Next Generation Wants A Quality Environment In Which To Live

Last week I had dinner with a wise and good friend, and we talked about what was a reasonable use of our community energy.

I was tired of humans and leaning toward whales or gorillas. I had just seen the returning of whales to Puget Sound, the gift, in my mind, of all the cleanup and sensitive habitat provisions.

I had just seen a great blue heron in my yard and two eagles overhead. I knew that Ivan, the Tacoma gorilla, was no longer a living billboard for a shopping center.

Last week I spent an afternoon with a class of fifth- and sixth-graders who are in a program called “problem solvers.” The program teaches students how to gather data and think about world problems.

I was asked to talk with them about prejudice. I asked them instead what they thought were the most important problems that they would face in the future.

They spoke about the environment first, then population pressures, violence and getting a good job. They wanted to talk about what was reasonable, but the emphasis was on protecting people and animals.

Prejudice was not a big issue because they thought it was wrong and they were not going to be like that.

Last week I attended a city council meeting where a new building code was being considered. Part of the discussion centered on property rights vs. environment. People were angry and wanted to revise current ideas of “reasonable use” in sensitive areas.

The state Legislature has just voted to compensate owners for any “reasonable use” provisions that change property values.

I am old enough to remember in the 1950s what happened to forests, rivers, animal species, water, air, noise and open space when property ownership and engineering were the only determining factors in what you could do.

Many people who chafe at environmental and species restrictions, because they do not think they need help to be reasonable, forget what happens to the commons when there are few limits on owners.

The schoolchildren were so aware of their world compared to me and my class at the same age. They defined “reasonable use” in a much more conscious way than we do.

They thought we needed to take care of each other and the environment. Their fear may be that as we back off of all our efforts to save the commons, they will not be able to grow up fast enough to fix our mistakes.

They know jobs and money are very important, but it was, in part because they are young, far from first on their list. They want a world of earth, water, animals and air to live in.

So at dinner with my friend, I decided I needed to know more about whales. I feel at this moment in time I can learn more about humans from other intelligent species that instinctively know they cannot thrive in polluted water in constant conflict.

Whales know there is only so much space and so many fish and have found, over millions of years, ways to create and maintain a commons. The danger whales and our children face is our inability to do the same.

Dear Ms. James: I have read your column and have often enjoyed and learned from your advice to those who have difficulty in some aspect of their lives. It seems that when you venture into broad social commentary, however, you often go astray. - Matt

Dear Matt: One of the themes in the critical letters I receive is that I should confine my writing to this or that subject. I also get many positive letters encouraging me to continue to tilt at windmills.

We now live in a world where separations are far less important than connections. We have to think in a broad vs. a narrow scope.

Universities will find themselves breaking down the lines and limits between disciplines and professions. In an international market, effective generalists in business will become more valuable than specialists.

It may be easier to respect someone who knows a lot about a little bit than someone who tries to understand and learn about the wider frame, but the wider lens is what the future is all about. We see this trend in medicine, the environment, politics and technology.

None of us should be intimidated by what we don’t know or by those who claim to know more. All of us should use the challenge of this time to think, learn, ask questions, discuss and stretch way beyond our own place.

Personal issues of relationship, stress and depression are very important, and I will always want to respond to those letters and issues, but our individual lives are lived in a larger context that has far more effect on our spirit and health than we are willing to acknowledge. - Jennifer

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