David Suzuki and Environmentalism - Essay Example

of David Suzuki and Environmentalism David Suzuki’s book, The Big Picture, talks of the need for conserving the planet and the environment that man lives in. it makes clear the need for a co-existence of science and the ecology. Unlike many theorists who talk of the need for a return to nature, Suzuki’s views are important also for the significance that he attributes to science. He acknowledges the situation that the dichotomy between science and the environment places man in and looks at several problems that are a part of it. He talks of the different aspects of this problem and the possible defense mechanisms that the planet may have in order to combat the encroachments of technology. For Suzuki, it is also important that one understands the importance of mankind’s position on the planet. The fact that man is one of the many species that exist on this planet is significant for Suzuki. There are several new theories that Suzuki puts forth including the idea that it is necessary for the ecological to be quantified in the economic sense of the term. This would then put a certain amount of pressure on people to create a world where the ecology is valued in terms that are familiar to the current market economy. This then makes us aware of the importance of creating a world where the ecology is not a dispensable commodity but something that provides us with an understanding of man’s relation to his environment and other creatures who have equal rights over the resources of the earth. Suzuki’s main argument is that the ecology needs to be given his due and integrated with the scientific endeavors of man and in the economic framework of the world, without which there would be no sustainable growth in the world in any sector. One of the main arguments that Suzuki makes throughout his career is that mankind needs to come to terms with the fact that it exists on the earth and would not be able to survive without the earth being a place that can sustain them. The disconnect that man reveals when it comes to the earth can be seen from the fact that dirt is always regarded as something that is undesirable. However, this dislike for dirt is oblivious to the fact that whatever grows on the earth takes root in dirt and can be seen to draw its nourishment from the very dirt that is regarded with such contempt by man (Mast). This then reveals an attempt on the part of Suzuki to look at the tiny things in one’s life that indicate the attitudes that one holds towards the environment. Such attitudes then create a situation where the ecology is undervalued and not given its proper due. Its life-sustaining quality is then obfuscated and not given due importance. Despite man’s advancement in terms of science and technology, there is still a lot that needs to be done in terms of the conservation of the environment. The conservation of the ecology is a must for the sustained development since the resources necessary for development ultimately comes from the environment itself. This can be seen from this statement that is made by Suzuki in The Big Picture- …all of these things that so dominate our headlines and our lives- all of these things are merely social constructs created by humans. Ultimately they still depend on something else: the continued existence of a stable and healthy planet to provide us with the basics of life. Without a healthy planet to cleanse our wastes and provide us with resources, we will wither. Unless we can find a way to live in balance with the natural systems that sustain us, our species will ultimately reach a dead end (3). The ideas that are expressed in this passage are important as they do not suggest that development of the kind that is fuelled by technological advances is insignificant. What it does suggest, however, is that there needs to be an awareness of the environmental impact that certain programs of development have. According to Suzuki, one must not devalue science and its effects on mankind. However, one must not also reduce everything to science and logic. Nature must not be looked as something that can be explained away through science. Here Suzuki may also be referring to those relationships that existed between man and nature that were washed away by the forces of science and rationalistic discourses. There needs to also be an understanding of the balance that nature maintains within itself, a balance which it may not always be possible to understand through science and allied fields. This balance is maintained by a large number of connections that exist between different parts of the ecosystems that one is a part of. This is what Suzuki means when he says, Nature does not operate in a vacuum. Interconnections among the various parts of the natural world are what actually drive it. When we pull it apart, we lose context- and that can mean everything (6). This then means that there is a need for humanity to understand the position that it occupies within the world. The world then becomes a space that is not the exclusive property of mankind. Man is then just one of the millions of species that populate the planet earth. This then leads one to look at certain philosophical models that place man at the center of the universe. This shall then lead one to question the anthropological models that were created at a certain point of time that looked at man divorced from his environment in a manner that suggested that man was the center of the society. Such readings would need to be relooked at and they would need to be reinterpreted. This is one of the results of the theories that are put forward by Suzuki. They signal the need for a revaluation of the bodies of knowledge that have been produced till date. They also signal the need for factoring in the role of the environment in such models of the society. This would require one to acquire a greater knowledge of the ecosystems that one is a part of so as to lead to better methods of conservation of the