On the problems of Nature

In truth, that which we feebly call “Nature” is really everything in the known and unknown universe. However, as the human mind is not really capable of fully understanding the complex totality of the numerous and vast systems that comprise the “natural world,” we can only call it all “nature.” But as this word is far too loaded, and far too simple given the immense baggage attached to it, can we not help but concur with Spengler’s notion that the natural is only what we conceive it to be, and the rest is left obscured by the very same term.

Here is one larger of the roots of the modern crisis. For too long we have considered nature as something outside the human sphere, something that exists outside of our cities and towns that lives only in the remotest areas that are “untouched,” or at least apparently less affected, by human influence. However, the ever increasing body of scientific evidence and social experience seems to be consistently disproving this notion. Extremely remote areas, such as polar or glacial ice caps or the deep sea, which are practically uninhabited, are taking the brunt of environmental change, as are the forests, plains and waterways of the world. At the same time, localized agriculture and environmental action in urban areas is on the rise in the developed Western world, reconnecting the most disjointed with natural cycles and rhythms.

And where does human nature fall into all of this? Clearly, we are an animal just like all the rest, but just as clearly we are something far beyond our fellow creatures. So great is our power that some in the scientific community refer to our current epoch as the Anthropocene, the age of the human. This term is easy to confuse as merely meaning that we have achieved full power and influence over the natural world as never before, and while this is certainly true it fails to grasp the full connotation of the term. Instead of our mastery over nature, we have created an economic and social system that is increasingly at odds with natural cycles and processes to ever increasingly dangerous degrees. Yes, humanity has the power to alter and transform the rest of the natural world for our benefit, but in no way are we, or were we ever, outside of or beyond the influence of that which we have named Nature. The harder we try to break free of her, the more we come to realized that her webs grow ever tighter and more restrictive as she adjusts to maintain balance. As our understanding and exploitation of natural resources, cycles, processes and other life forms, our dependence on the natural world actually increases. Resources like oil, Lithium, wood and so forth are finite and require careful management and use. Water, our greatest resource and a crucial building block of life as we understand it, is often the most abused via pollution, waste and mismanagement. In a world that is 80% water on the surface, no one anywhere should have a water problem in our time. It’s merely a distribution problem!

Then again, what would endless water do to the landscape of countries like Iran, Sudan, and Afghanistan? These largely arid, dry regions could be agricultural powerhouses with proper infrastructure, funding and management. This in turn could be a social and economic boon, bringing sustainable, local wealth into these, and other, nations. But, is it worth subjecting more wild landscape to the jaws of agriculture and "progress?" These are the tough questions concerning current environment-society context, where standards of living is largely tied with access to a Western style, consumer based economy.