All the world's a stage--but who's watching?

• Author: Congdon, Douglas
• Position: From Readers - Letter to the Editor

Your article about extinctions versus Joe Gibbs, as competing stories in the Washington Post on January 18, 2004 ["Did You Hear the Big News?" May/June], is right on the mark. We glorify that which captures our imagination, without due regard for its long-term effects on our well-being. Now I like Joe, and will be rooting for him and the Washington Redskins in the fall--I'm as human as the next guy when it comes to sports--but I share your concern about our priorities, and know we must act soon, before we reach the tipping points in climate change, extinctions, and other environmental phenomena.

It's the eternal problem captured by one of my favorite quotes: "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things" (Robert Brault). The challenge is distinguishing the big from the little as they are happening, a talent that comes with age and wisdom--clairvoyance helps--or noticing the direction in which events are taking us. Is the tide coming in or going out? Only if we watch for a while will we know--will we see the trend--as your magazine so superbly does.

But acting on that trend is the missing link. And there sports may hold an answer. Why do sports generate such raw emotion and appeal? Because of the drama. That's why athletes are so highly paid--they are performers like Robert Redford and Elizabeth Taylor. But Mother...