society. The process of acquiring such knowledge is then compared to getting to know one’s neighbors by Suzuki (59). This would then enable one to understand the diversity of the planet better. A better understanding of the planet would then lead to a better reading of the conservation techniques that have been employed till now. It would also lead to more creative techniques being employed after improving the earlier ones. This would then also enable one to understand that one needs to look at the environment and the ways in which it can be changed in a more holistic manner. Therefore, one would need to look at the economic aspect of the question more seriously. The gifts of the environment need to be treated as non-gifts, according to Suzuki. He argues that the gifts that are provided by the environment need to be accounted for and paid for. The proceeds of this can then go to the conservation of the very environment that provides the services. Suzuki says, …we predicated our entire economy around the notion that these services have no quantifiable value and will continue to be provided indefinitely…. we don’t have that luxury anymore (85). This also leads one to understand that there is no option for an apolitical conservation. Conservation of the environment needs to be an issue that is of central importance to the political agenda of a nation. This can be seen in the support that Suzuki has extended to political figures on the basis of their agendas which did or did not include environmental conservation as a part of it (David Suzuki gives big boost to Liberal leadership dark horse Joyce Murray). Environmental conservation is thus, not something that needs to be incidental to the plans of development that are drawn up by a nation, according to Suzuki. They are central to those plans as without the resources that are provided by nature, development would not be possible. Life as we know it today itself would not be possible without the kind of adaptation that Suzuki proposes. The adaption would be of the programs of conservation. This would then require a paradigm shift in the manner in which such programs are created as such programs are often created in a vacuum in the way that nature is not. This is also a means of marginalizing the importance that nature has in our lives. Nature is not something that can be taken care of once the developmental objectives of the economy and the polity is fulfilled. It is something that needs to be dealt with at an immediate level. It needs to be given the importance that is due to it and this can be done only if it is seen in relation to the rest of the activities that people indulge in. Suzuki’s views are extremely relevant in today’s world. The fact that he is able to relate the world of social media to the environment in itself is an indication of the fact that his views can be adapted to the modern societies that one is a part of. This then leads one to look at the different aspects of modern society that he seeks to associate with the environment. The economy is one of these. The economy is one of those aspects that are of great importance, if not of primary importance in today’s society. This is something that Suzuki looks at. The only way in which the economy can be improved is through the commercialization of the resources. This would be through putting a price on the resources that have been till now treated as nothing but the gifts of nature. Such elements are not to be taken as freely available, according to Suzuki. He makes clear the fact that a commercialization of such elements would lead to more careful uses of such elements. For instance, there would be an impulse on the part of the people who are using the water of the river to conserve it and not waste it if they would be made to pay for the water that they are wasting. If a certain company would pollute the water of a river without paying for cleaning it up, then there would be no check on pollution. This would then lead to a slow but sure catastrophe. The kind of relationship that exists between nature and man at this point of time is an extremely colonial one. Man is secure in his awareness of certain aspects of nature. This knowledge then seems to provide him with power over his colonial subject, nature (Said 14). This is not the approach to nature that Suzuki endorses. The strategy that he endorses would be one which enables man to understand nature better without feeling a certain kind of a power over it. This would then reduce nature to an object of power rather than an equal subject in the relations between nature and man. Suzuki has always felt that the world, rather than existing for humanity’s sake is something that is a home to mankind and many other species (David Suzuki). Mankind thus does not have exclusive rights to the fruits that nature gives out to the people who are a part of it. Suzuki’s views also helps place the twenty first century man in relation to the world. It helps him or her view the world as not in opposition to man. Mankind then becomes a part of nature rather than an entity that is always at loggerheads with nature. This is not to say that one is to look for organicity in today’s world. Suzuki himself dispels such notions by taking as a given the fractured nature of modern existence. His ideas are thus, ones that can be used for crafting a plan to save the planet in the twenty first century. Works Cited “David Suzuki”. CBC.ca. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. “David Suzuki gives big boost to Liberal leadership dark horse Joyce Murray”. The Globe and Mail. 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. Mast, Meghan. “Book Review-The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki”. Live Local. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. Said, Edward. Orientalism. London: Penguin, 2000. Print. Suzuki, David. The Big Picture: Reflections on Science, Humanity, and a Quickly Changing Planet. Vancouver: Greystone, 2009. Print. Read More