ECOLOGY OF EVERYDAY LIFE
146
A social desire for nature requires the reclamation of direct political
expression by local people. Only by participating in a state-less direct
democracy, will people to begin to articulate the grounds for a new
non-hierarchical ecological society. However, localism alone is insufficient for
creating the broadest context for democracy. The principle of localism
represents only one moment within a dialectic between unity and diversity. A
world of ‘diverse’ self-governing localities could mean a string of parochial
islands empowered to ‘do their own thing’ without being accountable to a
wider community. Thus, this spirit of diversity needs to be complemented by a
unifying trend as well. A confederation is necessary that would bring together a
community of self-governing local cities, towns, and villages who are united
through a common commitment to general principles of cooperation and
non-hierarchy
(mutualism),
self-determination
and
participation,
(differentiation), and development.
A rational desire for nature, then, would lead us to establish cooperative
political institutions in which we could create a free and ecological society. It
would move us to foster complex and social relationships both within society
and with the rest of the natural world in order to build upon the objectively
identifiable trend in natural evolution toward mutualism, differentiation, and
development.
We must cease identifying such abstractions as ‘humanity’, ‘technology’,
or ‘industrial society’ as the cause of ecological problems, or goading ‘Third
World women’ or ‘immigrants’ for causing ecological harm. It is time to begin
to critique the social relationships in society, particularly those that constitute
our systems of government and economics, understanding their role in
perpetuating ecological injustice. An oppositional desire for nature moves us to
create a new kind of society in which we are empowered to determine our
social relations with nature.
The social desire for nature is worlds away from a romantic or spiritual
desire to protect an ecological ‘purity’ or ‘integrity’ that is ‘above’ us, or ‘in’ us.
Rather than regard nature Jfrom afar, starry-eyed, and yearning, we may
recognize ourselves as part of a developmental and creative process called
natural history, recognizing in turn, creative and liberatory potentialities within
ourselves. After all, we are each organically derived from first nature, we each
represent a distinctive ‘moment’ within a larger natural history.
As we begin to understand our own natural history, we may begin to
reinterpret the potentialities latent within
our own second nature.
By
understanding the tendency within first nature for mutualism, differentiation,
and development, we are able to comprehend the organic dimension of our
own desire for non-hierarchy, creativity, development, and ultimately, freedom.
A social desire for nature moves us to regain the courage to see what is best in