Poem concerning so-called land ownership by Jim
Drescher.
It was
posted on the internet discussion group left bio.
Jim runs an ecoforestry
school at Windhorse Farm in
Nova Scotia. (Used with permission.)
Break
the Momentum
"It's
my land;
I can do whatever I want with it.
If I want to destroy the forest,
that's my business, not yours.
If I want to strip off the
topsoil,
that's my business, not yours.
If I want to liquidate the homes
of a thousand animals,
that's my business, not yours.
I own the land;
the law says I can do whatever I
want with it."
Who owns a forest that took 10,000 years to develop?
Who owns the soil formed by that
forest?
Who owns the plants and
animals?
How can you own a tree that was
already old in this place
when your grandfather was
not yet
born?
How can you own the topsoil which
has accumulated naturally
for thousands of years from the
bodies of untold trillions of beings.
How can you own the animals
each of whom has been your mother?
What kind of law says you can?
Whose law?
We need legal assistance in this
dark age
if we are to avoid total
destruction
in the name of the law,
the law that makes legal all
manner
of arrogance, greed, and stupidity
if you "own the land."
Perhaps there is a higher law
based on gentleness, intelligence
and fearlessness:
Gentleness to find one's natural
place
in the community of all other
beings;
intelligence to recognize that we
can be sustained by nature
only if we minimize our impacts
on it;
fearlessness to break the momentum
of anthropocentric law.
Is there the possibility of
enlightened society?
Is it legal?
(30 May 94)
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Last updated: February 13, 2006