Dr. David Suzuki celebrated his 75th birthday on March 24. He has been a dedicated and passionate advocate for the environment since the mid 1970s when his CBC show, The Nature Of Things first debuted, which is now seen in syndication in forty countries. His tireless work in genetics and his advocacy for our planet and for reconnecting to nature have inspired countless millions over the last four decades.
I am posting this interview because in it he captures the essence of the problems we face and their causes, and also relays one very important point: Our loss of contact with nature that has led to a decline in our love and respect for nature, which in turn is leading us to where we see the world now. Toxic, polluted, out of balance with people more apathetic to the corrolation between the environment and our lives than ever before. And this apathy combined with an economic process that does not consider the environmental impact upon our lives but only their own profit at its loss is not conducive to the changes we need to see in order to regain that essential connection that gives us life.
So I wish to thank Dr. Suzuki for his years of dedication to the planet and working to make us understand that we are nature, and in order to preserve it we must be part of it.
Excerpt:
"JR: There was a line in a book by Matthew Fox that really stopped me: “The human race will not destroy itself from lack of information. The human race will destroy itself through lack of appreciation.” Where do you turn to heal and regenerate yourself when dealing with these massive challenges we’ve just discussed and the consequences of being aware of and witnessing the ecological damage?
DS: It’s soul-destroying to see what we’re doing to the planet, but I have four grandchildren and spending time with them renews my determination. For me, the big breakthrough was, I used to come home late at night going, “I gotta keep going, I gotta keep going, I gotta finish...” And at one point I looked in the mirror and thought, “Who the hell do you think you are? You think you’re so important you’re going to make the difference? You’re one human being. You’ve got to be part of a much bigger movement, but you yourself are insignificant.” That relieved me of this terrible conceit that I was so important I had to give my whole life to the cause. My wife is always saying we need sustainable activism. Too many people put everything into it and burn out and what stabilizes us, of course, is family, and the things that we do together with family, like getting out in nature.
In Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods, he says we are now suffering from a whole spectrum of problems that are classified under “Nature Deficit Disorder.” Our children need to experience nature and when you look at things like attention deficit or bullying or hyperactivity, these are all related to the fact that our kids aren’t getting out there. Nature calms us; nature heals us. We need to have nature. We’re growing a group of kids now that spend the least amount of time outdoors than any generation in human history.
I grew up in the 50s. We had a house with six people in less than a thousand square feet so it was a small house. I remember the constant refrain in our house was, “Get out of the house. Go out and play!” And if we said, “But mommy it’s raining outside,” she’d say, “Put a raincoat on and go on outside.” And we’d be out in the ditches and the ponds, but it was a necessity because the house was tiny. Now, we don’t want our kids to go out. There might be a pervert behind a bush or speeding cars. We want our kids inside and we’d rather have them playing video games or text messaging or working on the computer. We need to experience nature. It’s certainly for me my touchstone and my salvation in terms of maintaining my sanity.
JR: If people don’t love something, they’re not going to protect it.
DS: Exactly."
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JanforGore - 30 comments
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