Before the rise of civilization, the world was populated by tens of thousands of different cultures. Each of these cultures had a common thread. Everyone believed that man belonged to the world. None of them thought that the world belonged to man. Although they would never have used this term, all of these cultures had a profound ecological view of the world.

They saw value in nature for its own sake. The world was not cut, divided and measured according to its usefulness to man. The forests were good in their own right, regardless of the fact that they provided us with firewood and building materials.

Civilization changed this. One culture among the tens of thousands decided that the world belonged to man. It was ours by right. Suddenly, in his eyes, the world became one big farm for human food. A new way of life was born. The people of the civilization sought to convert as much of the land as possible into human food production. The more food they produced, the more people they could support. As their population grew, they expanded geographically. From a small starting point in the Fertile Crescent civilization it spread throughout the world. All in a 10,000 year old mother.

Tribal cultures were sustainable because their vision meant that they would not devour the world. They did not see the world as their own, so they did not turn the world into human food. Their view of man belonging to the world meant that they were happy to take what they needed and let the rest of creation do its thing. They did not seek to control nature and gain dominion over the planet.

Our civilization in its very essence is unsustainable. Our destructive nature is caused by this view that the world is ours by right. Every time we cut down a forest to turn it into farmland, we are displacing other forms of life. But we don’t think about that. Of course we can cut down the forest. Who cares about birds and insects; they don’t own the forest, we do. For 10,000 years we have been adding more human mass to the planet and at the same rate non-human life has been disappearing.

Now that the human population is growing faster than ever, other species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. 200 species a day are becoming extinct. Our place at the top of the food chain is preserved only by maintaining the integrity of the earth’s ecosystem as a whole. The more we destroy the other life forms that support us, the more likely the ecosystem structure will collapse. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is not that far away.

To do?

Most of the environmental messages that you have here today are superficial ecology messages. Recycle, ride a bike, don’t use plastic bags, don’t waste paper, etc, etc. Superficial ecology realizes that we are destroying the planet. Therefore, he encourages us to refrain from it, but only so that we can continue to own it and exercise our control over it.

Deep ecology advocates a change at the fundamental level of our culture. Recycling will not save us. Changing the vision, seeing ourselves as part of the community of life is what needs to be changed.

Change the vision and actions will follow naturally. But try to mitigate a destructive vision with minor actions like green light bulbs and you will fail.