4 ms·

It seems to me that all of these problems -- the insect apocalypse, general biodiversity loss, climate change, all the way to the depression and anxiety epidemi

It seems to me that all of these problems -- the insect apocalypse, general biodiversity loss, climate change, all the way to the depression and anxiety epidemics, economic inequity, etc., stem from the same general principle: our alienation from ourselves, each other, and nature. In a sense, healing any one of them will contribute to healing all of them. And trying to merely engineer our way out of any of them (while preserving the underlying mindset) will just cause more of the same to rear its ugly head elsewhere. We've forgotten that this life is a magical, wondrous, precious gift, and the world is worth loving and caring for. We have to stop treating it as -- and thereby turning it into -- mere "stuff." It's alive. If you're a fan of this line of reasoning, I recommend the author Charles Eisenstein.

tstrimple 8y ago
> It seems to me that all of these problems -- the insect apocalypse, general biodiversity loss, climate change, all the way to the depression and anxiety epidemics, economic inequity, etc., stem from the same general principle: I thought you were going to say capitalism.
- monktastic1 8y ago
  My sense is that capitalism is also a symptom of the same principle (which compels us to view nature as merely a "means of production").
- wgjordan 8y ago
  According to Marx [1] our alienation from ourselves, each other, and nature is the product of (the capitalist relation to) labor: > Through estranged, alienated labor, then, the worker produces the relationship to this labor of a man alien to labor and standing outside it. The relationship of the worker to labor creates the relation to it of the capitalist (or whatever one chooses to call the master of labor). Private property is thus the product, the result, the necessary consequence, of alienated labor, of the external relation of the worker to nature and to himself. [1] https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts...
momentmaker 8y ago
We're all connected in a sense and we all rely on each other in a way we don't even realize. We are all a part of a whole. Oneness if you will. By destroying one part to satisfy another part, we're still chipping away the whole. In the Gaia's hypothesis, the human race is the brain of Earth. We are the neural network that powers the thriving liveliness of Earth. We're suppose to be the protector, keeper and guardian of Mother Earth yet we aren't doing our duties. We are all slowly waking up to that fact as we become more aware and conscious. Hope it will not be too late...
- icebraining 8y ago
  Why would we be all of that? Sounds narcissistic. Earth was here long before we ever came around, it never needed us to do that, it just needs us not to fuck stuff up.
  - Aloha 8y ago
    because we, unlike most other creatures can substantively change our environment.
balt_s 8y ago
> If you're a fan of this line of reasoning, I recommend the author Charles Eisenstein. Check out John Michael Greer for another very clear and cogent writer on this topic.

tstrimple 8y ago

> It seems to me that all of these problems -- the insect apocalypse, general biodiversity loss, climate change, all the way to the depression and anxiety epidemics, economic inequity, etc., stem from the same general principle: I thought you were going to say capitalism.

monktastic1 8y ago
My sense is that capitalism is also a symptom of the same principle (which compels us to view nature as merely a "means of production").
wgjordan 8y ago
According to Marx [1] our alienation from ourselves, each other, and nature is the product of (the capitalist relation to) labor: > Through estranged, alienated labor, then, the worker produces the relationship to this labor of a man alien to labor and standing outside it. The relationship of the worker to labor creates the relation to it of the capitalist (or whatever one chooses to call the master of labor). Private property is thus the product, the result, the necessary consequence, of alienated labor, of the external relation of the worker to nature and to himself. [1] https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts...

momentmaker 8y ago

We're all connected in a sense and we all rely on each other in a way we don't even realize. We are all a part of a whole. Oneness if you will. By destroying one part to satisfy another part, we're still chipping away the whole. In the Gaia's hypothesis, the human race is the brain of Earth. We are the neural network that powers the thriving liveliness of Earth. We're suppose to be the protector, keeper and guardian of Mother Earth yet we aren't doing our duties. We are all slowly waking up to that fact as we become more aware and conscious. Hope it will not be too late...

icebraining 8y ago
Why would we be all of that? Sounds narcissistic. Earth was here long before we ever came around, it never needed us to do that, it just needs us not to fuck stuff up.
- Aloha 8y ago
  because we, unlike most other creatures can substantively change our environment.

balt_s 8y ago

> If you're a fan of this line of reasoning, I recommend the author Charles Eisenstein. Check out John Michael Greer for another very clear and cogent writer on this topic.