Balance
This is a semi-rant about the concept of balance. A few days
ago someone on the Pc list said "Now that ecology has found
the concept of balance to be bogus..." They go on saying we
create imbalance by gardening and this is good. If fact
humans create imbalance everywhere and that is what makes
them so successful.
So.. is this person saying we should strip mine the world
and create total imbalance in all eco systems? I doubt it.
My guess is that they have fallen into the cultural trap of
thinking in terms of absolutes and dichotomies. We contrast
two views and say on is good and the other bad. Nonsense, in
the natural world there is mostly balance and things taken
to the extreme are undesirable. Small scale gardens can be
desirable and huge mega farms can be destructive. It is all
a question of balance.
The idea that some disturbance in eco-systems is normal and
is useful is easy to accept, but even that eventually has to
arrive at a balance point.
This same question occurred on a ZEN list i monitor. A ZEN
guru said we don't want balance in our life because this
would be boring. A balanced life without stress would would
be death. We need to explore and push others.
OK, their is some truth here but balance still dominates
every life i've encountered. I can't imagine a what life
would be like without balance between all the various states
of hunger, laughter, adventure, etc.
This issue may seem unimportant to some, but for me it is an
obsession. Most debates and arguments on the net are about
balance and those participating are trying to view the topic
as "absolute" right or wrong states.
This absolute thinking is built into our language and
culture. We don't notice it and these words are also trapped
in absolutes. All my statements have an absolute feel but
are trying to reach a different state of thinking.
The question of local activism or international activism also
has a state of balance. If no one was concerned about
international issues this world would be a much worse place
to live. This is true with politics also. Personally, i
don't even like the using the word politics but have to
acknowledge it has balance. If everyone totally ignored it
we would no longer have republics or democracies.
----
jeff owens, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.xprt.net/~jko
underground house, solar power, self-reliance, edible landscape
to leave ecopath: unsubscribe ecopath -> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
