Reflecting on the DePauw Dialogue 2.0, we must remember the whole point of the day was to bring DePauw together as community to create conversations. The ultimate goal is to generate a feeling of equality among all people that occupy this campus no matter their reasons for being here. Equally as important, we should work to extend respect and unity outside the DePauw campus. Conveniently, the community we are working toward with the DePauw Dialogue is what will be the foundation for a sustainable human race.
We will not be able to see other species inhabiting this planet as equals if we do not see members of our fellow species as equally important. If we cannot unanimously agree all people matter equally, how can we expect to grant moral consideration for any other species on this planet?
This idea that humans are the only species that matter is one of the Anthropocene view. In the Anthropocene, one can reason the earth is beyond repair, and we should use all remaining resources to serve humans. Originally, scientists use the word “Anthropocene” to describe the geologic time period occurring when humans drastically affect earth’s biogeochemical cycles in a way never occurring before humans. However, Anthropocene is also a growing philosophy whereby people believe the earth’s resources belong to humans.
Additionally, the Anthropocene view has a dominion aspect to it that implies some lives (human) matter more than others. Seeing the environmental degradation that we have inflicted so far, the Anthropocene view is not farfetched.
But the Anthropocene philosophy provides little incentive to change our current systems that are depleting the earth’s resources and causing wars. The human race is en route to destroy itself and many other species along with it. But if we can agree there are enough minds on this planet to reconcile the changes we have caused, we can begin to seriously work at becoming sustainable. That begins with equality among people.
Equality among people begins with the conversations we had during the DePauw Dialogue. Those exchanges between people expose where and how people feel marginalized and when they feel equal. When we eliminate the spaces where people feel inferior or unequal, we can begin to focus on sustainability. And when every person feels equal, we will be closer to ending the dominion mindset that has guided us to overconsumption of shared resources.
This has ties to ecofeminism, Black Lives Matter, and every other social movement working toward equality and social justice. Environmental injustice is a way to link sustainability and equality. There is a correlation between those experiencing the first and worst environmental disasters and marginalization. Often those affected the most by environmental threats will be from a racial or ethnic minority or those in a lower socioeconomic class.
The way to tackle widespread inequality and begin a greater movement for sustainability begins with small, open discussions on this campus. The work toward sustainability will not stop at conversations, but a unanimous feeling of equality and respect on DePauw’s campus would be a start and a change.
-Dixon is an Environmental Biology major from Evansville, Ind.