Stewardship of the Land
by Owl

If you were a passenger in a car and the driver was heading straight into a brick wall at 60 miles per hour would you sit passively by and let him. I think not. So why is it that we live in a society whose treatment of the earth is heading us into disaster and yet we say or do very little? You may be asking yourself "Hey, I thought this article was about stewardship of the land." Well, it is. To me, stewardship does not stop at the fenceline. Stewardship of the land is stewardship of the earth.

One of the main reasons I moved to Zuni was because I thought that if I could show people that we could live together and thrive as a community and yet still live lightly on the earth I would be setting an example that others could follow. Now, two and a half years later, I know that is not enough. Not everyone can move out into the country and live in a cooperative community. What about the people we leave behind in the city. We can't turn our backs on our fellow man. I now think that I need to help facilitate a shift in consciousness in all people from a society of consumers to a society working for self sustainability.

The economy in which we all live is based on consumption and expansion. It started in Europe with the Industrial Revolution and has now spread to every corner of the world. When it first started it proved to be very effective. There seemed to be unlimited resources from which to draw. Today these resources are getting more difficult to obtain. Strip mining has become more popular as metal ores become harder to find. The result is that vast areas of land are chewed up, destroying the local ecology, and often leaving piles of toxic mine tailings that wash into the water that plants and animals must use. And this is but one example.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the big flaw in the system. The earth does not have an unlimited supply of resources. There will be a point when the expansion must stop. The question is when. Do we ignore the big flaw in the system, as most governments do, or do we start doing something about it now and work to create an economy that is self-sustaining.

You may be saying to yourself right now "What can I do about it? I can't change the system by myself." Well it is true that you can't do it by yourself, but we can change things if we work together. If we all work toward changing the consciousness of all people so that everyone realizes the true situation we are in, we have made the first and most important step.

I would love to hear comments from readers about this subject. I would especially like to hear from those of you who have suggestions on how I can work on getting the word out to as many people as possible. As a steward of this land and a steward of this earth I thank you.