Consequences of action seek definability. One knows through experience not to touch a steaming cup of coffee or their hands or lips may get burnt in the process.
The ramifications of ones actions are not always so definable. If one spills water on the stairway, someone else may slip and fall a few minutes later. But the fall usually occurs out of notice of the person who spilt the water. Hence there is always that bit of carelessness associated with most actions. This carelessness is especially profound when it concerns the broader environmental perspective.
During the last one year, I’ve been to many areas affected by severe environmental degradation, spoken to many activists and experts and also read a great deal about perspectives.
Most people notice only immediate consequences of actions. Most people are in a position to only notice immediate consequences of their actions. Most people are unaware about the total consequences of their actions. Science itself is unaware of the total consequences of any action. This puts us all in a precarious position.
I will now demonstrate my points with appropriate examples.
The Inuit Case Study, Alaska, USA (excerpt from my report on the IPEN conference held in Trivandrum, India in August, 2008)
The Inuit folk get their main nutrition from the surrounding seas. They eat the meat of the large mammals of the region and the fishes from north pacific. These people have never used any pesticide in their region. Yet, they have the highest levels of pesticides in their bodies. Among the Inuit women, the breast milk levels of POPs (Persistent organic pollutants like DDT, BHC and dioxin) are the highest in the world. This has resulted because the chemicals, being non-biodegradable, are carried through the ocean currents and the marine food chains from seas bordering SE Asia and the west American coast. They are carried to northern latitudes by ocean currents, which eventually bioaccumulate big mammals of the Arctic through the food chain, which then are consumed by the aboriginals of the Arctic. The Inuit representative made a very touching presentation on the sufferings of the Inuit community to the international delegation here.
The above case study is but one example to demonstrate the illusion of space. The usage of pesticides in Asia has led to loss of marine life in the arctic and also led to congenital anomalies and abortions among pregnant inuit mothers.
The similarity between plastics and carbon-dioxide is their half lives, both being approximately 500 to 1000 years. The consequences of the carbon we emit through our activities now will be borne by several generations after us. They will have to pay for it by struggling for water and food and land (consequences of global warming). Similarly, most of our forefathers defined development as a conquest over nature and natural law; and we are paying for it by living by the same mindset.
The illusion of person is more difficult to understand. The person may be another human or another creature. Very recently, a staff member at the centre I work at mentioned to me that he always does things to help other people; like when he destroyed many bee hives killing over 10,000 bees over a month ago. He claimed that this was in the interest of everyone.
The world population of honeybees has reduced by 40%. That is a terrific statistic. If one were to ask a life scientist the importance of these creatures, the most direct answer would be that they are the reason for our food. All food grains and fruits are the consequence of pollination caused by these busy insects. Moreover, these insects attack only when directly provocated and are nonviolent otherwise, like any other non-human creature. By killing the bees this man has affected food production. In many areas of the world suffering from low yields of food grains, one of the major causes is said to be the dwindling population of honey bees.
The consequences of global warming will hit everyone but most severely the poor and agricultural community. Water scarcity, changes in insect populations and disease patterns are all in the process of blooming.
The Buddha proposed very early on in 500 BC that time, place and person are all illusions. If one were to see himself or herself in everything, and everything as an extension of himself or herself, how could he or she attack it? Because anything you attack is an attack upon yourself. In this moment lies all of time. The whole of the universe is your home. This is the principle of ahimsa or non-violence.
