A Revolutionary Act (an article for the Spectator)

Perhaps it is tediously obvious to say that the simplest of actions in the global economic world have far-reaching effects. The choice to have a mango for breakfast implicates you in the chain of processes from the grower to the store. In the past these relationships would have been a lot more transparent than they are today – you probably would have known the farmer, his practices, his soil, his wife and his dog, and you almost certainly would not have given your money to him if you thought he was doing anything dubious. But as food began to come from further and further away this relationship between source and consumer eroded to the point where it is now easier to ignore the complexities than to stand in the supermarket aisle in a constant moral dilemma. However, it is this ignorance that gives companies within the chain of supply the elbow-room to behave unethically, putting farmers under enormous pressure for high yields, forcing them into degrading the soil and working for a pittance. This ignorance fuels abuses of human and environmental rights.

At the same time, this ignorance is profoundly affecting our relationship with nature. A recent study revealed that a large proportion of British children think that carrots come from Tescos. In a way this is understandable, given that we live in an urban world and are not in contact with the processes that feed and nurture us. And, granted, in today’s society it would be unreasonable to expect everyone to grow their own vegetables, but it is worrying just how far we have strayed from an understanding of such basic principles. The implicit message of modern living is that the environment is there to serve us. We call it OUR environment as if we are above the laws that govern it. This division between humans and the environment is the issue that needs to be addressed if we are to think seriously about climate change. It is a psychological issue that requires radical re-thinking about our place in the world and what we need in order to live comfortably in it.

It’s not always easy to know how to act in the face of such a huge task as halting Climate Change. And it is difficult to see our own efforts as anything other than drops in an ocean. It seems that the heavy wheels of society and industry on which we depend for our livelihoods continue to move in a direction that we don’t want to go, but we are compelled to follow and hence compelled to continue destroying the earth and wiping out species after species, year by year. But it is essentially the choices that we make that give these systems life. We are not separate from the economic and political systems that surround us, just as we are not separate from the biosphere.

We are not on a run-away train as long as people are willing (which they are) to make simple and informed choices that buck the consumptive, parasitical trends of modern society. Like choosing to ride your bike to work. Although it may seem like a small, insignificant act, its implications are huge. Choosing not to turn the car ignition key stands in defiance against the oil industry whose crimes against the environment and humanity are too numerous to mention. It stands against apathy and laziness, which are the biggest enemies of change. It stands for health, vitality, self-respect and independence, and it exposes you to the elements – to the changing nuances of weather, smells and the forces of nature which feed the human imagination and remind us that we are subject to the same laws as everything else. It is in this understanding of ourselves as part of Nature’s mosaic, rather than separate from it, where the will to address the current environmental crisis lies.