Compassion for nature: Where do our contemporary ideas stem from?
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“We need wilderness because we are wild animals. Every man needs a place where he can go to go crazy in peace … It is not enough to understand the natural world; the point is to defend and preserve it … We need the possibility of escape as surely as we need hope: without it the life of the cities would drive all men into crime or drugs or psychoanalysis.” Edward Abbey
Harvesting these lines from various Edward Abbey quotes gave me a real insight into the motivation he had to ignore the law in the defense of nature. Edward Abbey saw the condition we now face in our urban sprawl. His life’s work, spawned from the groundwork of deep thinkers, made him devoted to protecting nature in all its forms. He helped popularize the idea of ignoring the law when the protection of nature is at stake. He was one of the first eco-warriors.
Where is the concept of the eco-warrior from?
“If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays
The disobedience of human nature that Thoreau implies when comparing humanity to a plant also speaks of the intimate bond that humanity and nature share. Together, Civil Disobedience and Walden set the precedence for what later became direct action environmental protest. Thoreau was one of the early visionaries who saw the industrial demon awakening and the possible destruction of its path. He gave us a philosophy of simplicity and balance as a starting point for environmental protection, as well as broader social change.
Fast forward.
Mahatma Gandhi was never called an environmentalist because the idea didn’t exist yet. In fact, his core philosophy helped spark a deeper understanding of human’s roll in nature.
“It is up to each and every individual to simplify his or her life; to share his or her resources and to care for his and her surroundings.” Mahatma Gandhi and Environment Protection – by Anupma Kaushik
Gandhi’s basic guiding principles show a balanced foresight, which had a planetary biome in mind. His philosophy helped give birth to the concept of environmentalism in the cultural flowering of the West in the 1960s. This cultural awakening inspired an interest in India and the principles of Gandhi. Simplify, share, and protect; the influence of Gandhi’s philosophy on the environmental movement couldn’t be clearer. In 1960, Vinoba Bhave persuaded Gandhi to become the secretary of the Gandhi Memorial Trust at New Delhi. This led him to interact with Rachel Carson, another important guide for humanity’s environmental awakening.
We cannot deny the deep influence of Carson on engaging the public about environmental dangers promoted by agricultural industrialization. The hard-line scientific backing of Silent Spring aligned with Carson’s vivid storytelling to show the environmental impacts of pollutants and pesticides. This was the work that really brought the environmental movement into the social fold. It became a standing voice constantly on the heels of society and politics. Directly going against the standards of a propaganda spurning government and chemical corporate scientists, Carson’s empirical proof became the weapon used in the fight against the destroyers of nature,
“People have the right to know what is being done to their environment, their source of food, water, air, and survival. Man is a part of nature and his war against nature is a war against himself.”
The 1960s and 70s psychedelic cultural return to a broader awareness made a lot of gains in social change and environmentalism. ‘In your face’ direct action tactics began to emerge in various movements. This flowering of culture and consciousness helped develop a strong drive for environmental protection. For all the gain, this period can also be seen as doing damage to the image of what an environmentalist is.
The most common image we were presented in the past was the hippy environmentalist meditating and hugging their way to an eco-paradise. The watered-down ‘light, peace, and love” vibe didn’t accomplish real progress or change the condition of the environment. More people knew about the idea, but few were convinced enough to act. Whether right or wrong, this image of the ‘tree hugger’ pushed a lot of people away from the movement due to the unreachable image of the post hippy environmentalist.
“No compromise in the defense of mother earth!”
A battle cry from the 1970s for the hardcore eco-warrior. Though moderately more successful on the small scale than their peace and love counterpart, these warriors also had a negative impact on the broader acceptance of environmental actions in the general public. This image helped push people away due to the fact that not many are willing to sacrifice their personal safety and freedom for a cause. These eco-warriors became the fringe of the fringe, marginalized into near non-existence. Though their ideology was sound and their tactics useful, they failed in the broader view by alienating people due to their extremism and, at times, misogynist views.
Take a look at Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang for example. This book was a great influence on the foundation of Earth First! and is still considered foundational reading for environmental direct activism. However, it is difficult to take the main character of George Hayduke as a hero or role model because of his negative, at times misogynist, outlook toward women within the story.
