Destruction = Growth

Over four years ago, I remember reading a short African myth in English class. I don’t remember which region of Africa the myth came from, and I don’t remember the details of the myth. All I remember is its moral: destruction is necessary. The myth exemplified that fact that destruction of the current system or current situation, allows effective change to occur. This idea isn’t unique to Africa, gods and goddesses of “destruction” are a part of Hindu, Gaelic, Greek, Egyptian, and Roman mythologies and religions. The idea of destruction spawning growth is an antithetical concept, and I have difficulty grasping it, but the basic idea is that in certain circumstances, the only way to create improvement is to get rid of the old and make room for the new.

                                                 

I remember my English teacher at the time used that analogy of a forest fire. Forest fires occur naturally (often due to lightning strikes) every few years, completely razing parts of the forest in its wake. Why does Mother Nature repeatedly cause this mass, violent destruction? It’s a regulation mechanism—keeping the forest from growing to a point that is out of control. It also promotes plant adaptations that resist fires, growth of new vegetation that provides the forest with more biodiversity, and clears dead wood. Of course, in today’s day and age, far too many forest fires result from mankind’s influence, and this excess of fire is damaging to the forest and the ecosystem.

This idea of the interplay between destruction and renewal seemed to be a theme of the reading this week. My class is now shifting gears in its study of Botswana, exploring the other focus of the trip—Sustainable Energy. So rather than reading about HIV/AIDS, this week we were asked to read about renewable energy, alternative energy, industry, and community gardens. I have to say my initial response to this was rather disimpassioned. Unlike the topic of HIV, it is difficult to relate to issues of environmental awareness and activism. I can imagine putting myself in the shoes of someone with HIV, but I can’t imagine putting myself in Mother Nature’s shoes.

But, as the reading continued, I realized that I needed to regroup. HIV is something that impacts very few people. Of course, it doesn’t just impact those who have the condition, but also their families, their communities, and their societies—and it has devastating ramifications. But, overall, it impacts only a fraction of the world population. In contrast, issues of environmental decay impact everyone. And, I literally mean everyone. Every single man, woman, and child that is alive right at this very instant, and probably even an entire generation that isn’t born yet.

What’s my point? Our resources are limited. We cannot live the way we are currently living forever. If we do, we will face dire consequences, which will result in death and travesty. Change is not only necessary, it is long overdue. And, the responsibility to channel change lies with each and every one of us. In essence, we have already started a raging forest fire, fueled by our wasteful habits and apathy towards Mother Nature, which is systematically and strategically destroying our planet so thoroughly that it will eventually be beyond repair. It is time for all of us to allow social, cultural, and national boundaries to blur, put on our firemen’s hat, and put out the fire. It’s time to rebuild, so that Mother Earth can burgeon and blossom anew. So that humanity can grow, becoming more inventive, more resourceful, and more mindful of the consequences of our actions. So that we still have a home.

P.S. I’m rather ambivalent to the House’s recent vote to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood, in terms of my personal political views. However, I am interested to know how badly this would impact Detroit, knowing the city’s high incidence of HIV and given the fact that Planned Parenthood is one of the largest testing and education agencies around. I’d be really interested to know whether or not Detroit’s Planned Parenthood uses federal funding to finance its HIV prevention and testing programs, whether or not it will be able to survive without federal funding, and just how big of an impact a shutdown of the agency will have in Detroit. I know that there are broader issues involving the federal budget and abortion at play here, but learning all that I know now about the HIV epidemic in Detroit, I can’t help but wonder how this will play out at the local level. And the Senate hasn't voted yet, so this may end up becoming a moot point. I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.

For more info, this is the least biased article I could find: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/politics/18parenthood.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=planned%20parenthood&st=cse .