{"id":8510,"date":"2015-06-20T14:48:19","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T12:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/?p=8510"},"modified":"2023-05-08T16:04:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T14:04:44","slug":"laudatu-si-a-21st-century-manifesto-for-earth-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/laudatu-si-a-21st-century-manifesto-for-earth-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLaudatu Si\u201d \u2013 A 21st century Manifesto for Earth Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dr Vandana Shiva \u2013 L\u2019Huffington Post Italia<\/a>, 19 June 2015<\/p>\n

Source [Italian]: http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.it\/vandana-shiva\/la-laudato-si-manifesto-del-21-secolo-terra_b_7620852.html<\/a><\/p>\n

This post is also available in: Englisch<\/a>, Italienisch<\/a>, Spanisch<\/a>, Franz\u00f6sisch<\/a>, Portugiesisch, Brasilien<\/a>, Griechisch<\/a>, Katalanisch<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n

Most reports of Pope Francis\u2019s Encyclical <\/a>in the press before the formal launch yesterday reduced this path breaking document with 246 paras on the contemporary ecological crisis and human crisis to the 4 paras on climate change (para 23-26). But Laudato Si is much wider and much deeper.
\nIt is first of all a call for a change in consciousness and a world view from the dominant paradigm of the domination over nature and its destruction, to one where we see the Earth as our Mother, as our common home.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Laudato Si\u2019 opens with St Francis\u2019 prayer<\/a>\u2013 \u201cPraise be to you my Lord, through our sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruits with coloured flowers and herbs\u201d.
\nThis resonates so deeply with the Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiv Kutumkan, the Earth Family.
\nIt resonates with the contemporary movement for the Rights of Mother Earth.
\nIt resonates with cultures and faiths across the world. The encyclical is an invitation to \u201ca new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of the planet\u201d (paragraph 14) and this includes biodiversity, air, water, oceans.
\nIt is clear that \u201cto prorect our common home we need to bring the whole family together\u201d (13). The Encyclical goes on to say \u201cThis sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods which God has endowed her with. We have come to see ourselves as her lord and masters, entitledto plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the soil, in the water, in the air, and in all forms of life\u201d (2).<\/p>\n

Soil is referred to frequently, including in the contributions of soil and land degradation and deforestation to climate change. And the Pope reminds us that \u201cwe have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the Earth\u201d. (Gen 2:7). Navdanya\u2019s manifesto Terra Viva<\/a> released at the Expo in the Year of Soils is a celebration of Soil as as the basis of our lives, of \u201chumus\u201d as the root of \u201chuman\u201d. We are the soil.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Laudato Si\u2019 is very critical of the privatization of water, and the idea that life forms are just mines of genes useful to business.
\n\u201cIt is not enough to think of different species merely as potential \u2018resources\u2019 to be exploited, while overlooking the fact they have value in themselves \u201d (33). The intrinsic worth of all beings and all biodiversity is the ethics on which Navdanya is founded. That is why we say there should be \u201cNo patents on Seed\u201d and \u201cNo patents on Life\u201d.
\nThe \u2018Laudato Si\u2019 is cautious on the question of GMOs, but does point to the threats to small farmers. And it indicates that through Biotechnology and knowledge related to DNA a handful of interests are controlling the fate of the Earth and humanity. \u201cIt is extremely risky for a small part of humanity to have control\u201d (104).<\/p>\n

Everything that will shape our freedom and survival is addressed in the encyclical- \u201cOur freedom fades when it is handed over to the blind forces of the unconscious, of immediate needs, of self-interest, and of violence\u201d (105).\u00a0 Among the blind forces of the unconscious are the idea of infinite unlimited growth, of technological fundamentalism without precaution, assessment and responsibity, of anthropocentrism. \u201cThe technological mind see nature as an insensate order, as a cold body of facts, as a mere \u2018given\u2019, an object of utility, as raw material to be hammered out into useful shape. The intrinsic dignity of the world is thus compromised\u201d (115).<\/p>\n

Nature is not dead matter, She is alive.\u00a0And when we destroy nature, she can destroy us.
\nOur greed, our arrogance is blinding us to this basic reality that women, small farmers, indigenous cultures have understood. Diverse movements will be empowered by the encyclical. The only ones who are threatened are those who would like to continue to try and establish their empire over the entire planet and the earth\u2019s resources, privatizing the commons, pushing free trade agreements like TTP and TTIP, destroying democracy and people\u2019s rights, and destroying the earth that sustains us.<\/p>\n

And stupidly and recklessly, they call this destruction \u201ceconomy\u201d. But economy is derived from \u201cOikos\u201d, our home, and refers to management of our common home, the theme of the Encyclical. The selfish and narrow minded who have commented that the Pope should not interfere in the economy have deliberately forgotten, or distorted, what the economy is. The encyclical helps us remember that it is about love and care, not exploitation, greed and destruction. It observes that the \u201cDegree of human intervention often in the service of business interests and consumerism is actually making our earth less rich and beautiful, and ever more limited and grey\u201d (34).<\/p>\n

It is by bringing beauty, true wellbeing and the joy of living\u00a0 in harmony with nature to the centre of human concern that the encyclical awakens our deeper humanity and consciousness. Being human is not worshiping the \u201cgod of money\u201d or tools of technology or the myth of progress defined as the conquest of nature and people. Being human is to be deeply aware of all beings who share this beautiful and precious home with us.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Laudato Si\u2019 is based on integral ecology-the interconnectedness of ecology, society and economy. This is the interconnectedness we tried to explore in \u201cTerra Viva\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In integral ecology, sustainability and social justice are inseparable. As the encyclical states- \u201c\u2026a true ecological approach always<\/i> becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor\u201d <\/i>(49). This for me is Earth Democracy.<\/p>\n

\n

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by Manlio Masucci, 17 June 2015<\/p>\n

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\"Pope-Francis-014s\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dr Vandana Shiva \u2013 L\u2019Huffington Post Italia, 19 June 2015 Source [Italian]: http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.it\/vandana-shiva\/la-laudato-si-manifesto-del-21-secolo-terra_b_7620852.html Most reports of Pope Francis\u2019s Encyclical in the press before the formal launch yesterday reduced this path breaking document with 246 paras on the contemporary ecological crisis and human crisis to the 4 paras on climate change (para 23-26). But Laudato […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[345,50,161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","category-news","category-our-articles","thematic_area-agroecology","thematic_area-climate-resilience","thematic_area-corporate-free-future","thematic_area-earth-democracy","thematic_area-food-for-health"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/laudato.jpg","wpml_translations":[{"language_code":"it","post_id":877,"original":true},{"language_code":"en","post_id":8510,"original":false}],"custom_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1556110334:2"],"_edit_last":["2"],"_wpml_media_duplicate":["1"],"_wpml_media_featured":["1"],"_thumbnail_id":["5403"],"_alp_processed":["1556110388"],"_wp_old_date":["2019-04-24"],"wpl_sidebar_option":["on"],"wpl_featured_image_post":["on"],"wpl_share_buttons":["on"],"_wpml_media_has_media":["1"],"_last_translation_edit_mode":["translation-editor"]},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9KkNM-2dg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8515,"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions\/8515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/navdanyainternational.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}