The 1970s, gave us many eco-warriors who worked silently and secretly, and a few who skyrocketed into the public eye. People like ‘the Fox’ did anonymous solo battle for years against environmental destruction. Yet they are almost lost to obscurity due to the necessary clandestine nature of their work. Solitary nature lovers lurked in the shadows with tree spikes, debris blockades, monkey wrenches, and wire cutters. Their faces always masked and no evidence ever left behind. These wise and sly humans of the forest protected nature at the risk of arrest.
The 1980s saw extreme environmental destruction and extreme reactions. Chico Mendes, a Brazilian activist, and organizer fought the voracious powers of greed and gave his life in the struggle. A noble warrior, but again we see the problem for the average person. Mendes’ story is a compelling example of the importance of our fight, but also of the desperation many potential warriors face. That decade also gave us an example from the other side of the world.
In 1982, Vandana Shiva set in motion a more far-reaching environmental impact with the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy. The study of the ecological value of traditional farming at the foundation has been critical in the fight against destructive development in India. However, in the West, the 1990s saw the onslaught against the environment continue its sharp upward juggernaut. In response, men like Jeff Luers and Rod Coronado brought direct action symbolic protest to the front pages. Their message was important, but their tactics are debatable, and the results of their actions are inconclusive at this point. Though many argue against the civilly disobedient nature of their actions, the fact remains that publicity of their cases definitely increased awareness into the current millennium.
The “Green Scare” of post patriot act America has also done it fair share of destruction to the environmental movement. The number of participants willing to put themselves at risk has seriously dropped. While the ability to halt illegal environmentally destructive actions before it is too late has dwindled. The grafting of ‘eco-terrorism’ into the wording of the Patriot Act has added another layer of fear for anyone who considers standing up for all human’s rights and trying to actively defend the Earth. We aren’t left with many choices in how to protect the environment. There is the route of policymakers which is slow and helps to save only small swathes of native forests. There is the chance of being labeled a domestic terrorist if you stand up and take direct action. Finally, there is hope that we can find another way to turn the tide.
The two historical extremes of environmental direct action have left us with a sorted legacy of inaccessibility. Not discounting the good groundwork that these early defenders laid, we cannot ignore the fact that we have inherited a very messy situation as regards the role of the 21st century eco-warrior.
The interconnectedness of nature and humanity, and the responsibility of stewardship to nature have become even more important. The visionaries of environmental philosophy foresaw the damage that industrialism was doing. The environmentalists who followed them have attempted a mixed bag of tactics and strategies, with varying degrees of success in the fight to save nature. We have inherited this situation and now face a critical checkpoint in bringing balance back to the human/nature relationship. How will the balance be brought back? How do we forge forward in our fight to protect nature and our ability as a species to survive equally from it?
Here is part two where we look at the here and now concept of the warrior and see how that can fit in with our image of the eco-warrior.
“@CortezWilhelm: Where did those tree huggers come from? A Short History of the Eco-warrior http://t.co/usPinr1Gp0 via @CortezWilhelm” READ
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— སངས་རྒྱས་ དཔལ་འབྱོར (@sangay_penjor) March 14, 2014
What about the issue of how environmentalism relates to masculinity? Though many great environmentalist figures have been male, I feel that environmentalism is often portrayed, at its own expense, as embodied by stereotypically feminine traits; nurturing, healing, empathy, etc. In my world, your average guy is much less likely to actively participate in environmental discourse and action, and I think its because of this one-sidedness to the typical narrative, as well as the notion of men as conquering, dominant, and justly exploitative.
I agree about the ‘portrayal’ that we are fed. Unfortunately, this portrayal is another stereotype we need to break. I have found that where someone lives is more determinant on their environmental awareness and action. In the Pacific North West of the USA the entire population is much more active and aware, including men of course. The PacNorWest has much more intact environment closer to urban centers than, say New Jersey. I feel that when we have less connection with nature this distances us more from awareness about nature and leads to less activity for both genders. The ‘feminine’ traits… Read more »