Notes on Deep Ecology in need of major revision

I have some issues with some aspects of Deep Ecology. Some people within that perspective seem to think non-conscious parts of nature have intrinsic value.

Theirs is an implicitly theological perspective in that they believe either that (1) value exists independent of humans and other conscious beings, and/or (2) that the Earth itself and the universe itself has a type of consciousness, and therein a basis of value independent of humans and all other conscious beings.

But, despite that reservation, my views jibe with those of Deep Ecology in so far as we might be wise to value as much of the non-conscious life within nature as we can.

That approach seems wise, not because we don’t want to hurt a river’s or a mountain’s feelings, but because the ecosphere is so complex that we can’t be sure about how much of nature we can damage without harming humans and other conscious creatures.

Whether it’s the bees that are dying off, aquifers being depleted, or the loss of biodiversity, no human mind seems quite sure about how many pieces of nature we can rip out before the whole structure collapses, depriving humans and other animals of our life support system.

But maybe it doesn’t matter whether someone has a dualist form of ecology (consider James Lovelocke or Frijof Capra) or a materialist form of ecology, such as myself. Maybe we can follow a precautionary principle by striving to preserve nature, regardless of whether we believe Earth itself has intrinsic value and needs us to take care of ‘her.’ Further that precautionary principle might apply whether or not or not we deem the universe itself has consciousness and a will.

As you say, ecology is enlightened self-interest. Critics of ecology might think folk such as me are sacrificing life’s pleasures and our self-interest just so we can be self-righteous and holy.

But life is more fulfilling thru ecology, which for me has been a drastic improvement over the frustrations associated with being a materialistic and cynical worshiper of power and status.

Ecology is an emerging spirituality via which to outgrow theology as well as secular humanism, which are two sides of the same coin of our exaggerated sense of our species’ importance.

But that doesn’t mean we should not value human life. And it’s not a zero-sum choice between caring about ‘animals’ and caring about people. One of the ways I’m reminded of this humans-vs-animals goofiness is when people say vegans, such as myself, care more about chickens or pigs than we care about members of our own species.

In my opinion, veganism enhances one’s regard for humans. And when it comes to human survival and quality of life, we improve our prospects by outgrowing our arrogance as a species.

Where do we look for models ?

This is meant in terms of groups, communities, and maybe even cities or societies approximating doing things the way ‘we’ would like them to be done ?

Aric McBay

“It’s easier to attack resistance strategists in a burst of horizontal hostility than it is to get things together and attack those in power.” (DGR, 346)

Concentration of wealth detracts from economic, political, and cultural vibrancy

One way or other, we need to invest in education, infrastructure, social safety nets, and hold governments and corporations more accountable.

On this and other public discourse venues we can throw around all sorts of data porn and link to varies studies. But we have to connect that to the process of looking around in our communities and in our country in general to see what’s happening to the foundations of what has made our country great.

Of course, some folk would say our nation is in decline because we’ve “turned away from God.” But IMHO, the concentration of wealth and power, and thereby the increased separation of government from the will of the people, is a key cause to our demise. Further, as Joe Stiglitz argues in Vanity Fair, extreme inequality detracts from our economic, political, and cultural vibrancy.

The saying that comes to mind is : no middle class, no democracy.

Corporations and government exist to serve the interests of society, not vice versa.

Internalized propaganda manifests as alienation and conflict among activists ?

Perhaps as activists some of us are still undoing the propaganda we’ve internalized over the years. Even as we strive in our daily lives to replace those values with what we think are better values, they still operate in our minds subconsciously. Often w/o us knowing it, they manifest themselves in our alienation from one another as activists, and in our entanglement in petty, self-defeating conflicts that detract from the effectiveness of our work.

Quality of life for me personally

12.24.11—11:40p

What do I need for quality of life ? I need food, water filters, housing… What I can do is begin applying for jobs. One idea is that I should not reapply to Abuelo’s given that I may benefit from meeting new people instead of returning to the same work place. And the from-work leg of the commute is long.

One idea is that I may benefit from working a waiter job, given how much money I can make per time spent working. One challenge to doing that is that I intend to resume pedicabbing full-time sometime in April or May.

Here are some options: temp agencies, Fund For The Public Interest, waiter job.
One idea is that I can bring myself to engage in the process of looking for a job, working the job, and continuing to be involved in various communities and in the political process.

I need to weigh the benefit of working a job that doesn’t inspire me but takes up less of my time and energy versus working a job that is less in tune with my values but takes up less of my time.

