Week 9: Ecosystems and Deep Ecology

What do you think about the "eight-point" Deep Ecology Platform?

It's refreshing to read a platform that recognizes the inherit value and biodiversity of non-human life (aka the rest of nature) outside of the narrow confines of humanity's use of nature. It is a realistic platform that looks honestly at how the excessive human population is incompatible with the flourishing both of humans and non-human lifeforms. China has addressed the excessive population problem by implementing a national 'one child only' law which requires that couples breed no more than one child. Any second and further pregnancies require abortion. While it seems like a drastic interference in freewill- I think that national measures like this- ESPECIALLY in densely populated countries like China, India, certain Latin American countries, etc.- that it is not a bad idea. When I visited Colombia last winter- I was shocked and disappointed by how difficult it was just to take a bus or drive through traffic because of the dense population of Bogotá. Anyone that knows Latin America knows the high value Latinos ascribe to big families- and this was obvious by the sheer amount of babies and children I saw. However- it made the quality of just getting around the city a nightmare. Quality of life is affected by dense population- and in the long-run- if humanity is allowed to reproduce unchecked- there will likely not be enough resources, food, or jobs to sustain such a huge population, especially as economies around the world start to plummet- which they already are.

Can you explain why "Ecosystems are both strong and fragile?" 

Mother Earth is a force with which to be reckoned. Her strength has already endured the sheer destruction we have waged upon her in the form of pollution, agriculture, farming out certain kinds of fish to the point of extinction or endangerment, etc. While we continue to populate and live off of her bounty- this comes at a cost. There are more animal and plant species that are becoming extinct or endangered every year. The reason ecosystems are fragile is that if one crucial component of the ecosystem collapses or is farmed out- there is a whole chain of life that is dependent on that part of the chain that is also effected. However- Mother Earth may very well (and already has) fight back with a number of natural disasters as a result of climate change from human/industrial pollution- that may affect the human population in the long run as well. The coming Ice Age may also have a huge detrimental effect on humanity while creating a freeze over that may actually help the Earth recover in the long-term.

How would you assess the "end goals" of Social Ecology?

I feel that Social Ecology is a necessary reclamation of human responsibility for the damage we have caused the planet. There is no other species on the planet who have the capacity to help repair the situation we have created on the planet. It is our planetary duty and responsibility to try and amend the damage we have caused by whatever technological, ethical, ecological, geological ways we can. If we don't- the situation will only continue to worsen and cause yet more harm to humans, animals, plant species, the atmosphere, the oceans. Recognition of these problems is the only ethical and practical way to try and improve life for everyone on the planet.