magiCal plants & Creatures

A Letter to Our Beloved Mother Earth

As a pastoral romantic/wanderer, in addition to having a lovely hobby of looking after both magical and non-magical (the conceptual positivist notion of every being having the magic of its own aside), I felt the necessity to express my love and gratitude for our dear beloved mother earth (the chronology of today being the last day of COP26 is merely a coincidence, procrastination is open to debate as always).

Roses are red; tree trunks are brown; our planet yet survives; there’s no reason to frown. At least not until 2030; let’s be optimistic and assume that. My optimism comes from my recent nature walks and discoveries that I have done in a particular Western European country, very far from my origin. Nature itself makes me realise that every part of our globe is unique and just as precious as its own. Therefore deserves the uttermost care and conservation. I mean, even though Generation Z might not have been spending time in nature compared to the previous generations. This difference stems from technological and socioeconomic factors. For example, overpopulation, which led to more urbanisation and less natural habitat.

Nevertheless, cities like Amsterdam and Oslo follow the Doughnut Economic model proposed by the famous economist Kate Raworth. At least we might have some hope. The struggle of lack of environment is an issue that seems not to be going anywhere soon in the near future.

On top of my rather pessimistic view derived from the harsh reality, it would also be wise to consider the recent human-nature relationship that has been evolving throughout the 20th century, since mainstream development from the 1960s that passed certain stages mirrored the changing economic and political dynamics. Considering the usage of nature adds up crucial perspectives that would enrich the analysis on the point for the necessity of more natural inclusion in our daily lives next to my inner motivation to claim so. My informal and rather simplistic underlying message by “the recent human-nature relationship” can be supported by the heavy demands of dogs and cats compared to the other animals which form the current domestic animal market embedded in the neoliberal system, which arguably can be classified as an exact representation of the current economic system. The reason for me to make this claim is because of the very presence of a market that involves a living being. Similar other examples are the current meat industry, which is under heavy fire by all environmentalists from

all around the globe due to the rather unsustainable ways of the production of the supply side, in this case, the reproduction of the animals, which involves genetic alteration to prevent natural occurrences such as the natural process of growth for the chicken. In addition, the production also contributes to the CO2 emissions next to the only nice at the taste, lacking the richness of necessary beneficial and healthy ingredients products.

Briefly, both examples are proofs of an unhealthy trade-off, both from an ecological and social sense. Like meat production, dogs and cats and other animals like certain fish and birds are likewise being reproduced to meet the demand and sometimes to create excess supply. When there is excess supply, and during reproduction, animals are subject to unnatural reproduction and human-influenced breeding processes, not as the same as there should have been natural processes. Furthermore, it is more important to identify the roles in the market; there are customers (animals “enthusiasts” (!)), sellers (pet shop owners) and animals as products. Do you see where I am going with this role assignment? Yes, I would like to raise an ethical question: is this human-animal relationship right? Or to make it broader by adding another example from the kingdom of plants: monocropping has been a widespread practice throughout the last six decades, which influential thinkers like Max Ajl heavily criticise due to the less resistance of plants to diseases and the role of this agricultural production technique in the global food production, a system which I can simply summarise in one view: a system with highly unequal distribution of food in which in some countries like the US, obesity is a disease whereas, in every six-seconds, a child dies of hunger in Africa. I have given this example to indicate that plants have also been mistreated for the sake of more rapid and efficient production to keep the wheel turning. The Treadmill of Production theory provides an underlying conceptual explanation or a suggestion for all of the examples I have given so far. To conclude my argument here with a broader question: is the current human-nature relationship right? Apart from my somewhat negativist stance, this relationship also differs for the different groups of society. Some environmentalists and activists would be deemed and describe themselves to be even more romantic than me. By “romantic”, here refers to a moment of thought called “Romanticism”, which emerged in the late 19th century in London. This ideology praises the rural way of living. Romanticism draws parallels between Luddism, which can be traced forward to the Post-development way of thinking more recently as a criticism to the mainstream understanding of development centred around economic growth. Therefore, their experience, awareness, and interaction with nature might cause a different way of evaluation for this group. Nevertheless, the majority of the people who have the monetary means, therefore, people who form the global middle to upper class, it is not logical to deny the megatrend of buying dogs and cats as a hobby. It is a necessity that leads to the self-hype of those people to call themselves “nature lovers” while at the same time supporting the insect spray industries by purchasing the products to “fend off” the “little disturbances” from their dining tables.

Despite my awareness of the bigger picture (hopefully), there are so much more to see and discuss and come up with new suggestions (the whole purpose of academia). For instance, would a new economic model like degrowth or circular economy lead humanity to a new understanding of nature? is a question that many “pastoral romantics” like are longing to find out in reality. Regardless of what happens in the future, I am thankful and a devote supporter of nature to bring all humanity new insights and perspectives to see the world around us and enrich our lives. Oh, and before I forget, thank you for tolerating us for more than a millennia. Since the time we started to cut down trees to make ourselves accommodations, especially in the last few decades when we “grow” relentlessly without even minding the planetary boundaries causing environmental degradation. I hope we can make it up to you in the future; my fingers are crossed.

" Nature itself makes me realise that every part of our globe is unique and just as precious as its own. Therefore deserves the uttermost care and conservation."