Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
S<br />
138 connections<br />
aspects <strong>of</strong> personhood, society, economy, and culture that ought <strong>to</strong><br />
be preserved and those that must be jettisoned.<br />
As a thought experiment along <strong>the</strong>se lines, I once asked<br />
<strong>the</strong> students in my introduc<strong>to</strong>ry environmental studies class <strong>to</strong><br />
assume that <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>to</strong> represent Homo sapiens before a congress<br />
<strong>of</strong> all beings, as once described in an ancient Islamic tale<br />
and more recently by Joanna Macy and Jonathan Seed (1988). 6<br />
The charge against humankind would read something like this:<br />
“Over many thousands <strong>of</strong> years humans have proved <strong>the</strong>mselves<br />
incapable <strong>of</strong> living as citizens and members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community<br />
<strong>of</strong> life, and in recent centuries have become so numerous and so<br />
hazardous <strong>to</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community and <strong>the</strong> biosphere<br />
that <strong>the</strong>y should be banished from <strong>the</strong> Earth forever.” All <strong>the</strong> critters—reptiles,<br />
fi sh, birds, mammals, insects, and small things that<br />
make everything else work—are represented in <strong>the</strong> jury box and<br />
equipped with sentience and voice. The presiding judge is an owl,<br />
said <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> wisest <strong>of</strong> all; <strong>the</strong> prosecuting at<strong>to</strong>rney is a fox, said<br />
<strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> most cunning. The question for my students is simply:<br />
What defense might be made on our behalf? What supporting<br />
evidence could be presented? Who among <strong>the</strong> animals and plants<br />
would speak for us?<br />
For <strong>the</strong> most part, students, while fi nding this an interesting<br />
exercise, conclude that no good defense can be made on any<br />
terms. But mostly, <strong>the</strong>y stumble through <strong>the</strong> unreality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> scenario<br />
burdened by <strong>the</strong> assumption that humans are <strong>the</strong> pinnacle<br />
<strong>of</strong> evolution and that our desire <strong>to</strong> survive is a suffi cient justifi cation.<br />
Almost <strong>to</strong> a person <strong>the</strong>y believe that, given our intelligence<br />
and <strong>the</strong> power <strong>of</strong> our technology, we will survive. A few believe<br />
that we are made more or less in God’s image, giving us license<br />
<strong>to</strong> do whatever it is possible for us <strong>to</strong> do, devil take <strong>the</strong> hindmost.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>rwise articulate and intelligent, my students’ confusion is<br />
representative, I think, <strong>of</strong> a larger befuddlement.<br />
The case <strong>to</strong> be made against us is straightforward: we stand<br />
accused <strong>of</strong> being destructive, capricious, violent, wan<strong>to</strong>nly cruel,