WEBVTT

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There is a place in the universe unlike

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any other a modest blue and white
planet circling a very ordinary stuff.

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It\'s the only place we
know off with oceans of

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liquid water and an
atmosphere rich in oxygen

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It\'s the only place we know of which
expresses the magical essence

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cold life of 30 million life forms.

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A species called Man has grown so

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powerful that it threatens the
creativity of the planet.

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That species is now searching for a
new understanding of its relationship

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with its one and only home place

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A lake surrounded by forests like all of
aluminum the distance the setting sun.

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As far as I\'m concerned it just
doesn\'t get any better than this

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This is the way the world
is supposed to be.

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What a contrast there is
between a place and time like

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this and the conditions under
which most of us live our lives.

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Here in the Boreal Forest I\'m
surrounded by plants and

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animals living their lives as parts
of dynamic living ecosystems.

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They\'re participating in something that is
bigger and more important than themselves.

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But much as I love and admire

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these wild woodlands I\'m somewhat
out of place except as a visitor.

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As soon as I get hungry or
goal that I have to rely on

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artificial aids like packaged
food or a nylon sleeping bag

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The downside of such comforting supports is
that they insulate us from the natural world.

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More and more Western culture
separates us from earth

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from the world to which we are
ecologically adapted by long evolution.

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Why is this it\'s a matter
that needs exploring.

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What we discovered along the way will help
us understand the ongoing conflict between

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human interests and the preservation
are very life-giving systems

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The BVA has a reputation
for being industrious.

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With its talent for landscape engineering

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it\'s a good emblem for
northern industrial culture.

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Behave as log the land
beside lakes and rivers

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They build canals and
trails for hauling wood.

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They dammed streams and create reservoirs.

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They build comfortable
lodges with Lake fuse.

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Settled down with home and food assured
they produce surplus youngsters.

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So the beavers seems to be the ideal
symbol for busy business society.

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But look a little deeper.

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And this mascot for team industry is really
very different from the human players

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Inactively helping to shape its home place the
beaver colony stays within certain limits.

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They do they\'re logging locally not over
hill and dale beavers build dams of

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local materials mud sticks
and stones to create a pond

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with water deep enough to remain
unfrozen through the coldest winter.

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Dams are designed to meet the
beavers basic needs nothing more.

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Dams are not built so
that luxury crops can be

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irrigated or so that cities can
sparkle with late through the night

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The beaver colony construct to lodge
according to a standard design.

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We don\'t find rich beavers using 50 times

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as much housing material as
they\'re poorer neighbors.

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Big lodges indicate that beavers have lived

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successfully in one place
for a very long time.

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The most striking difference between
human societies and BVA societies is

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the attitude of tolerance babies show

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towards other users of the
pond and its surroundings

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Beaver ponds increase the diversity
of habitats along a stream.

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So they actually increased biodiversity.

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Each species finds and takes what
it needs and leaves the rest alone.

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Even the beavers who created the pond make

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no attempt to corner all of
its resources for themselves.

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Each different species
of animal and plant is

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a tolerant participant
in the whole ecosystem

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Guided by that inner
intelligence we call instinct

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they work together for the
health of their home place.

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It\'s really interesting that when
paddling around a beaver pond I observe

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a lot that looks like tolerance
for barons cooperation.

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Of course there\'s the odd
display of aggression

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But it isn\'t carried to extremes.

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There seems to be a universal law at
work here that limits competition.

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It preserves the ecosystem
preserves relationships among

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organisms and of course
preserve biodiversity.

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Only recently have people been
trying to preserve biodiversity.

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But why is it so difficult for us are
we so much more competitive than

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other animals are we somehow

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lacking there instinct for tolerance
and compliance I don\'t think so.

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I think the trouble begins with ideas
were taught in school and church.

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Mischievous ideas about our
special status on Earth.

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From our earliest years our minds
are progressively wrapped in

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fuzzy ideas cultural notions that people
have an extra special place in creation.

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Certainly we are unique.

