"Forewarned" by Satish Kumar
Credit: The Resurgence Trust
Hopi Indians of North America believe that ‘before you take any action, meditate for a moment and think, “what will be the impact of your action on the seventh generation to come?” If the answer is positive and if in your heart you genuinely think that your action will be beneficial to the seventh generation, then act. But, if you have any doubt, and if you think that your action may have even a smallest possibility of harming the seventh generation, then abstain from such action. Because the earth does not belong to you, you are only borrowing it from the future generations. You are merely the trustees and the guardians of the earth, not the owner’.
We, the people of modern civilisation, have forgotten this age-old wisdom of indigenous people. We think that we own the land, the forests, the animals and all the other resources of the earth. We own nature. Nature is there simply for the use of the present generation of the human kind.
In our modern economy, greed is good. Materialism is magnificent and the culture of consumerism is the height of civilisation. The loss of nature is considered necessary and is the price worth paying for the financial profitability of a business. The mining of metals, minerals, oil and coal is undertaken with the highest of speeds, as if there is no tomorrow. Food, forests, land, animals and all the rest of nature is seen as commodities for sale. Make money, never mind nature or future generations. The consumer society seeks to increase the quantities of material possessions at the expense of the quality of our own life; the life of the present generation as well as that of the coming generations.
Bu there is one small nation on this planet earth, Wales, that is embracing the ancient indigenous wisdom in the contemporary context and is recognising the rights of future generations in law. This is a rare and radical law, and the architect of this law is a wonderful woman, Jane Davidson. It has been my pleasure and privilege to know her. She has acted like a powerhouse to energise, enthuse and inspire the politicians and the lawmakers of Wales to think big, think out of the box and think of our great, great, grandchildren whose survival will be in peril if they have to live in a deforested world, a world of depleted soil, and rising sea levels.
I am delighted that Jane has now written her story in this book. It is a compelling read as it describes the simple, yet outstanding vision of how our generation should leave the legacy of a beautiful world behind for the well-being of future generations.
The consequence of this historic law, and that of Jane’s work is profound. If carried through, they ensure that the future generations have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, healthy soil to grow their food, unpolluted oceans to swim in and that forests will remain intact so they can continue to absorb our carbon and offer us life-sustaining oxygen
This book gains even greater importance because Jane has included many voices of sanity and common sense from around the world who highlight the responsibilities of our generation to eliminate the landfills full of poisonous pollution and waste. When we have done that, our precious planet will be able to maintain its integrity and health for now and for ever.
Jane Davidson has dedicated her whole life to change the law as well as our attitude towards nature. The Earth for her is not merely a collection of objects but a community of subjects. The Earth is not dead rock; she is Gaia, the living organism, and she is alive. Rather than exploiting the Earth, we need to revere the Earth. As we recognise human rights, we need to recognise the rights of the Earth and the rights of nature. We need to recognise the intrinsic value of nature rather than value nature only in terms of her usefulness to humans. Nature is not a resource for the economy, nature is the source of life itself. This is the heart of the matter in this book.
May Jane Davidson’s message reach far and wide. May the governments of the world follow the shining example of Wales and enshrine their own Well-being of Future Generations laws as the foundation of their legal systems.
I congratulate Wales and Jane Davidson for being the pioneers of this new paradigm.
Satish Kumar is the founder of Schumacher College.