One thing that I ought to keep in mind is that whether I’m writing or doing something else, the key to enjoying life seems to be doing all I can to help promote well-being and prevent suffering.

If I damage my friendship with Eugene because of not paying rent and if I detract from my quality of life because of not having adequate and proper nutrition, I may be less able to help others.

12.5.11 –7:20p

Several years ago it very much seemed my self-esteem depended on–among other things–doing what I thought was my best to address my livelihood issues. My approach has changed somewhat since then.

For example, several months ago, I decided to take a chance or ruining my credit by quitting my waiter job so as to focus more on activism and journalism. That approach seems to have worked–indeed, I seem to have made some progress in terms of working as a journalist, while it’s very likely I’ve ruined my credit rating for the rest of my life.

But right, it’s not only a matter of not paying credit card bills or bills for past phone service or a loan from a credit union. Now, it’s a matter of risking not being able to have money for food (including food for Max, the cat someone left to me; rent; or my mobile phone service.

I’m also concerned that if I am unable to buy food, or pay rent, I won’t be able to concentrate on my writing or my WCRS work. In fact, just during the past 2-3 days, I’ve spent several hours on trying to figure out what to do about bringing in more money. So, I haven’t been able to focus well on journalism during the past several days.

Therefore it’s conceivable that if I get a job that brings in money on a steady basis, I’ll be more able–all else being equal—to focus on journalism. Also, I intend to get a clearer sense of what I’m trying to achieve.

An idea is that my fulfillment comes from living up to my potential for helping people and nonhuman animals. Doing that does not necessarily require me to write for the Columbus Free Press or create radio content for WCRS or FSRN.

I won’t likely act on my ongoing notion to run away from Columbus to live in DC a sort of new life there. I intend to build upon the social networks I have in Columbus and going geographically where that takes me, as opposed to sort of running away from Columbus.

Another thing to keep in mind is that I accomplished some things in terms of my work with WCRS, Columbus Free Press, and other community involvement while working as a waiter at Abuelo’s.

And, come to think of it, working there involved me being able to spend at least some time writing everyday. For some time I had thought that working at a restaurant that is not even trying in terms of doing better ecologically such as Abuelo’s detracted from my integrity in terms of my community involvement, and caused some type of barrier between myself and other people with whom I sought to be involved in terms of various groups such as those at Spore, King House, or other places.

Given that I have not worked as a waiter in that sort of setting which, by the way, also involves being at a hyper consumerist shopping mall–Easton–for 7 months, do I seem more connected to various social networks of activists ? I’m not sure. Sometimes it seems I am ,sometimes not.

Come to think of it, an idea I have is that I actually might not need that sort of connection to the various circles of activists. Perhaps I had thought I did due to thinking that I just wasn’t as much of an insider, didn’t feel that sense of connection to various inner circles, to the extent I thought I needed to be in order to reach some higher level of fulfillment.

To be honest w/ myself, it does seem that I am a better person now than I was when working as a waiter. In some ways, there was a negative effect from working as a waiter. I got the sense of how I may have changed for the better in terms of the degree of patience and what I would like to think is compassion toward my former housemate as she goes thru the process of finding a new place to live.

But maybe what seems to be my increased compassion and patience is just a matter of having more time on my hands and having a job –pedicabbing–that does not involve the various stresses that working as a waiter involved.

About 8 months ago , I got the sense that I sort of ‘spiritually’ (as an agnostic) needed to quit my waiter job and do something else. And now that I think about it, I recall how after many of my waiter shifts, I felt psychologically diminished, and I rarely, if ever, feel that way when I’m pedicabbing, though after a long shift I feel physically tired and long to get home to sleep.

Now that I think about this, I wonder whether I ought to at least genuinely try working as a canvasser. Again, many of the negative thoughts and feelings I have about it may be based on my false assumptions. My guess is that it would take a few weeks of genuinely giving it my best effort to find out how I liked canvassing.

As I sit here and write, it seems possible that I quit Abuelo’s because of the ongoing sense I had at the time that I was sort of holding myself back in terms of my moral growth–perhaps that will be my agnostic term to use instead of ‘spiritual.’

It may be the case that the idea upon which I kept my Abuelo’s job month after month after month was that the job enabled me to work as a journalist more so than any other job seemed likely to do.

