Reframing how we see “Nature” is going to take some work.

Nature isn’t just a collection of biosystems outside of your house; it’s a process in which entities participate. Nature is an “exchange of goods and services” via a network of nodes and connections.

A major problem with this right now is, of course, the Political Machine. The Political Machine opposes Nature. The Political Machine opposes Nature because the Political Machine is unethical. This goes beyond the obvious crimes the incoming United States administration plans to commit against the environment, National Parks, the climate, sustainable energy, life in general, etc. They have nothing even resembling an ethical framework beyond “something something Christian Nationalism/Imperialism/Colonialism that we selectively use when we feel like it.”

Trump and the Billionaires and the Crowd of Unspeakable Adversaries in their camp— no matter their national affiliation— get to dictate how this process works in the political and sociocultural sphere as it currently stands. And, for better or worse (it’s worse, always worse), they have the power of violence on their side.

Participation in the biosphere isn’t always “fun and games.” It’s not easy to get along with other organisms and species that have different ideas about how to use the resources we all need. Still, a referendum has been held, and the decision is clear. Most humans have voted to exit the Environment.

But I have even more bad news, friends. The fact of the matter is, regardless of how you voted, you can’t Leave. We’re all ultimately stuck here. We can close our eyes, put our heads in the tar sands and pretend that we don’t see, know or care what’s happening. We can move to a different country or withdraw into ourselves, act like it’s somebody else’s problem to solve, fix, cleanup, and that we can simply ‘walk away from the millions of years of Life Force that has moved inexorably towards the present moment, filling the environment with consciousness and the means to survive.

But we’re damned if we do and we’re damned if we don’t. We’re between a rock and another rock, and in between is a bunch of other rocks. And some are on fire….

Those of us who see the value of recognizing community, of participating in the intricate system of economies and networks that make up our biosphere, face a disturbing defeat. We understand that, for the majority, “going it alone” seems like the easy way. But, there are more than a few of us who understand this differently….

So, we have to Withstand.

This doesn’t mean that we have to go to protests, call our Congresspeople, organize meetings with like-minded individuals (it’s fine to do these things if they make you feel good). It means we have to Withstand every single second of every single day in new and potentially difficult ways. It means breaking with a lot of standards that we’ve gotten used to over the past century. It means doing more with less, and going analog in new and creative ways (some of which may resemble Old Ways) and it means doing it constantly. This sounds hard and overwhelming, but a lot of you are already doing it.

The thing is though, it could have been a garden, a paradise. Some say it started out that way, and that it was our error, our failure, our pride, our sin that separated us from it. I cant’ speak to what happened long ago — and whatever happened, the end result is the same. So, we have to make the most of it.

I hesitate to give anyone advice after everything that’s happened. After all the defeats and let-downs we’ve known — those of us who have kept watch, those conscientious objectors who weary of the war against participation in something larger, who see that no matter what, we will remain.

But there are truths I’ve found which can only be seen close to the ground. The dog’s eye view. The worm’s eye view. The dandelion’s view. The truths of the weak, the small, the seemingly powerless. The truths of the soil and streams, the treetops and the layer of needles covering the forest floor. The truths of those who spend their lives getting eaten….

Those truths? Our Birthrights: the right to eat wild food, the right to sit in the sun, the right to not be harassed by poison, or by factory-made mosquitoes, the right to grow plants and collect clean water, the right to walk in the woods.

Our only way forward, and the only way to Make the Ecosphere Great Again, is to Take Back the Planet. And the only way to Take Back the Planet is to recognize that we are all Participants in our Ecology.

We have to start small; the “big guys” and “fat cats” have the cash, and the votes, and the personalities. But, we have something they don’t. We have secret weapons passed down to us through the generations by invisible gray-robed elders who fought the same fight, who have always fought the same fight. We have ethics. And our ethics are our arsenal.

Our ethics are key ideals, basic patterns of interaction with the continuum upon which ‘wild’ and ‘urban’ fluctuate. These are our guides as we take our stand, and move within the community of Life:

1. PARTICIPATION. We are all participants in our biosphere, and should participate as fully as possible.
2. KINDNESS. Acting on one part of the biosphere impacts all other parts. Therefore, do as little harm as possible when interacting with fellow organisms.
3. EDUCATION. Learn and observe prior to action, think and consider prior to activity.
4. RESPECT. Every species in a biosphere has the right of self-determination and our actions should impinge upon that right as little as possible.
5. SUFFICIENCY. Take and leave only what is absolutely needed. Allow the possibility for new growth in the places you walk.
6. CARE. Act as stewards of all of the places in the biosphere, be they urban or “wild” or in between. Remove the unhealthy and encourage the healthy.
7. COMMUNITY. Share these ethics with other organisms.

When you participate in your biosystem — in Nature — you contribute to the value of the connections and exchanges of mutually beneficial services in that system. Valuable Systems — be they forests, cities, workplaces, rivers, the ‘soil food web’ — consist of entities working together to benefit all of the individual parts of the system.

PARTICIPATION

We are all participants in our biosphere, and should participate as fully as possible. For some people, this might be running for office. For some people it might be attending every march. For others, it might be sharing an insightful message on Social Media. For still others, it might simply be the act of not falling apart in the face of despair. What counts is the worldview of participation.

One bee with one grain of pollen can become an entire field of dandelions.

EDUCATION

Learn and observe prior to action, think and consider prior to activity. Education isn’t a TED talk; education means awareness. Use your ears, your eyes, your nose to ensure you’re acting deliberately. Learn from other people who have experience. LISTEN**, but also teach when asked.

Every species in a biosphere has the right of self-determination and our actions should impinge upon that right as little as possible. Question your assumptions; check your privilege. Ask yourself, no matter your landscape, what the value is in the terms “invasive species,” “immigrants,” “illegal aliens,” “refugees.”

Take and leave only what is absolutely needed. Allow the possibility for new growth in the places you walk. Buy organic if you can afford it. Determine what is sufficient for you. If you have too much, give it to others. Share the surplus. Remember, in a Valuable System — think the forest — nothing is wasted.

Act as stewards of all of the places in the biosphere, be they urban or “wild” or in between. Remove the unhealthy and encourage the healthy. Care for others, but also for yourself. Care for strangers who don’t have the same privileges you do. Block trolls. Call out the haters, and if you see something, say something.

Share these ethics with other organisms. None of us are alone, regardless of the odious walls between us. Do magic together, even — especially — if they try to tell you that magic isn’t real.

Let the malevolent Adversaries stew within the bowels of their Cold Sweat Lodges. No matter the chains, no matter the prisons, no matter the decimation, you are one of the Good People, and wield the True Power.

*Exceptions may be made in the case of Nazis. Your mileage may vary.

**This especially applies for white people.