Sticky post
The blog is named after the small fungi that emerge, tongue-like, from forest floors and grasslands. It is not too much of a leap of imagination to see the tongues as representing the Earth’s efforts to protest against the manifold tragedies being inflicted on its life forms and systems by the rapacious, and sometimes cruel, behaviour of modern human societies. Continue reading Welcome to Earth Tongues
At first glance, it may strike us as odd that human food is made from the suffering and torture of animals. But it’s the fact that it is not odd that should command our attention. Continue reading Shutter the factory farms
Four years ago, I made an alarming observation that completely changed my game plan as a young organizer. I decided to use the power of story, word, and intention to confront a dominant narrative that defies the natural laws that govern life on Earth. Continue reading Changing the world by re-discovering your story
Earth is a place of exquisite vitality pervaded by the mystery of awareness. It is being catastrophically impoverished. Artificial intelligence will not bring back what is vanishing, nor replace it. If you wish to know transcendence, forget the machine. Look for an octopus teacher. Continue reading Grace versus dystopia
The term environmental racism refers to the way in which the neighborhoods of disadvantaged socioeconomic groups are disproportionately burdened with the negative effects of environmental exploitation. Continue reading Reversing environmental racism
The term ecofascism is often defined as “a totalitarian government that requires individuals to sacrifice their interests to the well-being of environment.” In the alternative conception, ecofascism applies to murdering environmental activists, and ignoring the slaughter and suffering of billions of nonhuman living beings. Continue reading Reversing ecofascism
Considered ecocentrically, identity politics and exclusive social justice activism have serious flaws. They include encouraging destructive human narcissism, a stunted range of ethical sympathy, and a disregard for a healthy natural world as the precondition for any politics at all. Continue reading The poverty of identity politics
Sated with nature’s wonders, I find an unwelcome thought returning, and I reluctantly begin to turn the focus-wheel clockwise as I lift my binoculars to the opposite shore. There it is: the ghastly sight of a recent hillside clear-cut. The devastation is obvious without the aid of magnification. Continue reading Bare-faced forestry
Do people actually believe that humanity can cause a mass extinction and there will be no consequences? I am not talking only about consequences for human physical well-being, which will be numerous. I am talking about an everlasting legacy of sorrow to human posterity. Continue reading On rational and sacred ground
One night years ago, in a park in Florida, I met a wonderful couple, Carol Wolf and her husband, Herb. They introduced me to the joys of mothing, the practice of attracting moths to suspended sheets with ultraviolet lights at night, and photographing them. This can get quite exciting, especially when a new, or unusually beautiful, species turns up. Continue reading The ethics of mothing
It seems obvious to me that my first principle should be to try to consider the effect of my every decision on all other life forms at both the individual and species levels. Continue reading Making my decisions – do least harm