In light of the possibility that pedicabbing may not be a viable source of income during the next few months, I’m uncertain about this. On the one hand, working as a waiter involves significantly more money per time spent and less time spent when compared with canvassing. That in itself would seem—all else being equal—conducive to achieving more as a writer and journalist.

Yet on the other hand, the intrinsic experience of working as a waiter may somehow detract from or add less to my moral development than working as a canvasser. That moral development factor may outweigh whatever may be better about working as a waiter in terms of scheduling flexibility, money made per time spent, and total number of hours spent on the job.

And as I sit here and write and think about returning to work as a waiter at Abuelo’s I get a sense defeat or failure, or perhaps better put, a sense of stagnation. For some time, I had tried–sometime unsuccessfully—to not be bothered by one or more of my waiter job coworkers seeming to look down upon me for waiting tables in my 40s.

But what might be going on now and what might have been going on then in my own head regarding waiting tables in my 40s is that I myself regard it as stagnation. I say this because, people can similarly pass judgment on me for pedicabbing in my 40s. People have said “get a real job” to me as I’ve gone about working as a pedicabbing much more ofte

n than people have said that to me about working as waiter. Yet, I rarely feel bad about pedicabbing and often feel quite good about it. That may be because, in addition to it being conducive to working as a journalist, it is compatible with my values in that it involves working with the public and providing human-powered transport as an alternative to vehicles that pollute the air and require petroleum.

But what about canvassing ? There are some potentially positive things about it. If nothing else, it would be a source of at least some money, though likely not much. Also, it would be positive in the sense of me trying something that is new to me. I really don’t know how well I may do. I could do poorly and be let go. I may hate it and quit after the second or 3rd shift. But I may excel at it once I get used to it.

And, again, to recap, though canvassing might take up more of my time and involve less scheduling flexibility and less money, it might turn out to be something I’m glad I did when I look back upon it at some point in the future, assuming I live that long.

Also, it might turn out after all that I was right when I suspected in ’09 that I would be better off in terms of my moral growth if I worked an activist job, when I considered a job with Ohio Citizen Action, and that I was right when I suspected something similar when I quit Abuelo’s earlier this year to work for Working America (though I quit WA after one week so as to have the greater flexibility and money that pedicabbing afforded me).

Now that I think about it, it may have been the case that my conflict with Nick stemmed from me being unhappy with working at Abuelo’s and not recognizing that the key issue for me to address was not how Nick behaved toward me, but was —in hindsight—taking responsibility of fixing whatever was bothering me. It’s interesting, if not a bit sad, how this pattern repeats itself in my life: perceiving and conceiving other people to be the cause of my problems—giving other people who control over how I feel than they should have —when it’s actually something I’m doing or neglecting to do that is the root cause of my dissatisfaction or psychological pain. So, at least according to this line of reasoning, finding options other than re-applying at Abuelo’s would be wise.

I don’t know if Fund for the Public Interest or Ohio Citizen Action is hiring presently, but an additional benefit to working for the Fund would be that, judging from the talk I had with Mike in October, I can be honest about making a 3-4 month commitment.

So, assuming the Fund is hiring, and still wants to hire me, it seems I’m likely to do my best to keep a job working for them until the warm weather pedicab season starts, or at least until I find out if I make it as a canvasser. If I don’t make it, I may have to draw up another plan.

Since, I don’t like the fact so much of my time will be taken up, I could work part-time, such as Wed, Thur, and Fri. But—there seems not way around this—no matter what schedule I get for a canvassing job, it seems to prevent me from pedicabbing some potentially ‘good’ shifts.

I may research the temperature and precipitation records for Dec, Jan, Feb, and March, for various recent years, as part of an attempt to see if I can ‘responsibly’ expect to make ‘enough’ money via pedicabbing this winter.

Another factor may be dumpster diving at least some of my food. But there is no way around having to pay rent.

While I’m at it, I wonder whether it makes sense make arrangements with my creditors so as to repair my credit rating. One concern I have about my credit rating is that it may be hard for me to rent an apartment. What I think about that is I have to get more involved in various communities, the idea being those community ties are a basis of ‘social security.’

One of the reasons I don’t want to return to how I lived when I was working all day 5-6 days per week as a waiter several years ago is that back then, compared to now, I seemed much less involved in various communities, and much less aware about what was going on politically locally, statewide and nationally.

Now that I think about the idea of wanting to be involved–well, one of the things I liked about waiting tables was the I interacted with the public. I like that about pedicabbing also. That’s what I like about reporting too. So, maybe that is what is worthwhile about canvassing: it requires engaging with the public by going door- to- door.

