us to take heart and heed the challenge R.D. Lawrence posed with the following question…
“How does one hammer the principles of conservation into the thick skulls of an uncaring multitude?
How do I tell you that you are a reckless killer, that you are a selfish person intent only on your own small circle of life? Do I even have the right to tell you these things? I do not know wether I have the answer to the first questions, but as to the last one, yes I do have the right to tell you these things. I have the right because I, too, am an inhabitant of this world and I have a right to my share of it and you and countless others like you are threatening my rights and the rights of my decedents.
You see, I too, am selfish. I am now thinking about myself. But I can claim in all honesty that my concern for this world of ours is only equal to my concern for the creatures that live upon it, creatures that you are guilty of destroying, often for no better reason that they have been unfortunate enough to get in your path. So to try to make you understand the danger and the error of your present ways I am writing this book and I don’t propose to pull any punches during the course of it.
Of course there will be criticism of The Poison Makers and there will be those who will set out to prove that I am wrong in almost everything that I have documented here. This is to be expected, for this narrative is bucking Business as well as Government, and I do not have at my disposal the “experts” that certain vested interests keep handy for occasions such as the publication of this book. Pet scientists, I call them. They are of the breed that attempted to sabotage the work of Rachel Carson. For a fat salary and an easy job these minions of the mighty will come tumbling out of their hiding places to run snapping at my heels. The name of this game is Blind Them With Science, or Discredit The Author and The Public Won’t Know What to Believe.
But now I feel that their howls of outrage will fall upon ears that have of recent times become more educated to the dangers of pollution and thus I don’t give one good damn for these tame pundits.” — R.D. Lawrence
“The Poison Makers” (c) 1969 By R.D. Lawrence ISBN B002R8BEC6
Cry Wild 