Seventh Principle -10 Principles For 100 Mile Design- By JC Scott

 7. Birds, bees and even bears are your friends.

Although as a society we seem to feel that we are masters of the world, that we are in control of materials and resources, and able to chart our own destiny, the reality is that we are simply bumbling students of a vast and complex ecosystem we understand so poorly that we are at risk of destroying or damaging it so severly that our own future as a species is in greater jepardy than ever before.

On the other hand, as noted in this photo of flowers growing in a crack in the rock of a massive waterfall, quieted by lack of rain and runoff, nature has tenacity and recovery rates that bode well for future generations if we can simply stop the damage before it is too late for us.  When mankind is gone or when we have mended our ways, the birds and bees will return.  Less likely are the bears and other mammals whose biolgy and needs resemble ours.

Virtually all the drugs and cures of modern medicine are derivatives of or immitations of natural compounds and the fact that we are daily destroying species after species which could hold genetic information vital to defence against unknown pathogens shows that our profit motivated disrespect for the natural world is silly at best, self destructive at worst.

The return to local economies, local agriculture, natural farming, fishing and forestry and organic foods is the ray of hope that we need.  There is a whole sector of society all over the world who want to respect and preserve nature, who want to value real things over dollars and who value natural systems over man made impositions on nature.

Please take a walk in nature maybe with a child, and imagine a new day in which that natural environment is protected, preserved and celebrated by people, by government and even by a new form of sustainable business all over the planet.  When that day comes we will be on the path of a sustainable life on planet earth.  Please do your part to show respect for the natural world.