Web of Life

Omnia vivunt, omnia inter se conexa
[Everything is alive; everything is interconnected]
- -Cicero

Ya kill for a little bit of money.
There's more to life than a little money, you know.
Don'tcha know that?
And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day
--Fargo (1996)

Lack of awareness of the basic unity
of organism and environment
is a serious and dangerous hallucination
--Alan Watts
_______________

We are largely a nation of disconnected, distracted and disaffected individuals. We lack a sense of Other and fail to respect that we are a nation of disparate individuals. It is so simple: The one is part of the whole, and we all have a part to play. The problem is, we are egoistic, and believe we are the center around which it all revolves.

God exists to fulfill our dreams. Prosperity Theology tells us that He wants us flush, and some Christians read Theology of the Body as inducing us to have great rolls in the hay, at God's behest. Many strands of mainstream Christianity are now hawking a "Hot Monogamy" theme. It's all about us, except when it isn't.

There is something beyond all of us, and that is The Other, the Stranger. The Bible commands us to love him (Deuteronomy 10-19), but most of us find that hard to do. Examples of the difficulty of this endeavor abound, both among our fellow humans and with the other inhabitants of our world.

We seem alienated from animal life unless it exists to amuse, clothe or feed us. Ranger has neighbors in the rural county in which he lives who kill hawks, coyotes, raccoons, opossums and rattlesnakes, and the commercial farmers get special permits to slaughter deer wholesale because they forage the tomatoes they grow. This is especially hideous as tons of tomatoes are scrapped every growing season for being too ripe to ship.

We kill because the little critters are deemed nuisances, or for the sheer pleasure of killing varmints. Like the character Leonard Smalls in the film "Raising Arizona", they are especially hard on the little things. Ground hogs are killed for sport, and African safaris continue to be a draw, though most of the hunts are canned.

Many (illegally) kill Florida panthers for the sport, and though their numbers are being dangerously reduced, bobcats fill in as sport for some lusty deer hunters. Forget slowing down on the highways to protect wildlife -- for many, it is a real-life version of Death Race 2000.

We lack empathy, and fail to examine the most basic of our actions. We have allowed government to commit indecencies and crimes in our name. We invade, topple and kill as easily as if shooting wild boar, ignoring the interconnectedness of all life, both animal and human.

In contrast to his neighbors, Ranger feels privileged to view the wildlife that forage on his property. The occasional red fox is seen, and hawks were never killed, even when they targeted chickens. All life is connected and has purpose.

It is unfortunate when we forget we are all part of this web of life. The New York Times ran a story on Paris's city bike initiative, reporting that 80% of the Vélib's had been vandalized or stolen, often by disaffected residents (French Ideal of Bicycle-sharing Meets Reality.) Said one Parisian user: “It’s a reflection of the violence of our society and it’s outrageous: the Vélib’ is a public good but there is no civic feeling related to it.”

That is the bottom line: We may not feel kenzoku (blood brother affinity) with many, but we can always have a civic feeling, a feeling of being a good steward, if societies are to persist in anything other than an Escape From New York sort of way.

"In an unsuccessful effort to stop vandalism, Paris began an advertising campaign this summer. Posters showed a cartoon Vélib’ being roughed up by a thug. The caption read: 'It’s easy to beat up a Vélib’, it can’t defend itself. Vélib’ belongs to you, protect it!'” But if you don't believe Velib' belongs to you, you will not protect it. You may vandalize and cannibalize it, in order to get your petty share, but in its wholeness and functionality, it means nothing to you.

Life is give and take, and we are all part of the whole. This is something that all men must remember, whatever their country or religion. From killing we may escape and survive, but there must be a place where it is not carried to excess or committed with alacrity.

Too often our lives and wars feature both excessive and frivolous killing, and our disposable society does nothing to dissuade this voraciousness. More for me, and there will always be more.

Until there isn't.

--Lisa and Jim