Problem
Is all human activity destructive, or only certain kinds of human activity? Can humans have systemic value, just like other plants and animals in the biotic community?
At the beginning of the quarter, many students in this course were concerned that "humans are destructive" and suggested "the earth would be better without humans." We have certainly seen examples of that. (Even the concept of "stewardship" implies that human activity is inherently destructive -- that we need to protect the earth from other humans, and that our role is to take resources from the earth, but carefully).
In contrast, botanist and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer, introduces a different idea: that humans actually have important contributions to make to our biotic communities. Maybe, she suggests, the earth is not better off with out us; some kinds of human activity can activity promote the health of the biotic community.
In "Honorable Harvest," Kimmerer gives examples of human activity that actually helps plants grow. For example, we learn from Kimmerer that wild plants that are edible to humans actually thrive near humans. The key, Kimmerer suggests, is balance: Don't take too much, but also don't take too little! If you don't harvest enough of certain plants, then the plants don't thrive. Kimmerer offers the examples of wild leeks, sweetgrass, and Black Ash.
For this prompt, reflect these questions:, do you think it is possible that humans have a active role to play in the sustaining the health of biotic communities? Why do you think the actions of some members of our species have gotten "out of balance"? Can you think of other species (plants or animals) that also have members that get "out of balance" and end up being destructive to the biotic community? Maybe Leopold's deer? What distinguishes humans from those other animals? (Optional: What are other examples of how human beings, just like other animals, have an important role to play in natural systems? For those of you who tend gardens, how do these ideas fit with your experiences gardening?)