From Pornography to Agriculture: Challenging Hierarchy

“At the core of this analysis is a claim that, at first glance, may seem to be a stretch: The erosion of human dignity in our broken world starts with the erosion of the planet’s soils.”

Author’s Note: An abridged version of this essay was recorded for an upcoming presentation at the online Gender Equity Forum (Forum Jämställdhet) sponsored by the Swedish Women’s Lobby (Sveriges kvinnolobby), February 2, 2021.

We live in a world in which people and other living things are broken by routine exploitation and violence. Entire societies seem broken beyond repair. Life itself seems to be in danger of breaking forever.

Acknowledging this is difficult not only because of the depth of the pain in a broken world but because we know that much of the pain is avoidable. To be human—in any place at any time—is to deal with inevitable disappointment, despair, and death. But most of the suffering of this broken world is generated by the political and economic systems we have built. To face that—to know that we broke the world and that it could be different—is hard.

Essays like this often begin on a harsh note as part of a tough-love strategy, to be followed by an upbeat ending that explains the solutions. To face the suffering of a broken world, many people seem to need a promise that there are pragmatic strategies that will allow us eventually to prevail, or, at least, to cope reasonably well with the pain. If not exactly happy, endings must be hopeful.