The Real Cost of Development

Bam@Safiah Aziz, a niece of mine, died early yesterday morning. She had successfully defeated cancer, only to succumb to fungal infection of the heart. The 'tahlil' (prayers) held for the closest family was a stark realization of the fragility of life and "the courage for the changing of the guards" (Bob Dylan). Are we, that is the surviving nieces - Saadah, Sa'diah, Sabrina - and I, ready to take on the mantle of the Matriarchs?
Our loss inevitably prompts us to reassess our roles, our priorities, and to reflect on the gift of life and celebrate life while we are alive. "... life is not what happens to you but what you make of what happens to you. Everyone dies, but not everyone fully lives. Too many people are having "near-life experiences". Which brings me to the often distorted 'meaning' of living our life to the fullest, and in relation to that, the 'meaning' of development for all kinds of life.
Recently, I watched a show on Animal Planet about a conservationist's experience in being a surrogate mother to two orphaned baby dear, Jewel and Jake, whose mothers were killed either by a bear or poachers in Alaska. And just prior to that, was another touching story about orphaned tiger cubs who walked into a temple compound in Northeastern Thailand and the lives of the monks there. Their mothers were also killed by poachers.
And just today, I received this message from my gnusletter@care2.com:
"I want to tell you about a hungry mother polar bear swimming to find dinner on what should have been nearby ice. She swam farther and farther from shore, lost energy, and finally drowned as her cubs desperately searched for her along the shore.
Why are polar bears drowning? According to new research, average summer temperatures have increased by two or three degrees off the north coast of Alaska since the 1950s. Rising temperatures mean that polar bears are forced to take long voyages as the ice flows from which they feed melt, become smaller, and drift farther apart.
Help save a polar bear like this one by taking action against global warming!"
Yes, LKY, what is the meaning of being "successful and hardworking", if it is at the expense of other living beings and your own family members? I really don't mind being "unsuccessful" and practicing a "soft, lethargic" culture, rather than accumulating wealth from gambling, vice, drug and other illegal or ruthless activities. Certainly not to purchase more air-polluting vehicles, land-eroding hillside residences, mindless technological gadgets, meaningless pursuits, so on and so forth.
As a parting gift, allow me to share this enlightening piece on "a decentralized, ecologically and socially sustainable model of development".
The Cost Of Development: The "great commercial" of Western industrialization
advertises a product of dubious value
www.context.org/ICLIB/IC25/NHodge.htm
Salam Alaikum.