Interview | The indigenous writer and leader Ailton Krenak believes the Earth is a living organism and that if humanity continues at the current predatory rhythm, humanity itself will enter the list of endangered species.
photo: Neto Gonçalves /Companhia das Letras
« We’re experiencing the planet’s fever. » This is what Ailton Krenak says and that, apparently, a significant portion of humanity is not realizing – or else, is denying it.
The increase in the temperature of the planet comes as a reaction; it shows that the Earth organism is reacting to the predatory and destructive actions of human beings, but we are so focused on ourselves that we are unable to feel this disconnection.
« We take from the body of the Earth », says Krenak. We had a divorce, believing that we could live on our own. With one condition: extract, dominate, explore everything that comes from Gaia.
We are divorced from this organism that shelters and sustains us, but we are constantly usurping it…
About Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project
I'm a French artist living near Paris.
From 1968 to 1973 I studied at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, then at the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, California, for my BFA.
My work for many decades has been informed and inspired by time spent with indigenous communities. Various study trips devoted to the exploration of techniques and natural pigments took me originally to the Dogon of Mali, West Africa, and subsequently to Yanomami communities in Venezuela and Brazil.
Over many years, during the winters, I studied the techniques of traditional Bogolan painting. Hand woven fabric is dyed with boiled bark from the Wolo tree or crushed leaves from other trees, then painted with mud from the Niger river which oxidizes in contact with the dye.
Through the Dogon and the Yanomami, my interest in the multiplicity of techniques and supports for aesthetic expression influenced my artistic practice. The voyages to the Amazon Rainforest have informed several series of paintings created while living among the Yanomami. The support used is roughly woven canvas prepared with acrylic medium then textured with a mixture of sand from the river bank and lava. This supple canvas is then rolled and transported on expeditions into the forest. They are then painted using a mixture of acrylic colors and Achiote and Genipap, the vegetal pigments used by the Yanomami for their ritual body paintings and on practical and shamanic implements.
My concern for the ongoing devastation of the Amazon Rainforest has inspired my films and installation projects. Since 2005, I've created a perfomance and film project - Fire Sculpture - to bring urgent attention to Rainforest issues. To protest against the continuing destruction, I've publicly set fire to my totemic sculptures. These burning sculptures symbolize the degradation of nature and the annihilation of indigenous cultures that depend on the forest for their survival.
9 Responses to The Earth is not a commodity and we are All part of Nature The indigenous writer and leader Ailton Krenak believes the Earth is a living organism and that if humanity continues at the current predatory rhythm, humanity itself will enter the list of endangered species.
I fully agree with what is attributed to Ailton Krenak. If we continue as we have in our world, we risk our survival as a species and many others as well.
The fact that we assume we are not part of nature is due to the global economy being forced to grow. Growth can only come through consumption and so we are educated by the global economy to consume. The news tells us how great it is when consumption increases sharply before Christmas and how bad it is when too little is consumed because of the lockdown. So consumption has become the focus of our life.
It would be nice if we voluntarily stopped consuming. But there are two fundamental difficulties. One problem is the power of the global economy. It is in the hands of only some people and most politicians, governments and banks serve it. But the real problem is that the market economy is like a living organism, aiming only to grow. If a law for climate protection is passed, then the market economy is guaranteed to find another loophole.
The second problem is people. Most people are doing relatively well at the moment and many have the hope that it will get better and better. That’s why they’re not interested in changing anything. I compare it to voters who vote for green parties. That’s about 25%. These are the ones who would voluntarily abstain from consuming. Unfortunately, the remaining 75% are not interested in this. The same problem exists with the representatives of Degrowth and Doughnut economics. Everyone trusts that the majority of people will change. But that takes way too long, if it should work at all.
The idea of the Soft System Reset takes a different way. There is only one solution to stop the growth of the market economy. The market consists of goods and money. If you take one of these away, the market can be tamed. Goods cannot be taken away, but money can. The advantage is that we don’t have to change to do this. There just has to be a global currency devaluation. At first it will not change our lives noticeably. But if we no longer pay each other but give each other gifts, greed will disappear and then we will move to a society that does not place consumption but our mother earth at the center of life. You can achieve monetary devaluation if you make it clear to everyone that all debts will disappear with it. This decision is probably much easier for many people than the decision to stop consuming. The wonderful thing is that it doesn’t harm anyone because you don’t need any more money later. And the property doesn’t have to be touched.
Humanity is ready for a society without money. We are on the threshold of the 3rd millennium, we are flying to Mars and are in a position to adequately supply all people on earth. We only need a “voucher” or a means of payment if there is not enough for everyone. In addition, during the Corona crisis we proved that we can be very disciplined and solidarity.
Barbara Crane Navarro 
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I fully agree with what is attributed to Ailton Krenak. If we continue as we have in our world, we risk our survival as a species and many others as well.
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Yes, and it’s shocking that this issue isn’t the main topic of conversation everywhere as well as constantly front page news!
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The fact that we assume we are not part of nature is due to the global economy being forced to grow. Growth can only come through consumption and so we are educated by the global economy to consume. The news tells us how great it is when consumption increases sharply before Christmas and how bad it is when too little is consumed because of the lockdown. So consumption has become the focus of our life.
It would be nice if we voluntarily stopped consuming. But there are two fundamental difficulties. One problem is the power of the global economy. It is in the hands of only some people and most politicians, governments and banks serve it. But the real problem is that the market economy is like a living organism, aiming only to grow. If a law for climate protection is passed, then the market economy is guaranteed to find another loophole.
The second problem is people. Most people are doing relatively well at the moment and many have the hope that it will get better and better. That’s why they’re not interested in changing anything. I compare it to voters who vote for green parties. That’s about 25%. These are the ones who would voluntarily abstain from consuming. Unfortunately, the remaining 75% are not interested in this. The same problem exists with the representatives of Degrowth and Doughnut economics. Everyone trusts that the majority of people will change. But that takes way too long, if it should work at all.
The idea of the Soft System Reset takes a different way. There is only one solution to stop the growth of the market economy. The market consists of goods and money. If you take one of these away, the market can be tamed. Goods cannot be taken away, but money can. The advantage is that we don’t have to change to do this. There just has to be a global currency devaluation. At first it will not change our lives noticeably. But if we no longer pay each other but give each other gifts, greed will disappear and then we will move to a society that does not place consumption but our mother earth at the center of life. You can achieve monetary devaluation if you make it clear to everyone that all debts will disappear with it. This decision is probably much easier for many people than the decision to stop consuming. The wonderful thing is that it doesn’t harm anyone because you don’t need any more money later. And the property doesn’t have to be touched.
Humanity is ready for a society without money. We are on the threshold of the 3rd millennium, we are flying to Mars and are in a position to adequately supply all people on earth. We only need a “voucher” or a means of payment if there is not enough for everyone. In addition, during the Corona crisis we proved that we can be very disciplined and solidarity.
More information: softsystemreset.earth
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Yes, exactly what you describe here is essentially our only hope for a future for humanity…
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Reblogged this on Barbara Crane Navarro.
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Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
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