Respect and Responsibility
A week ago, I listened to
Lauret Savoy speak at the Aldo Leopold Center in Wisconsin about how our lives are
intertwined with the environment. Savoy is Professor of Environmental Studies
at Mount Holyoke College. She read passages from her book, Trace, which explores how her life was formed by the landscape of
her family’s history, the places they lived, and her love of national parks,
and she shared the words of Leopold.
This is my reflection on her words.
Each of us carries a
community inside us. The history of all who came before us — our ancestors —
are held within us. Our lives are rooted in their past, and we carry remnants
of what they went through, the trauma they suffered, the indignities, the
abuse, and the celebrations. These are encoded in our genes.
The home we grew up in is an
environment as much as the forests, meadows and rivers around us. Our
neighborhood is an environment, as well as the rest of the city. The weather
and the seasons are part of this and affect us, shaping our outlook and
modulating our moods. For example, if we love warm sunshine, when it’s cold and
rainy for a week, we become negative.
We lose sight of our values under the onslaught of
everyday chores and decisions.
With all that we have to take
care of each day, we don’t have the time to think about the long-range implications
of what we do or how this affects others or the land, and we need to. Every
morning we need to take time to be quiet and remember our guiding principles so
that we can use them to guide our actions throughout the day.
Respect other people and
listen to them. They have a right to their views as much as we do. Make
decisions together. Collective wisdom is greater than individual hubris.
Respect the land and take responsibility for your
actions.
In the news this week, another
large earthquake shook Oklahoma in an area where they never used to have
earthquakes. The cause has been identified as fracking. In Ohio and
Pennsylvania, drinking water for cities has been polluted by the industrial
wastewater being injected into the ground. Those who are making money off of fracking
say it causes no problems. Will the politicians and business people who profit
from fracking take responsibility and pay for the damage that fracking is
causing?
If we are shareholders in an
oil company that fracks, but we say nothing about against it, then we are guilty
of causing the damage.
In North Dakota, an oil
pipeline is shifted away from Bismarck because white people worried that an oil
leak would pollute their drinking water. The new route now goes by the water
supply for Native Americans. The powerless are abused. Another treaty is broken
by the United States. The oil company says the pipeline is safe. Then why move
it away from Bismarck? This pipeline has already sprung a leak.
When a freeway was built
through the African American community of West Oakland, it destroyed the
culture of what had been a vibrant community.
Respect people and respect the land.
We continue to sell the lives
of poor people, women, and peoples of color to make money. We are members of several
communities – our family, our neighborhood, our city, and the land we live on.
Savoy notes that we have a
history of fragmenting our communities and ecosystem. We need to foster
ecological interdependence between human beings and the land. We need to
encourage a sense of belonging to a place, as Leopold also believed. We need to
stop exploiting the natural world and manipulating people.
We do not create communities
by putting up arbitrary boundaries. Communities are organic.
We have a responsibility.
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