>Eric wrote:
> Donella Meadows for The Valley News, December 14, 1996
>We don't get to choose which laws, those of the economy or those of the
>Earth, will ultimately prevail. We can choose which ones we will personally
>live under
Except for the hint of dichotomy i liked Donella's essay. It isn't
exactly a choice between economics or being earth friendly. Things
are a little more complicated than that.
Eric, you posed a question to the Deep Ecology list and i wrote
a response but never got around to posting it. Here it is.
----
What Should we Do?
What are the highest priorities in improving our world?
The assumption in this question is that we can't do everything,
so it is more effective to focus on a few things we "can" do.
On the Deep Ecology list is a person who is focused on saving
wildlife. They have come to the conclusion that people are
the problem and want to exclude people from wildlife areas.
The idea that people are part of nature and wildlife is
everywhere isn't something they recognize. To them the only
goal is saving wildlife and they are not thinking beyond this
problem.
My point is: focusing on one or two good causes changes the
way we see the world and often results in marginal solutions.
The conclusion that we should not focus on good causes is
also not desirable. Without goals we tend to drift and
go in circles.
Another factor is that each of us is unique and live in
a different environment. This has a big impact on what
activities might be useful. For example, i lived in
the desert for many years where the local population
was very individualistic and destructive. What worked
there isn't the same as my present rain forest environment.
Still, we should not create a dichotomy and say each person
needs a totally unique answer to our question about being
earth friendly. What we can do is share our answers to
this question, and here is mine.
1. The first priority is education. I need to understand
my relationship with nature and how the world works.
I need to find contentment and know my role. I need
to understand balance and when to apply focus and
when to step back and think. All these activities
are internal.
2. I need to build a model of the world and vision
for the future. It is my vision that helps "build"
rather than fight wars and go nowhere.
3. Next, i need to fit myself into this future vision.
I have to try and "be" the change i want to see
in the world. If we focus on changing others then
we create a world full of people trying to change
others and nobody changing.
4. Finally, i need to work at slowing the degradation
of our environment. This is both a local and
international struggle, the priority is usually
local. Which activities are most important is
still and issue, but the guidance from steps 1-3
is often enough.
