Seven Limiting Views of the Polycrisis

(graphic by Andrea Edwards)

                I am accompanying my spouse in taking an EcoSattva Course through One Earth Sangha.  It is a balm for these troubled times. Though anchored in Buddhism and Climate Change, this course is also widely applicable to all kinds of world views, philosophies, and practices. Of note were the "Seven Limiting Views" presented by Kristin Barker. She debunked seven common stories we tell ourselves regarding Climate Change, but they also apply to multiple issues that intersect in what I am fond of calling the “Polycrisis.” Playing on how humans often name their parrots Polly, parrots are one way we can open our awareness to see how our crises are interconnected – what harms one harms us all. And if we care for one, we care for the whole, though indeed, each individual merits consideration and care.

I wonder which of the following stories you are telling yourself regarding the Polycrisis? Do any of these limiting views disconnect you from others and beauty? Do any of them diminish your capacity to engage and to act? What other limiting views do you have?

                 I will respond briefly to these questions from my viewpoint regarding parrots.

1. People Don’t Know

                It is true that many aren’t aware that there is a Parrot Crisis, and that is why a group of us formed the International Alliance for the Protection of Parrots to help spread global awareness. But huge swaths of humanity do know. They see the suffering of parrots and the diminishment of the species in the wild. We don’t always have to give people concrete and factual information to help them know. Sometimes a better approach is to ask them what harm and loss they have experienced so that they can connect to their own experiences and emotions.

2. People Don’t Care

                In my nearly 40 years of working in parrot conservation in the Americas I do still occasionally come across people who don’t care what happens to their parrots. But overall, there is a steadily increasing desire to protect parrots in countries where they range naturally as well as on a global scale. When humans don’t act or change their behavior it may not be because they don’t care, but because they are overwhelmed and don’t know what they can do to help. Humans evolved to care for community and for those with whom they experience kinship. We can approach not by judging or blaming, but helping them see how much they care, how cool parrots are, and how interconnected all life is on this planet, and then show them how to put their care into action.

3. People Can’t Handle this

                It’s true that on some days the Polycrisis can be overwhelming, and I include myself as having this state of being in snippets and even longer stretches of time. But what I experience is that people, including myself, are strong and when we anchor our life into meaningful work, such as parrot conservation (to name just one of many, many ways of loving this world), we can have remarkable resilience, especially when we work together.

4. It’s Too Late

                I have been so guilty of this. Often, I say we are only here to serve witness to the decline and loss of parrots and that our little conservation group and small communities cannot stop the tide of extraction that is killing our planet. However, not only are people strong, so are the earth’s ecological systems and wildlife. The parrots will make it if we just give them a chance, and parrot conservation projects all over the world are doing just that. It is not too late to make a difference and if we can save a parrot, we are also saving people and the planet.

5. We Must Be Pure

                Here is another view that has limited me in the past. Where I see the most change in my perspective is that I am shifting away from the erroneous thinking that others must be pure in regard to how they relate to parrots and wildlife. There are so many variations of parrot-human relationships out there in cultures and perspectives! Some of these relationships can be quite harmful to parrots, and people as well. Regardless, there are commonalities across differences where a group of people can come together, recognize the harm being done, and take collective action to help this earth, even if they don’t agree on everything.

                Lest you think I am some pure, enlightened being, witnessing the harm caused by others, and by myself as well, is painful. I do want to escape exposure to harmful practices and often want to take refuge by working only with those who think like me. It takes fortitude to be present to where people are and find ways to work together despite the discomfort and pain. I don’t succeed every day.

6. I’m Just One Person

                This is an easy one to debunk. I am not just one person, I am every being on this planet, including the trillions living on me and inside of me, and whose DNA I have inherited. Earth’s evolution and interconnectedness is a huge bright and joyful power, and I am a little, but mighty, spark.

7. I Speak for the Trees (Birds)

      I do this all the time. We even have parrots, alive and deceased, on the One Earth Conservation Board of Directors. We ask them, and the parrots where we work, “What do you want?” Though it is admirable to include parrots in human pursuits, we have to acknowledge the challenge of proxy. No matter what we do, we will impose human experiences upon other species. Yet if we refrain from representing their voices, they will be silenced by the power of markets and politics. So, what to do? With humility we acknowledge that we are only a proxy and commit to learning all we can and listening to who parrots are and constantly question what we are saying for them.

         I can think of several more limiting views I have; but I’d like to hear yours so that we can together untangle our minds from the limiting and harmful stories we tell ourselves and that have been taught to us. We can work out the knots in our stomachs that have formed in response to experiencing the angst of our crises, and with the freeing strands of interconnection, weave stories with unlimited possibilities.