Class, Act! – New Ed4wb Video
This video, by looking at gold mining, tries to connect students to their natural world. It attempts to show how something like a gold class ring, despite its positive connotations, can be injurious to others and to ourselves. As I’ve written here before, the disconnect is due, in large part, to schools’ refusal to promote integrative thinking and to the ascendancy of coverage over depth. Schools need to do more.
“…there is mounting evidence that our ecosystems are more fragile than first thought, suggesting that nature (natural capital) is to be cherished and restored and not converted into other forms of capital.” (from book, The Natural Advantage of Nations, Hargrove & Smith)
The form of capital that gets all the attention in schools is financial capital. Not teaching about, and thus not promoting and valuing other forms of capital, has propelled us on a self-destructive path, furthering poverty levels and accelerating the rate of negative change.
While it’s fairly easy to see that we benefit from the tangible forms of natural capital such as clean water, lumber, fish, etc., most are probably unaware of the services we get from nature. When we convert natural capital into financial capital, we rarely subtract, in financial terms, the costs of losing these services. If we did, we probably wouldn’t be so cavalier in the way we consume resources.
Some of these ecological services are:
- production of atmospheric gases;
- supporting of evolutionary processes, and biodiversity;
- purification of soil, water and air;
- storage and cycling of fresh water and nutrients;
- regulation of the chemistry of the atmosphere and oceans;
- maintenance of habitats for wildlife;
- disposing of organic waste;
- sequestration and treatment of waste;
- pest and disease control of insects, birds and other organisms;
- production of a variety of species for food, fibers, pharmaceuticals and materials;
- conversion of solar energy into materials;
- prevention of soil erosion and sediment loss;
- alleviating floods and managing runoff;
- protection of UV radiation;
- regulation of the local and global climate;
- development of topsoil and maintenance of soil fertility;
- production of grasslands, fertilizer and food. (from The Natural Advantage of Nations, Hargrove and Smith)
One of the most common arguments we hear in favor of mining has to do with improving a country’s economy. However, data does not bare this out. Of the 65 countries considered resource rich, only 4 seem to have parlayed this capital into sustainable, economic growth (source). This has been noted as the resource curse. There are several reasons for this, including psychological and socio-political ones, but looking at the bullet list above, it’s not hard to imagine how hard or impossible it would be to try to improve an economy after losing or diminishing nature’s vital services.
It is hoped, during the next class ring season, that this video could be used as a primer and as a call to action for the millions of high school and college grads that will be considering a shiny, new, class ring. If anything, the class ring issue can be a good way to promote some real-world connective thinking.
Video background:
Parts filmed in Cajamarca, Peru at the Yanacocha Gold Mine, owned by Newmont Mining Corporation (Denver, USA), World Bank, and Buenaventura (Peru), during the summer of 2007.
A follow-up video is in the works. In it, I talk with the mayor of a small Peruvian town that was the location of a mercury spill caused by a contractor of the Yanacocha mining company. Here are two very well-done documentaries that show the real price of gold and what happens when a town bands together to protect their long-term interests.
Learn more:
natcap.org
guarango.org
nodirtygold.org
