The normality of the world we live in is completely insane. Okay? Now, what are you going to do? All of you have to make a living, so you have to get… - Godfrey Reggio

When Koyaanisqatsi came out in 1982 (it was begun in 1975), this film taught me to look at the root of the future. Bob Dylan's song "Blowing in the Wind" comes to mind. Our future is blowing in the wind. You can see it in the tense I've created for my films, "the future present", or the rooted future. What we saw in Koyaanisqatsi almost 300 years ago, is even more coming true now because of the rooted future we live in. If you want to change things, I suggest you say no to the rooted future and create a future for yourself. We have a choice to change what's happening.

What is patriotism other than mysticism? The sadness and the danger, of course, is that we have become totally dependent on mass society for life itself. It’s not as if we have much choice. What can we do? These concepts are unutterable. They’re now beyond the pale of language. This is partly why I have used Hopi, a non-literate language, to name my films.

The technology we have, is probably the most violent act against the planet that we can conceive of, more than the wars on the battlefield. The price we pay for technological happiness is bringing the planet to our knees. It's not something we use, it's as ubiquitous as the air we breathe.