THE next New Year鈥檚 party may bring a dramatically different list of
resolutions, if David Suzuki and Amanda McConnell have anything to say about it.
They want us to reach a new understanding of the ancient world鈥檚 four
elements鈥攅arth, air, fire and water.
It sounds rather amorphous. But The Sacred Balance(Prometheus,
$25.95, ISBN 1573921998) is a serious effort to synthesise an ecological
ethic. Suzuki, a geneticist and host of the TV series The Nature of
Things, and coauthor McConnell, a documentary film writer, contend that in
our obsession with the mosaic view of science, we鈥檝e forgotten our place as
citizens of the living Earth.
Explaining our interconnectedness with the four classic elements in terms of
science, they also weave in poetry, philosophy and quotes from the great and
good. Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淔ull fathom five鈥� rolls out in the section on water,
excerpts from Kayap贸 and Hopi Earth-worship ceremonies in the chapter on
soil. Quotes from Gandhi, Shelley, Thoreau, and E. O. Wilson appear in the
section on air, amid scientific explanations of love, community and spirit.
(Spirit derives from the Latin for 鈥渁ir鈥�.)
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It is a sweeping, almost overwhelming view, though there are frequent,
familiarly plaintive statements about poisoning the fish and choking the rivers.
Yet the book鈥檚 sensitive take on such vital issues鈥攃haracterised by quiet
comments on the 鈥渨rong鈥� look of a straightened stream and the dismissal of
emotion as 鈥渦nscientific鈥濃�攔ing more clearly than strident demands for
change.
Most usefully, the authors place responsibility for change not on
governments, but on individuals, and suggest specific initial steps for action.
They provide case studies to show the astonishing leaps that may follow those
first baby steps. Suzuki鈥檚 12-year-old daughter, for example, decided that the
1992 Earth Summit needed to hear the viewpoint of children, raised donations to
send the children鈥檚 environmental group she founded, and delivered a speech at a
plenary session. Not a bad way to start a new millennium.