What is love? Love is empathy, cooperation
and care; love works for restoration and harmony; Love cares about respect,
justice and sustainability; it inspires gratitude and reciprocity. It expresses
itself in the gifts of Mother Earth, which are assaulted by greed. What
is greed? Greed is violence, oppression, lust and corruption.
Do your choices align with love or do they
align with greed?
I
highly recommend Robin Wall Kimmerer’s latest book. If I belonged to a book
club, I would offer it as a thought-provoking source of discussion and
inspiration.
The Gift economy
I had never heard of “gift economies” before.
It was a novelty concept. I became aware of it for the first time when I read The
Serviceberry.
The Serviceberry is an introspective invitation to
belong to a gift economy, one that thrives in acts of gratitude, kindness and
reciprocity.
“Gift economies arise from an understanding
of earthly abundance and the gratitude it generates.”
“In ecological economics, the focus is on
creating an economy that provides for a just and sustainable
future in which both human life and nonhuman life can flourish.”
I have
to admit that my actions, aspirations and ideas align with the foundation of
this little book. I read it in only two hours, and now I am returning to it to
reflect on the author’s thoughts and insights, and to gain a deeper
understanding of it. After reading this book, I came to the realization that I carve a balance between the demands of a market economy and the
volunteering of my work as a member of the gift economy. The joys I harvest as
a result of it are robust and amazing…
The gift
of water
Market
economies commodify the gifts of the Earth. An example of this is the
commodification of clean water. I appreciate the way in which she describes the
situation:
“It was previously unthinkable that one
would pay for a drink of water; but as careless economic expansion pollutes
fresh water, we now incentivize privatization of springs and aquifers.
Sweet water, a free gift of the Earth, is pirated by faceless corporations
who encase it in plastic containers to sell. And now many can’t afford what
was previously free, and we incentivize wrecking public waters to create demand
for the privatized. What induces people
to buy bottled water from a corporation more convincingly than contaminated
water flowing from the faucet?”
The
system causes several kinds of scarcity to make a profit of them. This one
really made me think about the situation from a new perspective, because this
is exactly what the fossil fuel corporations do and it is why they have worked
so hard for decades to thwart the development of clean energies that are
necessary to protect the quality of air and water and to address climate
change.
Clean
energy to address climate change
When choices are made to reinforce and
promote the production of clean energy, the quality of water and air are also protected. In contrast, keeping coal plants open and ditching rules that
help to protect the quality of water and air are actions that not only make
people sick, but also create a scarcity of clean water and air. These actions
also affect the climate, and worsening climate change leads to food scarcity.
This made me think about what Donald Trump is doing: he is keeping coal plants open and loosening restrictions that protect the quality of water and air. As a result of the weakening of these restrictions, mercury, lead and other dangerous chemicals are released into the environment. These contaminants poison the air and water. I invite you to do your research and find out the effects that these contaminants have on babies and children…Knowledge is power, so empower yourself.
Robin Wall Kimmerer summarizes the situation
in a way that illuminates the reality of what is happening:
“Climate
catastrophe and biodiversity loss are the consequences of unrestrained taking
by humans.”
The good news is that when you open your
awareness to the actions of gift economies and give them a name, you can see
the sprouting buds of gift economies around you. They are not rare or strange.
Let’s share some simple hints to help the gift
economy flourish in its own right…
“Never take
the first one. Never take the last.”
“Take only
what you need.”
“Take only
that which is given.”
“Never take
more than half. Leave some for others.”
“Harvest in
a way that minimizes harm.”
“Use it
respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.”
“Share.”
“Give thanks for what you have been given.
Give a gift in reciprocity for what you have taken.”
I
endeavor to do so with every post I write… It is an action of gratitude for
every book I read. Her messages resonate strongly with My Writing Life:
Awareness, Reflection, Inspiration.
The gift of her book
The author’s advance payments from this book
about the gift economy of the natural world will be donated as a reciprocal
gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice in
support of healing land and people.
She has an important suggestion here: Consider reciprocating the gifts of the Earth
in your own way. “Whatever your currency of reciprocity—be it money, time,
energy, political action, art, science, education, planting, community action,
restoration, acts of care, large and small—all are needed in these urgent
times.”
The Serviceberry cites some interesting books to
encourage the reader to learn more about the topics she presents. I disagree
with the reviewers who said her book is “repetitive.” Nothing could be further
from the truth. When one cares to pay attention to genuinely learn about what
she is offering, one is better prepared to welcome the new information that is
necessary to understand the topic better. Those reviewers may have poor
attention spans, which can be an impediment in understanding the depth of the
content.
The need for incremental changes
Gradual incremental changes are necessary to
build up the foundation of the so-called gift economies. It takes patience,
integrity and motivation to make it possible, but it also needs a new kind of awareness.
Gratitude is essential. Actions of solidarity and cooperation are part of the
gift economies. Bear in mind that these actions are often discouraged in
authoritarian regimes because tyrants want to pit people against each other to weaken them, and to
abuse power and oppress communities. Tyrants
and their sycophants use people’s distrust and skepticism to divide and
dominate people. In other words, what Robin proposes is the antidote to
greed, abuse and exploitation. It is a form of creative resistance to the abuse caused by greed. It requires an open mind and a genuine motivation to
improve the current situation.
If you
enjoyed this post, you can check my writing on the following books:
The Permaculture Transition Manual
How can I
help? Saving Nature with your Yard
Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Braiding
Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, professor and enrolled member of the Citizen
Potawatomi Nation. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of
Environmental Biology and the founder of the Center for Native Peoples and the
Environment.
The charming Illustrations are by John
Burgoyne. You can visit his site here:
Happy World
Bee Day!
Honor the
bees today and everyday by avoiding the use of herbicides and pesticides. Plant
native plants that have not been sprayed with harmful chemicals. Learn how to
support the bees by reading the following article. Enjoy their visits to the garden. Fearing
bees is an act of ignorance, so learn as much as you can about them and
celebrate their presence in the garden. By supporting bees, you also help other
pollinators that sustain the health of the ecosystem as well as your own
health.
https://xerces.org/pesticides/risks-pesticides-pollinators
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