Re: is anyone else interested in this

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: : : : : From time to time i bring up topics relating to the environment and social responsibility, etc. : : : : : People always respond, but I wanted to know if anyone out there is truly interested and/or conversant on any of these topics (or interested in becoming so). I have some things I'd like to discuss. : : : : : Anyway, here's a great link to the kinds of things I'm talking about. : : : : : : : : Interested? Yes, greatly so. : : : : Conversant? Probably not so much. But would like to be. : : : : I'll read through that site when I get a chance, but yes, by all means, there are interested parties out here... : : : Well then I'll pose my question and you can think about it. This is an ethical dilemma that I keep going back and forth on. I consider myself a Deep Green for the most part. It is a free enough philosophy by nature that it encompasses many different bents, but the greenfuse site clarifies the basics. As such, I believe in an intrinsic right for all creatures to live. (Of course there are levels of sentience, and survival is always excepted.) But the problem is what to do with invasive species, especially those higher on the sentience chain. The mechanistic approach (or shallow ecology as it is termed) says that we can kill these creatures because they are disrupting natural systems and causing damage to native species, further this is our responsibility to fix because humans were the ones who screwed it up. But these creatures still have a right to live, and are doing nothing more than trying to survive in an environment into which they were unwillingly thrust. I would do the same. Since these creatures aren't bound by a moral code, at least not one that we can communicate (except perhaps Francis of Assisi), we can't ask them to not disrupt the communities, they just do. So here is the dilemma, is it our duty to correct the problems we have created by attempting to eradicate these invasives from areas where they are disruptive, thereby protecting the native communities which may otherwise be forever altered or destroyed, or do we need to respect the right to survive and cut our losses, hoping that the earth can find a new balance before too much damage is done? : : : I argue both sides with myself constantly, but I'll stop there and wait for a response. And obviously this is a personal and ethical argument, I know full well there is NO chance of getting any official agency to adopt an intrinsic value outlook in the near future. But again, as a deep green I believe that change starts at the grass roots, not at the top. : : : : It seems that with every invasive species, the damage they cause must be weighed against their right to exist (including how their level of sentience affects this right), and a specific decision must be made for that situation. The big problem here is that someone(s) must play God, and arbitrarily pronounce our judgment upon those creatures who are innocent victims of our meddling, so to save the other indigenous victims of our meddling. You are closer to the "god-role" here because of your specialty, and so we trust those like you to make the hard decisions, and most of us go about our lives uninvolved. We suck. : I believe that God has given us the charge of subdueing, which I think has more meaning than conquering and exploiting. I think it means keeping things where they belong more or less. I could be wrong, but I think in the case of species that have invaded where they were not, it is simply up to the "steward", whomever that may be whether or not the species stays. : I really enjoyed the site you gave. Many things were explained, but it's hard to put down what I think of all of it in writing. I would have to discuss in person. : One thing that really intrigued me was the author's idea's about Sacred Ecology. I know this comes from a Pagan attitude towrds the earth and all, but much is very valid. : Well, I would have written more but my 7 year old decided he was going to run away. I think he's just tired.

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