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And so is every other species.

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Trouble comes when we believe that
being unique means being superior

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Ancient myths and many cultures
idealize our species especially in

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the male side as superior to everything
else in creation second only to God.

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Even when most people accepted
an evolutionary explanation of

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our origin it was still assumed that evolution\'s
main goal was to create Homo sapiens.

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Backed by this conceited belief we came to

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the absurd conclusion that the
world is ours belonging to us.

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A stockpile of God-given raw
materials meant only for human use.

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This belief in humans a
barrier already is humanism

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It\'s a dangerous notion
because it justifies

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whatever we inflict on other
species and on Earth.

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Human has a makes us intolerant of nature
and of other species and ecological rules.

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Industrial agriculture is an
example of human intolerance.

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It converts entire ecosystems into human
food factories at the expense of everything

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else in a perfect field nothing exists
but one desirable species of plant.

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No wild flowers bloom.

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No enzyme stirs

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no birds sing.

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If any other species did this it would
be feared as a terrifying menace.

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But we accept it in people because we have
set ourselves apart from the rest of nature.

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Even while we work the land
we have no contact with it.

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And it doesn\'t need to be that way.

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There are other systems of agriculture

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A caterpillar spins a cocoon about
itself as it prepares to change.

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First to a helpless pupa than into a moth.

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That cocoon is an insulating barrier between
the insect and the rest of the world.

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People have been doing the same thing.

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Building cocoons that separate us from the
ecosystems which make our lives possible.

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The cocoons around our minds
and around our bodies give

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us comfort but they cut
us off from the world.

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Perhaps it\'s time to
emerge like a moth and see

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what\'s really important
out there going from

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one cocoon to another the
average North American spends

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95% of his life indoors
wrapped in technology.

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Think of cities buildings
machines and other gadgets.

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All of it is designed to control
nature in the service of people.

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Every year we add more layers believing
that technology is progress.

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Much of it is frivolous.

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Most of it is damaging to the earth

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Cocoons maybe comfortable
but they don\'t give life.

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They cut us off from the natural world.

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They give a distorted view of
earth and of our place in it

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were fooled into thinking that artificial
environments or what subordinates.

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But with all our bright ideas and apparatus
we\'re still dependent on Earth ecosystems.

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Human life is one part of
a much larger enterprise

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And it

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really really is

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in a natural ecosystem the normal healthy
condition is a vigorous harmony.

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No species tries to eliminate others

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There are no perfect predators capable
of catching everything they chase.

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And there are no perfect defenses.

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Each species plays its
appropriate role within limits.

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No misfit harms the ecosystem
by pursuing its interest alone.

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A pelican takes only as
many fishes that can eat.

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A fisherman takes much more than he can eat
because Worldwide trade makes it profitable.

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We recognize no limits to what we
want with the help of technology

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We pursue human welfare at
the expense of all else.

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We take anything and everything.

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We had little attention
to the impact on Earth.

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The result is collapsed fisheries
deeply did forests and contamination of

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our living space and many people firmly
believe that this is correct and proper.

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Because cultural myths and
sacred texts say It\'s okay.

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Failing to live within ecological
limits as serious consequences.

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Consider what happens when

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Is is introduced into an ecosystem map.

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Wade is a European plant which was introduced
accidentally into Western North America.

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Over several decades nap weight has
worked its way into grasslands finding

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chinks in the plant communities
where it could gain

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a root hauled and displace native species.

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While every native plant
is held in check by

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natural controls predators
herbivores and diseases.

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The nap weight has no such constraints.

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Few native organisms could
eat it or parasitize it.

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No herbivore will touch it.

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Wherever human activity opens

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Grasslands neck weight is the
first species to reappear.

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The result is thousands
of square kilometers of

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grassland when native plants are
pushed to the vanishing point.

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We have both wildlife and cattle have
trouble finding something to eat.

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The alien species spreads
out of control because

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it is not a working cooperating
part of the grassland ecosystem.

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It lacks health folder connections
with its environment.

