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/u/Sacul0205
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I have seen one too many videos of people on social media, with a holier than thou attitude, knocking over rock stacks (cairns) other people have made, and quite frankly I’ve had enough. However, I am not making this argument because I feel particularly strongly about rock-stacks, rather I am making this argument because I think this attitude is the fundamental problem with our relationship to the environment: it furthers the idea that we are separate from the ecosystem.
For some context, this argument is inspired by the philosophy behind William Cronan’s article, “The Trouble with Wilderness”, something that I think every environmentalist should read. The foundation of that article which I will extrapolate a little bit on, is that in viewing the idealistic version of nature (or wilderness) as free from human involvement, we further a dualistic narrative that sets nature and humans at opposite ends. I believe this narrative is deeply engrained within western culture and is a plague on our relationship to the environment. One way this separation is evident, is that we view the “wilderness” and “nature” as somewhere that we go to, instead of somewhere that we already are. We have inflated and romanticized the idea of what nature is and should be, and it is directly evident in our actions toward it.
We over extract from it, we try to control it, and we pollute it; most of us only care once it impacts us. We may not say it out loud, but we act as if the balance and laws of the ecosystem do not apply to us, for we believe that is an issue we can surely engineer our way out of. However, this burden does not lie on the average person who has had no choice but to comply with the hand they’ve been dealt. It lies on the extractive nature of a profit-driven machine, a machine that gives us increasingly less facilities and opportunities to rekindle this connection to nature. This machine only reinforces the idea that we are separate because in most aspects of our life, it imposes itself as our sole reality. We become enraptured into the fabric of a solely anthropogenic existence, so any opportunity that we have to realize that this machine is merely a box we’ve been put into, is the best revolt against it for the average person.
This brings me to rock-stacking, while I agree with the evidence that there are some negative impacts on an ecosystem, those impacts are exceedingly negligible compared to the impact a disconnected society has on the environment. In fact I would argue those impacts are apart of being human, we inherently leave a trace just the same as every other animal on this planet. Again, the idea that the only relationship we have to an environment is one of no impact is harmful, not because of the physical impact but because of the ideas and narratives that are being reinforced. Instead of focusing energy on knocking over rock stacks, my hope is that we can refocus that energy on rebuilding our connection to the environment and calling out the people and corporations who over-extract, pollute the air, and destroy biodiversity. Kicking over rocks, while in itself I have no problem with, when posted online reeks of performative activism and discourages people from engaging with their environment.
submitted by /u/Sacul0205
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For some context, this argument is inspired by the philosophy behind William Cronan’s article, “The Trouble with Wilderness”, something that I think every environmentalist should read. The foundation of that article which I will extrapolate a little bit on, is that in viewing the idealistic version of nature (or wilderness) as free from human involvement, we further a dualistic narrative that sets nature and humans at opposite ends. I believe this narrative is deeply engrained within western culture and is a plague on our relationship to the environment. One way this separation is evident, is that we view the “wilderness” and “nature” as somewhere that we go to, instead of somewhere that we already are. We have inflated and romanticized the idea of what nature is and should be, and it is directly evident in our actions toward it.
We over extract from it, we try to control it, and we pollute it; most of us only care once it impacts us. We may not say it out loud, but we act as if the balance and laws of the ecosystem do not apply to us, for we believe that is an issue we can surely engineer our way out of. However, this burden does not lie on the average person who has had no choice but to comply with the hand they’ve been dealt. It lies on the extractive nature of a profit-driven machine, a machine that gives us increasingly less facilities and opportunities to rekindle this connection to nature. This machine only reinforces the idea that we are separate because in most aspects of our life, it imposes itself as our sole reality. We become enraptured into the fabric of a solely anthropogenic existence, so any opportunity that we have to realize that this machine is merely a box we’ve been put into, is the best revolt against it for the average person.
This brings me to rock-stacking, while I agree with the evidence that there are some negative impacts on an ecosystem, those impacts are exceedingly negligible compared to the impact a disconnected society has on the environment. In fact I would argue those impacts are apart of being human, we inherently leave a trace just the same as every other animal on this planet. Again, the idea that the only relationship we have to an environment is one of no impact is harmful, not because of the physical impact but because of the ideas and narratives that are being reinforced. Instead of focusing energy on knocking over rock stacks, my hope is that we can refocus that energy on rebuilding our connection to the environment and calling out the people and corporations who over-extract, pollute the air, and destroy biodiversity. Kicking over rocks, while in itself I have no problem with, when posted online reeks of performative activism and discourages people from engaging with their environment.
submitted by /u/Sacul0205
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...