Independence is a big and important word in this country. A noble concept in and of itself, it reaches far and deep into the American psyche. The U.S.'s independence as a nation is supported by a rugged individualism among her people that has enabled many to do things that would otherwise be considered impossible. Accordingly, to immigrants like myself, the U.S. is known as the land of unlimited possibility in our native countries.
However, in the last century this independence, rooted in material freedom and mobility, has come at an ever-increasing cost: The dependence on fossil fuels and all the problems associated with it. From fighting wars in oil rich countries, to epic oil spills, to climate change, our ostensible emancipation from the constraints of nature that enabled us to go it alone is coming back to bite us.
In tonight's EcoAdvocates, I'd like to wander past the "dependence vs. independence" paradigm and discuss a third and perhaps middle way of how we might live in balance with the earth's ecosystem without losing our creativity and autonomy: Interdependence
continued at Daily Kos....