Yet–again, a possible problem with canvassing is that it takes a way a lot of the time and energy I could be investing into working as a journalist. Regarding working as a journalist, one idea I have is that I

12.5.11 6:35p

One idea is that I may be more likely to continue with my WCRS< FSRN, and Columbus Free Press reporting if I focus on issues pertaining to food–vegan, animal rights, local food, corporate power over seeds, factory farming, community and urban farming, migrant workers, and so on.

But how does that pertain to meeting my needs for housing, healthful food, phone service, transportation, and so on ?

Well, actually, how about working a canvassing job. What’s wrong with that ?

Maybe I have false assumptions about working as a canvasser that have so far resulted in me (1) ——–I intend to determine what to do about this situation. I don’t want to wait tables, I don’t want to do temp work, I don’t want to canvass.

Part of my challenge is that I think there are things I need to be doing but am not doing right. One remote possibility would be to go back to DC to camp out there. But that would involve having no source of income.

What I could do in that situation is camp out at Freedom Plaza or McPherson Square and then put to use whatever services there are there for people finding work, housing, and food. Maybe I can have –overall– better quality of life living in DC even though I would be struggling. One concern, among many, would be that if I lived in DC in the Occupy camps, and when that ends, eating at soup kitchens and shelters, it would detract from my health leading to such problems as getting one or more broken teeth and/or getting tooth decay, while also aggravating some other problems I’ve had with my health.

What would be the purpose of doing that ? Immersing myself in that sort of situation, I could eventually get a job in DC, get housing, and resume work as a journalist. But the problem could be that I may end up struggling so much just for basic necessities.

That sort of struggle would go against the principle of using whatever resources I have –such as computers, housing, food, network of friends, other social networks, to help those who are struggling.

If I give up a lot of those things, and become someone in need of that sort of help, I don’t see how I would be helping other people. Putting myself in that type of situation could be a sort of ego trip or a self-defeating and immature quest for an ill-conceived type of freedom.

Yet, on the other hand, that sort of experience could be a way for me to develop some sort of ‘spiritual’ (as an agnostic) or ‘totality of being’ strength.

A similar but different option might be to get more involved with Occupy Columbus, doing some shifts. Yet, a question remains. How will I bring in money ?

What’s keeping me from deciding on getting a job in addition to pedicabbing is the idea I can contribute more to the community if I continue with my current degree of involvement with WCRS, the Columbus Free Press.

But one idea is that however I do it, I want to become more involved in various communities and in the political process.

One possibility would be to try canvassing —here is part of the problem

On the one hand, if I get a job, that work schedule may prevent me from pedicabbing. Yet, on the other hand, if I don’t ge

t a non-pedicabbing job, I may run out of money for food, rent, and other expenses.

12.5.11 3:44p

I need food, housing, transportation…To what extent am I able and willing to get my food via dumpster diving ? No matter how I think of this, I need to bring money in.

Regarding bringing money in one idea is that I —well, I will ask myself this as a question. How wise is it to expect to bring in enough money via pedicabbing ?

One of the reasons I am hesitating about applying for jobs is that I don’t want to preclude myself from having the option to pedicab basketball games and other events at which I can make money via pedicabbing.

One idea is to apply for works thru temp agencies. One of my reasons for doing that would be that I want to be honest with prospective employers about my intention to pedicab full time in the Spring.

It might not be ethical to try to get rehired at Abuelo’s with the intention of quitting again within a few months.

Another reason for getting one or more jobs thru temp agencies is that I’ve tried and found I don’t like canvassing.

So, right now as I write, an idea I get is that likely won’t seek a waiter job and likely won’t seek a canvassing job.

I likely won’t seek a canvassing job because the hours are long and the pay is low. But maybe I’m overlooking—but to get to the subject I’m most concerned about—to what extent can I report on —well, here’s the thing, I’ve intended survival and quality of life to be the basis of my reporting. And this issue pertains to my survival and quality of life.

I will express various ideas at the top of my head. One idea is that I might be able to regain my focus as a journalist while also addressing the need to bring in more money, well, again I am faced with the—-here are some opti—well no, I don’t plan on geting a job as a waiter and then keeping it via not working a pedicabbie. I intend to pedicab full time next season and do at least some pedicabbing from to the spring.

