The Carolinas suffered immensely from Hurricane Florence, which sent many people inland and wrought terrible destruction for miles. Filthy water is emptying into the ocean and seeping into aquifers, properties have been destroyed, rains continue even now to cause flooding and further damage to already vulnerable areas.

Mother Earth is not happy with us. Storms are more frequent, more destructive, and getting worse every year. We cannot continue to attempt to impose our will on her. Gaia’s memory is far longer and her patience is wearing thin. She can do without us, but we cannot do without her.

Current American politics represent a deep-seated and deeply troubling example of how we got into this mess. In the US, we’re discussing whether or not a Supreme Court candidate attempted rape in his youth. The divide between those who believe his accusers (of which there are now several) and those who do not is vast and probably unsurprising.

“Rape culture” goes far beyond sex crimes, and don’t let anyone tell you differently. Rape and sexual dominance are crimes of power, not sex — an outgrowth of the same motivation that drives the trophy hunter, the warmonger, the slave owner, the conqueror. This idea that some segment of the population or the natural world is superior to another, and that the supposedly inferior population is therefore fair game, so to speak, is where we go wrong. Those who disbelieve the accusers are the same ones who see absolutely nothing wrong with sexual dominance, racial dominance, or environmental dominance.

It’s a large and difficult topic, but in this host’s humble opinion, the beginning of our trouble was when we internalized the message of “subduing the earth” — our first major mistake as a species, that concept. The conqueror/dominator takes us out of nature, and we work against her.

The fact is that nature requires balance. She gives and takes, shifts and settles.

Instead of moving with her, we try to stop her processes or bend them to our collective will. Instead of cooperating, we conquer. This is our mistake.

We must learn once again to live in harmony with our Mother.

#HurricaneFlorence
#LoveMotherEarth
#rapeculture
#stoprapeculture
#ibelieveher
#metoo