Joni Mitchell wrote the lyrics to Big Yellow Taxi after her first trip to Hawaii and released the single in 1970. The song is a comment on the environmental impact of change. It is easy to identify locally with criticism of the destruction of a natural paradise to build a parking lot but, in an international context, it is also extremely condescending and grossly unfair for those of us living in relatively wealthy countries, built on the exploitation of our own natural resources and environments, to expect others to accept a lower standard of living and more limited development in order to preserve their natural resources for our benefit. However, neither should we sit by and simply accept needless destruction of valuable assets in the name of progress; it cannot be right to tear up and pave over the very thing that is valued, in an attempt to get more people to enjoy its benefit.
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