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The human species has become
an alien in its own home place

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because we\'ve set ourselves
above ecological rules.

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We have forced our way into
every one of Earth\'s ecosystems

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displacing other species usurping
the things they need for survival.

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We have disfigured the land and
caused ecological sickness.

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The world human population
is nearing 6 billion.

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That is 100 times more abundant
than any other land animal

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our size that has ever lived
like nap weed nothing eats us.

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Already people divert about 40% of
the green plant material produced on

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earth\'s land surface while millions of
other species make do with whatever\'s left

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Our population is expected to
double again within 40 years.

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Does that mean we\'ll call it 80% of the
lens production and a 100% soon afterwards.

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Obviously action on population
control as long overdue.

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In searching for remedies we
have to find ways of freeing

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ourselves from the cocoons that prevent
us from reconnecting with the home place.

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A healthy first step is to think of ourselves
as earthlings humans made from humus

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The second step is to escape the technology
that prevents us from touching the Earth.

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We must learn again to
value nonhuman nature.

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And a good start is to become familiar
with the region in which we live.

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It\'s landscapes and water escapes
wild plants and animals.

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So turn off the TV and computer and go outdoors
do some exploring leave the car and walk.

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As adults we can learn from our kids

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experiencing through them the
enchantment of wading through a marsh

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Finding frogs and insects discovering the
tiny creatures swarming in each cup of water.

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Young children have not yet become wrapped
up and cultural myths and values.

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They experienced the world with the
directness and truth that adults can

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only envy with open minds
and a guiding hand.

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They can establish a bond with nature
that will serve them well in later life.

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Anything green or wild can be
inspirational for the young

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No schools teach as much natural history as

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cultural history television and newspapers

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seldom but human affairs
into ecological context.

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How well young people learn to value.

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Nonhuman things.

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It\'s up to us as individuals to
provide opportunities for them to

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connect with Earth and to understand
their role as ecological beings

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It\'s not enough to talk about pollution and

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overpopulation and overharvesting
efficient forests.

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These are human problems caused by wrong
attitudes that will change when we

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begin to understand our ecology
are true relationship with earth.

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National and local parks offer opportunities
to reconnect with our ancient census.

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But we have not been using them well

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Why travel to the most beautiful places on

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Earth and if we bring along
cocoons and remain indoors

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ninety-five percent of the time.

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Y subject ourselves to greater human density
than we experience every day in cities.

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Why do we pose for Trophy
photographs in front of

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wondrous landscapes without stopping
to sense the spirit of the place

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Is this why we come to paths

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I believe that we are drawn
to places of natural beauty

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by a powerful urge to
connect with the Earth.

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But we\'ve forgotten how to do it.

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The trick is to escape from the idea
that we dwell upon the earth and realize

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that we are within life-giving
ecosystems for several million years.

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This was our home blaze.

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Gets in our bones

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And the magnetism was still
draws us to the wild.

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Arcs are places where a short
walk from the pavement

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and grounds allows us to become immersed in

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ecosystems which still function as nature and
billions of years of evolution intended.

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With these few steps we
begin our journey home

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So some of us make pilgrimages
now and then do a quiet park.

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A favorite picnic spot perhaps do a high hill
where the grass is waving or to the edge of

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a northern Lake surrounded
by the sounds and

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smells and the feel of earth
as our nature intended.

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In places like this if we
are quiet and receptive we

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reconnect with the life-force
that molded us realizing

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that we are after all earthlings
partners and companions and at

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Grand creative pageant that\'s been
unfolding for 4.5 billion years.

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Surely our role on the planet
is not to out-compete and

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experiment eight our partners Nordiet
turn every ecosystem to human use.

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Laying aside are foolish arrogance.

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We can redefine our notions of progress.

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Progress is not more technology
or more human wealth.

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Progress means understanding
our dependence on ecosystems.

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Fashioning a friendly
alliance with her and looking

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beyond human welfare to the
welfare of all creation.

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Progress is a sense of being at
home wherever we are honored