We depend on the Earth
by Satish Kumar
The American « Declaration of Independence » (1776) was right in its time and in its context. At that time of slavery, colonialism and imperialism it was right and proper that the slaves and colonized should stand up for their dignity and that they should demand freedom from oppression.
Bu now we live in the age of ecology. A new consciousness is born. In the wake of multiple environmental crises, a new realization is dawning upon us: we depend on the Earth. We depend on the laws of nature.
The Industrial Revolution, scientific discoveries and tehcnological inventions have created an illusion that we, human beings, are the rulers of the Earth. We can take nature’s laws in our hands and do what we like with them. We are the masters of creation. We are in charge of the natural world. The forests, rivers, mountains, fishes, animals, birds, fossils, oil, gas, coal and everyhting else are there for our use and benefit. We have dominiion over the land, the oceans and the sky. We cans plit the atom, engineer genes and conquer the Moon. We can diminish the wild, enslave the beast, dam the rivers and deplete the energy reserves accumulated over millennia.
There are no limits to our power.
This is human arrogance at its worst. As a result, we have turned the abundant bounty of natural gifts into scarcity. In Hindu mythology, when the gods made time, they made plenty of it, but we turned it too into a scarce commodity. We reduce the vast Earth to a battlefield where we are competing and figthing for materials and markets.
We pour polutants into clean rivers. We assault the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. And above all, we are throwing the future of the planet into a thermonuclear nightmare.
Now we are at a crossroads. We can decide to continue to follow the same path. More of the same perpetual economic growth. We can stick to our technological addiction. We can pursue genetics, robotics, nanotechnology and nuclear technology. We can take the road to ruin: the path to the abyss. Or we can take the path of ecology. The path of values and ethics. The path of participatory science. We can decide to relinquish certain kinds of knowledge which enable us to lord it over the Earth. Like the Chinese in the Middle Ages who discovered gunpowder and decided to use it only for fireworks. We can be wise in a similar way and say – enough is enough !
For survival and for the good life we need humility. We come from the soil and we will return to the soil. We are part of nature, neither above it nor separate from it. Nature is the source of all life. The source of joy and celebration, the source of arts and imagination. The source of poetry and inspiration. It is the source of music, dance and delight, the source of beatuy, wisdom and insight. For our existence, for our happiness and health, for our nutrition and nourishment, we depend on the Earth. The Earth provides plenty for everyone’s need but not enought for anyone’s greed. Earth provides food, water and shelter, not only for humans but for plants, animals, birds and all other forms of life. Therefore it is time to declare our utter dependence on the Earth.
Sathish Kumar‘s autobiography,
No Destination, Green Books Publ.
Article originally published in
Resurgence No. 203 Nov./Dec. 2000