In looking at development as industrialization, creating products for consumption, we see a point of view that is inaccurate for a lot of people in the world.  As Vandana Shiva points out, industrial development in India has not exactly been a positive force of change.

"... development was thus reduced to a continuation of colonization: It became an extension of the project of wealth creation in modern western patriarchy's economic vision, which was based on the exploitation or exclusion of women (of the west and non west), on the exploitation and degradation of nature, and on the exploitation and erosion of other cultures."

    As you can see, there is nothing about the positive things that industrialization can do for a country in this quote.  Instead, this quote reflects on feelings of oppression, exploitation and degradation.  It does not at all reflect an increase in the standard of living, or quality of life.  In fact it seems to reflect something that is quite the opposite.  It focuses on the idea that industrialization has more negatives attached to it than positives, and that it lacks respect and reverence for people, animals and the environment.

    Part of the problem with the way that development is looked at is that it superimposes western thought and ideas on cultures that are not western.

"...we have learned that the concept of development must include an understanding of, and respect for, the social and cultural environments of developing countries...too many of our earlier projects assumed the existence of western economic behavior on the part of the local population, as well as attitudes and values similar to ours.  To be successful, development must be based on a thorough study of how local people actually think and behave, and of their values and motivations."

    This quote points to the fact that development should focus on the people rather than economic and technological advancement.  In focusing on the people and their culture (rather than trying to superimpose the western ideal on them, and aiming for more technology and greater affluence) a higher level of development will be achieved.

    Often the values of the local population include respect and reverence for the environment.  Because of increased industrialization the space that was once wild space, a home for all sorts of different types of life, gets used up.  Paul Hawkin writes:

"… on the verge of a new millennium we know that we have decimated ninety-seven percent of the ancient rain forests in North America; every day our farmers and ranchers draw out 20 billion more gallons of water from the ground than are replaced by rainfall; the Ogalala Aquifer, an underwater river beneath the great plains larger than any body of fresh water on earth, will dry up within forty years at present rates of extraction; globally we lose 25 billion tons of fertile topsoil every year, the equivalent of all the wheat fields in Australia.  These critical losses are occurring while the world population is increasing at the rate of 90 million people per year.  Quite simply, our business practices are destroying life on earth.  Given current corporate practices, not one wildlife reserve, wilderness, or indigenous culture will survive the global market economy.  We know that every natural system on the planet is disintegrating.  The land, water, air, and sea have been functionally transformed from life-supporting systems into repositories for waste.  There is no polite way to say that business is destroying the world."

    If the world is in this position now, imagine how many more environmental problems there will be as nations continue on the path of industrial development.  It will be very messy and people will die just because the world resources are so messed up that the planet will no longer be able to sustain life.  There are already whole  species that are going extinct because of the actions of man, and continuing on the path that the world is on, the human race will become one of those species as well.

    The environmental problems of the earth do not just relate to damaging the environment, they relate to environmental diversity. Although it is one system, the earth supports a wide diversity of life in the plants and the animals, and in the environments that they live in.  Deforestation, water pollution and ozone depletion have an impact on more than human beings.  The fish are being poisoned, the animals are losing their homes, and because of a lack of space they are dying off.  However, death isn’t the only result of environmental destruction.  Animals such as the Great Pandas of China, and (more locally) the Swift Fox and Burrowing Owl may suffer from gradual changes in their appearance, their health and their ability to reproduce.  Shiva states:

"...many species, even though not yet at the risk of completely disappearing,  are being so severely depleted genetically that their ability to reproduce and adapt is increasingly impaired.  The loss of evolutionary potential is being called 'the death of birth."

    Shiva also talks about the lack of diversity that occurs when growing plants for export that aren't indigenous.  Most plants will only grow in certain parts of the world, and when you import something, say grain, to be grown in a country because it will sell better on the international market, you are losing the agricultural diversity of an area.

"With imported seeds and expertise came the imports of loans and debt and the export of wood, soils and people.  Trees as a living resource, maintaining the life of the soil and water, and of local people, were replaced by trees whose dead wood went straight to a pulp factory hundreds of miles away."

    From this quote we can see that growing imported species for export impacts the environmental diversity, the community, the cultural diversity, and the debt load of a country.  It also ignores and devalues the ideology and beliefs which are inherent in the culture.

    The above quote refers to the environmental diversity in the forest but also that the forest is viewed as a model for people in societal and civil growth.  Valuing diversity in all shapes and forms is inherent in this idea.  Diversity is a very important thing when looking at the global community.  All races have different roots, different cultures and of course different views and values.

    The diversity of the human race is part of what makes it unique.  In looking at preserving that diversity and maintaining cultural identities, development as industrialization is not a positive thing.  Recently a New Delhi court ordered the closing of the city’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet.  India is the leading vegetarian country in the world.  In introducing major chain restaurants, most of which provide only meat products for food, development ignores the value that India has put on not eating meat.  Along with chicken, KFC imports western culture to a part of the world that is not the west and does not hold the same ideals or values as western civilization.  In the west there is a lot of value placed on the production and consumption of goods.  Through exporting the ideals of consumption and the export of products, the west alters the values and ideas of other cultures. As David Suzuki puts  it:

"The astonishing diversity of culture and language of our species has always had is rapidly diminishing this century under the twin assaults of global telecommunications and economics.  From the forests of Papua New Guinea to the Kalahari Desert to the crowded streets of Shanghai and Rio, we can recognize the same singers and Hollywood actors and brand names of running shoes, soft drinks, and radios.  Humanity is becoming monocultured as societies and their surroundings undergo explosive change."

    The point is that, as countries undergo major industrial change, and the technology that they have increases, the way that the culture views things is changed.  The inherent values of the culture change so that they no longer differ from the west in how they approach the world, or in they way they view the environment: "The majority of the people in the world are nonwhite, nonwestern, and nonchristian."

    The west is a minority so they should not try to impose their point of view on the rest of the world.  The industrialized nations and their ideologies are not the whole world, they are merely a part of the complex and diverse human race.

    One possible solution to this is through collectivizing and utilizing the most important elements of the many ideologies that are present in the world.   Through not superimposing the ideology and values of one culture on another, we can foster and maintain the environment and the diversity of the global community.  Chief Seattle said:

"This we know.  The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth.  This we know.  All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.  Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.  Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web he does to himself."

    The global community is an interconnected place.  Everyone is affected by the things that go on.  Conventional development creates environmental problems, and decreases the cultural diversity of the planet.  It is only through taking a good look at the differences in ideas and values, and through changing the developmental approach that the world can be prevented from turning into an assimilated mess.  The environment is something to be cared for; the many forms of diversity something to be proud of.  The approach to development has to change, or it will all be lost. And then what?  Where will the human race be?