To Propagate Gaianity
What is my life’s aspiration? What do I want to do, more than anything else? The answer can be summed up quite simply: to propagate Gaianity.
What is Gaianity?
Gaianity may be broadly defined as a functional awareness of our embeddedness in, and total dependence upon, a finite, systemic biosphere, as the basis for all our decisions—personal, organizational, and political.
Is Gaianity a new religion? Not at all. It has nothing whatsoever to say about basic religious questions—the nature of divinity, the ultimate destiny of humanity, the purpose of our lives, our duties toward God and neighbor, or what happens after we die. It is based, not on beliefs which can be neither proven nor disproven, but on cold, hard facts: (1) that the Earth is a finite sphere, with finite natural resources; (2) that the biosphere is an interwoven complex adaptive system, in which we participate every time we eat, breathe, eliminate, reproduce, or transform resources into commodities and waste; (3) that it has a finite carrying capacity, currently stretched to the limits by human population, pollution, and resource consumption. Gaianity can thus be summed up in the following quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
Can Christians also be Gaians? Of course. So can Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Taoists, Marxists, or anyone else. In fact, the only binding criteria for being a Gaian are that you breathe and eat; that you process energy, matter, and information. If there are any non-Gaian forms of life, we are not yet aware of them. Gaianity is thus the only label I know that is completely inclusive; it thus serves, at least potentially, as a vehicle for reconciling national, ethnic, ideological, and religious disputes—because all of us, as Gaians, have a common interest in a healthy, life-sustaining world and a sustainable future.
Is George W. Bush also a Gaian, then? Yes, although he is obviously not aware of it. This he has in common with all other animals, and with most other human beings. The task of conscious Gaians, then, is to find the most effective ways possible to awaken unconscious, oblivious Gaians—especially those, like George W. Bush, whose profound ignorance is coupled with arrogance, hypocrisy, and immense power and will to do harm. But even if we cannot awaken him, we can curb his power to harm by awakening others, and organizing opposition to his destructive policies.
So what guidelines should conscious Gaians follow? For me, the ethical injunctions incumbent upon those who choose to identify themselves as Gaians can be summed up as follows:
Learn Gaia: Learn all you can about ecology, biodiversity, wetlands, forests, oceans, etc—wherever your interests lead you. Pay close attention to the living world all around you, and make this a lifelong learning project.
Teach Gaia: Use every opportunity you have to teach Gaian consciousness to others, especially children. Teach, by both precept and example, responsible behaviour toward the living world around us. This can be summed up in three themes:
- Good Buy--assuming responsibility for the social and ecological consequences of our spending and investment habits;
- Good Work--assuming responsibility for the social and ecological consequences of our livelihoods and activities;
- Good Will--finding effective ways to respect, listen to, work with, take care of, set good examples for, negotiate with, and win the respect of others, especially the vast numbers of oblivious people who get all their information from corporate media and are still addicted to short-term, selfish, destructive behavior.
Heal Gaia: Get involved in, or initiate, projects to clean up and restore damaged ecosystems, and in political campaigns to protect our living planet and its biodiversity from the vested interests of greed and ignorance.
Create Gaia: Get involved in, or initiate, projects to create sustainable alternatives to the toxic status quo in food production (local organic farming cooperatives and community-supported agriculture); community design (ecovillages, cohousing, etc.); energy production and use (solar, wind, and biomass); money management (responsible investment), and education (incorporating Gaian consciousness into every aspect of the curriculum).
What is the ultimate goal of the Gaia movement? Spontaneous remission of the cancer of the Earth. A symbiotic world in which humanity’s embeddedness in, and responsibility for the health of, the natural world becomes the epistemic foundation of global civilization; in which the manufacturing sector is reconfigured into industrial ecologies, where recycling is maximized and toxic waste is minimized or eliminated; a world which is energetically localized (as will be essential in the inevitable conversion from fossil fuels to solar, wind, and biomass), and informationally globalized. Exactly what form this will take, in social and political institutions, cannot and should not be prespecified. It will emerge from a worldwide process of advocacy, experimentation, dialogue, mediation, and public education.
How do I get involved in the Gaia movement? If you recycle, buy recycled and renewable commodities, grow your own vegetables, compost, eat low on the food chain, or conserve energy, you are already involved. The next step is to join or create groups of others who share your Gaian values in learning, teaching, healing, or creating Gaia according to your own interests, whether by political advocacy, education, or hands-on projects. A Gaia Circle is an informal group that is specifically dedicated to exploring and promoting Gaian values, both theoretically and practically, in communities and societies worldwide. You can start a Gaia Circle whoever and wherever you are.
—Tom Ellis
