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Some think that human society seems to be steadily going insane. They note the ridiculous hatreds that keep us nearly constantly at war with each other. They see that we are fouling our global nest, wiping out much of the planet's life and making life more and more miserable for ourselves.

I don't think we are going insane; I think we have just not learned to look deeply enough into the causes of our current social and environmental problems.

I believe with a growing number of others that these problems began several millennia ago when our ancestors took up farming and broke the primal bonds with the living world and put human beings above all other life. Because of this we have no sense of kinship with other life on this planet, hence no good sense of belonging here. Our tradition is one of arrogance toward the living world around us; it is a thing beneath us--to be either used up or kept at bay. We are, as intellectuals say, alienated from nature.

The price of our supremacy is a very deep break in our relationship with the living world around us. Many know this and would like to fix it. They ask: What is the fitting role for humankind in the scheme of life on earth? In intellectual circles this has been called the Nature Question. It is now time to bring this question into popular discussion.

Answering the Nature Question will be an ongoing process. It will begin with people coming to understand the past and how we got where we are today. It will continue by understanding that our views of the world are not carved in stone, but are determined by belief, culture, and habit--each of which changes over time, as they always have. So there is no padlock on our current situation. There are no chains that tie us to human supremacy over an increasingly wounded and bleeding living world.

We must understand, too, that there is more at stake here than species extinction and rain forest destruction. Our problems with nature cause problems within human society itself. We are creatures of nature, yet there are those who are very uncomfortable with it. They want to be greater than nature--next to God. And many people, in fact, do believe they are closer to God. Those who so believe look down on the Others whom they see as closer to nature than themselves. They tend to see these Others as inferior, bestial beings and they regard them with much the same hatred and contempt they have for nature in general. They treat the Others as they do nature: They try to control them and keep them at bay.

We see some of nature in ourselves, too, our bodies, our health, our sexuality, and the other physical aspects of living, and of course we are uncomfortable about it. Our culture gives us a lot of negative views about animal nature, so we have a great deal of negative views about the animal nature we see in ourselves. And we treat this animal nature within us as we do the rest of nature: We try to control it, to keep it at bay.

We must heal our blind spot for animals. Only a handful of intellectuals seem to understand how essential animals are to human beings, how they are the most vital beings in nature--the soul and the moving parts of nature. Animals represent and symbolize the various features and forces of nature. They have always fed the human mind and culture; they have given us the means of understanding the cosmos. When seen as kin, as they once were, animals gave us a crucial bond and a sense of belonging to the living world. Currently, however, the animal part of the Nature Question is kept on the back burner through ridicule and trivialization as well as open hostility toward those who raise it. The Animal Question is regarded as peripheral, a silly distraction from efforts to address what environmental heavyweights think is the more important Nature Question.

I submit that the Animal Question is central and fundamental to the Nature Question. We simply will not be able to come to terms with nature unless we come to terms with animals and animality, because, for the human mind and culture, animals are the most important part of nature.

Finally, there is still time to put things right, but not much time. If we do not come to terms with nature soon, the mess will get much worse and will he much harder for our children to fix. Ultimately, we may not destroy all life in the world, but we are steadily destroying the quality of it. We may not be careening over the brink of existence, but we are surely sliding into a mud hole--a much messier and unhappier existence. There is time--if we can find the strength to look more deeply at and struggle harder with our own beliefs, habits, and cultural traditions. If we are willing to face these and see them honestly, the repairs can begin at once.

This article was excerpted with permission from the book:

An Unnatural Order: A Manifesto for Change
by Jim Mason.

For more info, or to purchase the book

About The Author

Jim Mason is an attorney, journalist, lecturer, and coauthor (with Peter Singer) of Animal Factories. Mason's writings have appeared in a range of publications, including the New York Times, Newsday, Audubon, and New Scientist magazine. He lives in Missouri.

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