26 April 2011

Earth Day: Vandana Shiva and Maude Barlow

I just wanted to draw your attention to a very inspiring talk by two amazing human beings: Vandana Shiva and Maude Barlow. This is a Democracy Now Earth Day special. In the discussion they both claim that the only way humans will survive is for us to recognize the intrinsic worth of the nonhuman world. They speak about this in terms of the rights of nature. I spent a number of years reading the philosophical literature on this issue, and despite what many foolish academics have argued, the idea of recognizing the intrinsic worth of the natural world is key to moving past the current silliness that environmentalism has become. Rather than this being a strange and foreign view, as many Westerners seem to believe, Vandana Shiva notes that this is actually the dominant view among non-industrial people around the world. Anyhow, check out the video clip and post your thoughts below. http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/22/earth_day_special_vandana_shiva_and