Politics and Law

Few today would doubt that “Big Oil” and transnational corporations control much of what goes in politics and law worldwide.

Crusaders like John Perkins of the Dreamchange Coalition continue to make gallant efforts to “stand up to” deeply-entrenched financial and government powerhouses.

But if big business (and governments) can be convinced that environmentally-friendly techniques can actually be more efficient and cost-effective than what is now being done, then real change can finally be effected, and in a “win-win” way for everybody.

In "Sustainability", an article in Deep News (January 1999, Vol. 10, No. 1, formerly found at http://bfi.org/files/pdfs/gbn_sustainable.pdf) Hardin Tibbs discussed the concept of “K-capitalism.” “K-strategists” are organisms like trees, which prosper in the long term, as opposed to “r-strategists” like weeds, which put great amounts of energy into growing as quickly as possible, but which then live short lives. Tibbs outlines how businesses can develop their own k-strategies in order to benefit both the organizations themselves and the planet as a whole.

Also in the realm of politics and law lies ecofeminism, a concept part of which entails that as women gain more power in the greater scheme of things, the “environmental movement” will do the same. In other words, ecofeminists believe that oppressive, domineering treatment of women is tied-in to similar treatment of other races, species and the environment as a whole.

The African concept of ubuntu similarly states that all human beings are part of a greater whole, and the degradation of anyone is deleterious to us all. Extending this beyond humans and to nature itself seems only a logical conclusion.

Likewise, as technology moves more into harmony with the natural world, modern forms of slavery can be diminished and perhaps eliminated.

What modern forms of slavery? Namely, the frequent mistreatment of children as well as the non-human inhabitants of our planet. Because if technology is to be reconciled with nature, children must no longer be forced to work in sweatshops, nor should animals be treated in cruel ways, such as the confinement of veal calves in cages where they can barely move. As intelligent, thinking beings, we can do better than that.

In certain human cultures, women have been considered property. And while this is now seen to be wrong by most modern human beings, animals are still legally considered property, even in countries seen as having the most enlightened “human rights” policies. Animals are still forced to perform “tricks” for human entertainment, fight each other while humans wager on the winner, and give up their lives to feed us (often after short lives of unimaginable misery).

Richard Ryder has proposed that creatures that can feel pain should not be treated like slaves by human beings. Many people, of course, would argue with him, considering many animals to be just another food source for the human population. But how many U.S. citizens, for example, would willingly eat a dog or a horse?

Indeed, as technology once again becomes more a part of nature, rather than its enemy, the enslavement of living beings can only be an obstacle to progress. As animals are seen as beings with an equal right to exist on this planet, and not as our inferiors, our relationship with them can improve. Similarly, even the poorest human children, worldwide, should be able to spend their childhood years learning and becoming resources for the future, and not toiling as slave-laborers.

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