By Selwyn Duke

Below is an interesting little documentary about leftists (though they're not called that in the film) who've left the West to live in South American jungles. Don't get me wrong, as a nature lover, I certainly see the appeal, though I wouldn't want to attach myself to any of the wacko groups in question. But A few things should be pointed out.

First, "sustainability" is emphasized by these people. But living off the land (assuming that's what they're actually doing) is only sustainable if practiced by extremely small populations. One square mile is required for one person to live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, so one billion people couldn't do it in the Americas. 

Second, the documentarian, Ben Zand, states at the film's end that these expat jungle dwellers were getting "the truth they always wanted." But he misuses the term "truth," which, properly defined, references something objective. The word he was looking for is "perspective." He also says that the problems of the outside world have a way of intruding into paradise, but they're not the problems of the "outside world." They're the problems of our inner world. Man's nature doesn't change just because he enters a jungle. 

On a more mundane note, "paradise" sounds great until some microorganism works its way up your urethra or some other orifice and you develop a devastating disease or a worm that grows in your brain. Then you'll desperately haul your anti-Western butt to the nearest Western doctor posthaste — assuming you still can move.