I envision a shifted cultural mindset in capitalism-based societies towards reciprocity with the Earth, to a mutual relationship of love and respect. A new perspective that sees us living in conjunction with the earth, rather than upon, would inevitably breed less capitalistic economies, leading to reduced social stratification and more equitable societies. This vision goes to the root of the socio-ecological crises facing us, and addresses the fact that we must repair our relationship with the land before we can truly create more Just societies. So how could we go about shifting the deeply engrained mindset that the earth is a resource, that we can exploit it, and people of lower social status, as long as it brings us benefit? I think this begins with how we teach our children to interact with the Earth, with bridging the separation between us and food systems to become more connected with that which gives us life. After all, it is difficult to truly care about something you feel little connection with.
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I love this way of thinking! I love that idea of "the earth cares for you, you should care for the earth". Ingraining this value into our youth is a great way to start implementing a globally understood care for our planet!
Hi Sophia! Your explanation of shifting values and culture is something that resonated with me a lot. I too think that for real lasting change, there needs to be a cultural shift and an appreciation for nature.
Hi Sophia, I think this is such a beautiful idea. Children are the most understanding, and easy-to-teach people. Maybe when we think about we can do, we focus on what us as educated adults can do on our own but teaching our incoming generations about what our relationship with the earth should be like is so critical. It's all about how we grew up and what we understood about how the earth functions. I grew up fearing a lot of animals for example because I was taught that most animals (non-domesticated) were a threat and should even be killed (like insects) but now I understand how critical every life is to the ecosystem. I learned this in my classes at UBC but I could just as easily have learned this appreciation and carefulness towards the earth at as a child. Thank you for sharing!
I wholly agree with this. Conserving the environment needs to become a priority, and that happens only if we collectively care about it. This is how we can create long-lasting change. I think that starting these discussions and raising awareness is a strong first step, even if it may not yield immediate tangible results.
I love this :) I agree that if we completely shifted our understanding of how precious our surroundings are there could be amazing worldwide changes; exploitation is largely a function of human exceptionalism/anthropocentrism, as well as capitalism/greed. I think the easy (fast?) answer is to just throw it all away and start over (lol) but I wonder how we can really do this....does it start at the very bottom, with us having these conversations?