You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it.

You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it.

~Author Unknown

The above quote symbolizes my interpretation of Sustainable Development, while combining a joy in my life: photography. It reminds me to graciously honor all that surrounds me acknowledging and respecting the subtle motions that interconnect all things equally apart of this world. We all live on borrowed time, borrowing resources to sustain our existence, we have an obligation to respect what we borrow. To treat our planet not simply as a resource, but as an entity, maybe even like a corporation that possesses a legal right to freedoms. Treating the future equally as important as if it were the present. Borrowing a snapshot of time such as the quote suggests draws to mind our temporary existence, the way we tread this planet during that short existence shaping the beauty of future landscapes. As old photo albums suggest, our time on this earth may be short, however, much like photographs the patterns and effects of our ways live well beyond us. Capitalism is on an over two hundred year crash course that does not take in account the market failure of our environment, in particular carbon. An evolution of our economic system must occur so our species can fully develop to it’s potential in harmony with the Earth.

We as a generation must meet the needs of the present without compromising the future generations ability to meet their own needs. The quote reminds us to eliminate the notion of possession and replace it with the respect that it should be returned. Borrowing can be directly connected with development because we borrow the futures ability to borrow that same resource. Sustainable Development is borrowing as little of the futures resources as possible while maintaining a certain level of necessary growth. Our nation and our world have over-borrowed the future’s resources. History has shown microcosms throughout the world what over borrowing does, for example the overfishing of Atlantic Cod in the North Atlantic. Bridging the gap between the notion of ‘my’ existence to honoring the rights and freedoms of the next existence can be seen more clearly respecting our rights of reproduction. Coincidentally, I believe when someone has children a very significant shift in consciousness occurs.

Overpopulation of our planet and having children can be contradictory to sustainable development. If we simply replace ourselves and do not have a net gain from our family planning endeavors, it would be a great step in developing sustainably. An estimated 3 billion people will be added to the world population in the next 13 years. Adding numbers adds mouths, adding mouths subtracts resources. Our planet can hold only so many, and if we continue to grow as we are, we will eventually hit a population ceiling of our species. Increases in our civilizations population borrows time from the future of mankind.

I view our civilization as stewards of Mother Earth, harvesters of her bounty. The dominating masculine-conquering philosophy of property ownership needs to be infused with a feminine sharing value of borrowing. For example my dog Cassius, I do not own, but take responsibility for. Every species and people has a right to clean air, clean water, healthy food, shelter & happiness. In my humbled opinion, if one denies another of any of these things it is truly a travesty and breaks our planets natural law. Water has the right to flow with the tide, sea lions a right to ‘human’ beaches, a tree to grow where it wishes. Life is about balance. Species’ populations grow and shrink in response to other species populations. A boom in field mice population may easily correspond with a boom in owl populations. Both have equal right for life, but must also be in balance. Mother Earth naturally finds balance; it is of the most fluid path. Many native civilizations have existed in perfect harmonious balance with nature by honoring it with high respect.

The Iroquois Confederacy coined the term, “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations”. Development is essential and natural to our species, but how we go about it is another matter. Since the Industrial Revolution, our species rapidly evolving in size and complexity, civilization has grown wastefully and irresponsibly. The Native people of our North American soil maintained a very different concept of development. Their societies, while not exploding in high growth rates of monetary value, sustained growth for tens of thousands of years. They held a large social safety net that provided for all, while giving room for overall growth of the society. They did this without any concept of ownership. Interwoven into the core of the Natives belief system was that all things are connected, physical goods only borrowed. Shamanism, the world’s oldest faith is overly coined into paganism and greatly miss-understood; it is a person’s spiritual connection and practice living in balance with the natural world. Deeply ingrained in most indigenous populations, valuable philosophies of respect for interconnectedness are held. A growing number of western minds have been developing an alternative mindset to our current spiritual and economic systems; one that combines western democracy & the agile rule of law with native principals. All concepts conspiring to create more efficient solutions, which not only provide prosperity but also, reduce waste in the resolution of our greatest problems.

As our national debt passes $12 trillion, we are borrowing from our futures right to equal freedom. Our children do not deserve to inherit such a debt of negligence. As we burn past peak oil, we borrow our futures right to cheap energy options for economic growth. As we pollute, we take the purity from the future. Humankind is faced with the grave task of repositioning the future of the human race. Changing the collective mindset from ownership to borrowing, while respecting inherently what is our legal system is the most prudent task we face.

When we save a couple of dollars each month, we provide for our children. When one progresses truly sustainably, a zero-sum gain will occur. Civilization must evolve to respect and honor responsibly the consequences of our actions. Photography is an analogy of our footprint on this earth; the photo being the material that lives thousands of years beyond us. A photograph is an encapsulation of a moment in the past. We must live our lives in knowing our actions will directly impact the landscape of our children’s children ability to stand before with pride and develop. The future of our species depends on our ability to develop sustainably. The current situation is example enough that a shift in consciousness, way of thinking, tried systems, must evolve. Evolution is essential to our growth and development. Learning from the outdated greed-based capitalistic model and transitioning into a community-based model of shared growth that works in harmony with our natural world is as inevitable as it is necessary. When a photograph inspires us, like a majestic landscape, it influences us to honor our ancestors, who enabled this moment, and their way of life.