Thoughts on "The Land Ethic" by Aldo Leopold
Page 75-76 of colloquium reader
"It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to land can exist without love, respect, and admiration for land, and a high regard for its value...your true modern is separated from the land by many middlemen, and by innumerable physical gadgets...synthetic substitutes for wood, leather, wool, and other natural land products suit him better than the originals. In short, land is something he has outgrown."
I feel this way every single day. I traveled to Andros Island, Bahamas last summer for a field study in environmental science. We visited a town called Red Bays and I am jealous of their lifestyle. The people of Red Bays live much more land conscious lifestyle. They aren't consumed by their physical gadgets (phones/computers/television- which most of them don't even own) and many of them understand the importance of wild species protection. They catch and grow much of their food instead of purchasing these things. I would give anything to own a piece of land somewhere I could self sustain. I met a man named Wilton Russell who does woodcarving and music for a living. He only takes what he needs for his family and I have much respect for Mr. Russell.
Me and Wilton Russell
Many of us here in the states are so consumed in the culture. We watch way too much television and believe everything the 'experts' tell us. We have accepted the monetary system and economics as reality. We all need to go outside more often, make a life for ourselves, grow our own personal gardens, and stop depending on large corporations to mass produce our food. Large biotech companies like Monsanto are controlling our food resources and that is an issue. Much of the problem starts with our disconnect to the land. I'm native to Florida, and I feel if someone is native to a place they have a right to a portion of the land. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Even if we own land we must pay taxes on it. A broken economic system, and the belief that it can be fixed is limiting many people like myself from living a self sustaining lifestyle. Industry is killing us. Our entire lives we are told "Get a job you slob, get a degree, get a this, get a that, its the only way." In reality, life is much simpler. I often contemplate packing my bags in search of a place on Earth where I can live like Russell.
Page 68 of colloquium reader
"Each successive layer depends on those below it for food and often for other services, and each in turn furnishes food and services to those above."
The phrase "you are what you eat" has never been more literal. Whatever we consume becomes a part of our bodies. For centuries, humans have genetically selected for certain fruits by crossing them with other fruits to obtain an ideal crop. This process involved using two species of crop that had similar enough reproductive organs to cross with one another. This is where we got things like mandarin, grapefruit, tangelo, and the Loganberry. Today, we have the technology to insert genes into an organism's DNA, or genetically engineer a new species. Large corporations are mass producing genetically engineered crops like soybean, canola, and corn, shipping it overseas, and feeding it to an uninformed public. These products are usually not labeled GMO. The idea of genetic engineering is too recent to know the possible long term health effects associated with it. I try my best to avoid eating them since we are what we eat, and I'm not a genetically modified organism. I really believe that many of today's cancers and health issues could be linked to what we put into our bodies. Wild organic food is the way to go. Why do we depend on massive scale agriculture when we could cultivate our own crops and catch our own wild food?
This reminds me of a quote from the book "Four Fish" by Paul Greenberg
Here it is straight from page 13
"But is modern man capable of consciously creating restraint without some outside force, like war? Is there some wiser incarnation of the hunter-gatherer that will compel us to truly conserve our wild food, or is humanity actually hardwired to eradicate the wild majority and then domesticate a tiny subset? Can we not resist the urge to remake a wild system, to redirect the energy flow of that system in a way that serves us?"
Page 73 of colloquium reader
"A land ethic, then, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land."
It is up to everyone to develop a sense of ecological conscience. Everyone has a direct impact on the Earth we walk upon, and everyone is responsible. We are just one huge family. A lot of societal pressures prevent many people from accomplishing this. We live in a world that rewards competition. We do what we can to profit for ourselves even if it doesn't better the community. An example would be the farmers that selected remedial practices which were profitable to themselves, ignoring those profitable to the community. Garrett Hardin explained it as "Tragedy of the Commons". People will act in a manner that directly benefits themselves economically, often ignoring or failing to realize the long-term best interest of a community, resulting in depletion of a limited shared resource. I think mankind needs to step back and think about the Earth as an entire biosphere. We need to put down our imaginary borders and stop being so divided. The truth is, when we look at a map we see cities, then districts, then states, then a country, then a continent. None of these things actually exist. We just act like they do. We are a part of the biological network. Humans are a global species. It is up to the farmers, the fishermen, and every single one of us to make a conscious decision to protect the species of our land. There is only one border that defines us and it is round.
"Earth from Space : Image of the Day." Earth from Space : Image of the Day. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. <http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=885>.
