9.8.10

Deep Ecology

"...We should never engage in any discussion on technicalities without asking, "What do we basically need in life?". Always ask the basic question. This is what I mean by the term Deep Ecology Movement. ...People shoul live in vluntary simplicity,...Different generations should be able to live together and work together. There shoul be a feeling of community, technology should be appropiate, industrial and agricultural units should be small. Home and place of work should be near each other and transportation mainly public." "The supporters of the deeo Ecology Movement are all over the world...This movement started in the early sixties with people like Rachel Carson. They were not speaking of cancer or of polluted air because it was bad for humanity. They said,"It cannot be done to nature, it cannot be done to the animals. It simply cannot be done." And this is a very good phrase: "It cannot be done". "...There´s a politician here in Great Britain who says that we must have more research on the causes of acid rain. But the better the researcher you are, the more you say, "Oh, we don´t know enough, we must have more money." They get one year to come up with some answers but at the ehd of the year they say "Well, we´re just starting, it seems to be very complicated. we need more time and money". that´s how endless research goes on. The Deep Ecology Movement will say that we can never know enough: doctor ignoratia- "....They understand the enormous complexity of the planet and ourselves. So from this doctor ignorantia, we get the idea that it´s better not to do anything where there are great risk involved." ..."The Deep Ecology Movement is a total view. It´s covers our basic assumptions, our lifephilosophy and our decisions in everyday life. I have also called the total view "ecosophy" in order to distinguish it from ecology as a science. Sophia is Greek for wisdom. So, ecosophy means eco-wisdom and wisdom has always been related to practice."
-The Basics of Deep Ecology, by Arne Naess