On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans went to the streets to pledge their intention to protect Mother Earth from threats to her survival — and thus our own. In 2020, there will be no one in the streets. The coronavirus has succeeded in wearing the crown. She is setting the terms for our interactions, our economy, our personal and collective survival. We as a people have been in a power struggle with Nature for the last 50 years, thinking we can just get what we want and get away with it, in spite of groups like “Limits to Growth” that formed in 1970 to educate us about the urgent necessity to live within Nature’s rules for sustainability. We have not listened. The coronavirus is here now as our teacher.
When something out of balance with our bodies can threaten our very survival, we are willing to go on global lock down. We really don’t want to die! We really are willing to modify our behavior — even sacrifice our economic well-being — to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our wider communities. It’s breath-taking, downright inspiring. Praise and gratitude abound.
I recently heard a scientist say “we take what we want out of the equation.” Hummm, isn’t that exactly what we humans need to come to terms with as we look beyond the immediate threat of the virus to the bigger threat of diminishing clean air, clean water, fertile soil, tolerable temperatures, survivable weather events? We are seeing with the coronavirus that our personal behavior can be a vital component of survival both for ourselves and others. Isn’t the same true with climate disruption? In times of crisis, human character reveals itself — the best and the worst. We are seeing that unfold daily on the news —some states sending extra ventilators to New York City, and venture capitalists outbidding states for scarce supplies to sell at an elevated profit on the open market. The national drama over people before profits vs. profits before people is raging. This is a national emergency — do we mitigate, stay home and protect people, or do we open up for business, risk be damned?
I pray we learn from watching this power struggle over who decides what happens. I pray this crisis teaches us to find the “better angels of our nature.” I pray our country learns that we can act in unison for the best outcome for all. We can accept limits to our wants for more consumption, more pleasure, more energy for the sake of our common human survival. May we find our resolve to live in gratitude and partnership with Nature, follow Her lead, see that all our needs for sustenance, stability, community and celebration can be met by simply living in the loving hands of Nature — the microbes in the soil that feed the plants that feed us, the cycles of air pressure that bring us rain and sun, the spinning of our planet that brings us daylight for growth and darkness for rest. We live within such a conscious, faithful web of life, yet that web of life demands our faithfulness in return — a reciprocal interdependence — which, if we cannot meet on Her terms, will be broken down. to our own peril.
The coronavirus is teaching us what we have to do on this 50th anniversary of Earth Day — modify our own behavior in order to survive and protect each other. Most of us are complying. We are even finding reasons to be grateful for a slower pace, time to savor the arrival of spring, our connection to family, time to attend long-neglected assignments, enjoy bluer skies and cleaner water.
Oh, Amazing Grace — “Once I was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” Will we come through the coronavirus changed? More grateful for our lives, for all those who risked their lives for our safety — just as the Greenpeace warriors risk their lives climbing the rigs of oil drillers to cry ‘Stop before it’s too late!” Can we learn to let Nature lead in our evolution as humans? Can we learn what is possible from watching the whole world go on lock-down for survival? Can we muster the same resolve to lock down our appetite for consumption of everything for the good of our fellow creatures with whom we share this one precious planet ?
Sandra Boston is a Greenfield resident, activist and community builder.