Alternative Nobel Prize and speaker of the Rototom Festival. Inspired by characters like Einstein or Gandhi, nuclear physicist and philosopher, this Indian environmentalist rejects nuclear energy for being a pollutant and invented to kill. Defend ecology as an inseparable part of human rights and continue to believe more than ever in an alternative to brutal capitalism based on love and non-violence.
If there is something that someone remembers the first time he speaks with Vandana Shiva, it is his captivating smile, surprisingly constant, always ready to share the little secrets of happiness; those that make this world worthwhile.
Can ecology stop wars?
Only ecology can stop wars! -he smiles-, because wars are made by natural resources: oil, minerals, water ... And if someone does not respect the land, nature, can not respect human rights. Everyone has the right to natural resources. Ecology, and only ecology, can stop wars.
Is there an alternative to capitalism?
The majority of the world survives outside capitalism; In my country, 95% of the population. And most of the history of mankind has not had capitalism.
But the capitalism of Western countries does influence the rest of the world, for better or worse….
In the last 50 years the bad part has become bigger. In your countries, capitalism had a social face and this has led many to give up their struggle against capitalism. And that's why what we see in crisis like that of Greece, Spain, Ireland or Iceland happens now, and these are only a few of the first countries where it will happen. It is also happening in a certain way already in England. In our world, capitalism simply enters and steals the earth, with its most brutal face. Now, in your world the crisis has caused capitalism to take off that social mask and you begin to live brutal capitalism.
In Greece they believe they have started a revolution that they will lead with Spain and Italy to change the world, although they still don't know how ...
I visited Puerta del Sol in Madrid and I see that 50% of the population has been expelled by the economic system, 49% of unemployment among young people; which is like telling them "we have no place for you in the system". There are people lying in the streets, there is intelligence in the street, and he will look for a change. That revolution is inevitable; You cannot exclude 50% of society from the system and expect nothing to happen. And what will happen will not depend on the financial system. People will have to look for other ways of living. People want less capital, less resources and more welfare. And whatever the change will be an ecological and sustainable change. It is no empty utopia. It is an ecological imperative and a social imperative.
In the 70s you hugged trees to avoid being cut down. Should people hug trees more often?
People should more often embrace all valuable things. