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The After Capitalism work requires challenging myths, assumptions, and beliefs that will be uncomfortable to let go of. Last week we raised five challenges to “jobs are required.” This week we challenge: humanity as separate from nature. This one is at the root of so many problems. It emerged from the dominant modern values/worldview focused on achievement, growth and progress, with a high degree of faith in science and technology (see 4 types of values). Nature, in the modern worldview, is something to be mastered or conquered using the tools of science and technology. The more science and technology has advanced, the greater our sense of dominance over nature has grown … to the point where we see ourselves above it and to be protected from it.
I see two principal challenges to this assumption:
- Reintegrating with nature. This admittedly unscientific approach suggests reversing our basic approach to hiding from the hazards of “nature.” Our response to the pandemic was to hide via masking, disinfecting, and quarantining. It has reinforced the notion that nature is source of threats best avoided. Our neighborhoods encroach upon and demolish nature, our homes and buildings are sealed tight, and we have an army of wipes, cleaners, and disinfecting stations inside our antiseptic spaces. Grow stuff, open the windows, and get dirty – we are animals after all 🙂 My favorite example of a changing view of reintegrating with nature is the vertical forest work of Stefano Boeri Architects shown in the image.
- Shift to postmodern values prioritizes sustainability. Modern values view nature as something to be conquered. Postmodern values see nature as something to be honored. A key shift that has already resulted from the emergence of postmodern values is the central focus on sustainability. Postmodern values in the US emerged from the Woodstock-era counter-culture movement that included a big emphasis on ecological concerns. The shift to a stewardship view of nature is underway and increasingly mainstreaming, but we are not their yet!
Are there other useful challenges? This is a really hard one. – Andy Hines
An obvious challenge comes from the world’s religions. A notable recent challenge was the papal encyclical Laudato Si in 2015. https://www.usccb.org/offices/general-secretariat/laudato-si-care-our-common-home which promoted “Integral ecology” and lined the “cry of the Earth” with the “cry of the poor.” There is some fruit that could be born by working with the Church.
Good point — thanks for adding that!