5/5/11

Keeping my waiter job –Sat mornings and Sundays all day–would be good in case thing don’t work out w/ my Working America job. That’s a plus. Also, if I want to keep my pedicab tie, I can here and there pick up open cabs after my Working America shift–around 11pm.

If I do that and get to bed around 3 am, I can still get about 6-7 hrs of sleep before going to my next Working America shift. How would this work in terms of community gardening ?

One idea is that if a garden wants my help, they will have to accept it according a non-fixed schedule. I intend to do WCRS engagement Mon and Tues mornings. This arrangement is not perfect, but it is good as follows:(1) it allows me to make more money by adding more to my waiter job availability in case the Working A job doesn’t work out; (2) it involves multiple income sources–pedicabbing, waiter work, canvassing, and I might figure out a way to do some paid reporting work for FSRN and other outlets; (3) it still allows for time for me to have a garden–what it allows less of though is me having entire “days off’.

But what are ‘days off’-that can be balanced against the value of making $ via at least one form of activism, and various activities on my ‘days off’ have involved me feeling somewhat out- of- touch with my sense of purpose.

note to Eriyah

Eriyah,

one idea would be to present facts and ask readers questions, instead of coming to conclusions and making value judgments for them.

I agree with most, if not all, of your points. But people are more likely to be receptive to these ideas if you encourage them to do their own research and come to their own conclusions.

Several times throughout the essay you express value judgments by referring to various things as “morally reprehensible.” While I may agree with you on that value judgment, I think that approach isn’t conducive to having people engage with you on these issues.

Also, expressions of value judgments may work for people in power who seek to encourage or discourage ideas and behaviors by referring to them as “unacceptable” or “morally reprehensible” and so on.

But for folk such as you and myself and others who are communicating with people we don’t have power over, it makes more sense to show a lot of respect for their ability to form their own opinions. Don’t get me wrong. That’s not the same thing as agreeing with someone.

Also, have you read and re-read this essay so as to revise it ? In my opinion, some passages involve a clutter of words.

And finally—for now–don’t quit. Keep writing. As the saying goes, there is seldom good writing in the world; what there is instead is good re-writing.

I hope this helps,

Tom

Spending on medicare, medicaid, social security, and 'welfare' versus spending on welfare for corporations and the wealthy

Immokolee Workers Kroger Campaign

(Draft in need of revision) Love, not religious or political fundamentalism, is the answer to the problems of modernity

Hello,

yesterday one of the people of your organization doing outreach at Broad and High asked “if you say the laws shouldn’t be based on religion, then what should they be based on?”

At the time I answered the laws should be based on “human, secular values.” But it would be more accurate to say the laws and customs of societies should be based on empathy and compassion which are found in all religions and cultures as well as in non-religious philosophies.

By contrast religious dogma is not universal (whether it pertains to the belief in a virgin birth (Christianity) or justifications for caste (Hinduism). Religion pits one group, nation, or civilization against another.

One of the aims of religion is the attempt to dominate another culture or defend one culture from domination by another. Islamic fundamentalism is at least partly the result of the attempt among Arabs to resist Western imperialism.

Of course secular ideology, such as political systems of thought, also leave a trail of suffering. It’s not only religion that has a bloody, pain-filled track record of grotesque hypocrisy, (whether the religion in question is Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and so on.)

But, religion involves a degree of certainity among adherents usually greater than what’s common among people fighting political or other secular causes. The extra degree of certainity among people fighting a religious cause might impede the ability to build reconciliation and intensify fanatacism and intolerance.

There is a better way : a global value system based on love, and put into practice thru systems of knowledge based on rational thought. That, not religious or political fundamentalism, is the solution to the flaws of modernity as well as the problem of Western imperialism and unaccountable capitalism.

Like Christianity and other major religions, Islam doesn’t seem up to the task of being a framework with which human beings can lovingly address the social and ecological challenges that threaten our quality of life and our survival as a species.

Though Christian fundamentalism (allied with the concentration of political and economic power) threatens the United States, maybe one sign of hope is that Islamic, Jewish, and Christian fundamentalists won’t forge common ground anytime soon in pursuit of theocracy.

At least in the long run, morality based on a non-religious and scientific understanding of empathy and compassion may gain wider currency as a viable philosophical framework for meeting the challenges we face on our abused planet. Imagine a world in which the majority of human beings look to the Hindu Shastras, the Buddhist Sutras, the Bible, and the Koran as mythical sources of inspiration, not the infallible and immutable word of a god or gods.

Acknowledging our shared humanity,

Tom Over