The encyclical letter Laudato Si is available here on the Vatican website. Pope Francis cites the need for far-sightedness, and criticizes those seeking to gain the fast buck. But the culture’s laser focus on immediate gratification isn’t confined to the gods of economics.
36. Caring for ecosystems demands far-sightedness, since no one looking for quick and easy profit is truly interested in their preservation. But the cost of the damage caused by such selfish lack of concern is much greater than the economic benefits to be obtained. Where certain species are destroyed or seriously harmed, the values involved are incalculable. We can be silent witnesses to terrible injustices if we think that we can obtain significant benefits by making the rest of humanity, present and future, pay the extremely high costs of environmental deterioration.
Placing profitability a bit further back in the queue is an important value here, even if the “cute” factor is out the window.
Catholic Sensibility 