the sound of silence..

Rather than always write the editorial myself we thought that we would give those with something to say the option to do just that - this issue Brian Megaw takes the reins... Editor Steve Dickinson “People talking without speaking People hearing without listening” Lyrics from the song, “Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkle

People looking without seeing

This one line for me personifies our 21st century relationship to the natural world around us. How else do we describe a relationship that sees all of the natural world as resources - land, water, fish, forests and more - to be used for profit and gain?How else do we describe an economic model that ignores all communities? An economic model that ignores that our human community is actually a natural community and totally a part of the natural world. How else do we describe an economic model that is based on winners and losers. Those losers primarily being the poor, minorities, and nature. How else do we describe an economic model that allows polluters to pick up the profits, while the public pick up the clean-up tab. An example of this is the Waikato River clean-up which is expected to take 80 - 100 years and billions of dollars of public money to achieve. There is an old but very true observation that says “Civilisation only exists because of 6 inches of top soil”. Next time you drive through a farmed hill country area and see the bare hillsides, the pattern of new and old slips, flooded streams and rivers, chocolate brown with eroded soil, remember that old observation and ask yourself, “Where did all the topsoil go?” Do you notice the small news articles that announce another $25 million for a politically expedient irrigation scheme? A great deal more rare are news items that announce increased funding to stop forest collapse in Northland, or increased funding for rare species survival. So what do I imagine New Zealand could look like? How do I believe the world could be a better place? I believe in clean free flowing rivers, not nitrate, phosphorous and silt loaded mere trickles of what they once were. I believe in landscapes rich in biodiversity, rather than green one dimensional desert. I believe in strong resilient communities, of both people and natural organisms, rather than minorities, the poor and nature being marginalised. I believe that there is a better way to produce food using restorative and regenerative practices that do not use the destructive industrial farming model. At the end of the day all we do and are is connected. The earth and the world around is not some sort of linear formulae that you can express on a spreadsheet. Every single thing we do effects the wider human/natural community of which we are all a part. When you get up tomorrow, try seeing life rather than just looking. Try listening on a deeper level to the world around you rather than just hearing. Try speaking of these things, rather than just talking. Brian Megaw River Valley Ventures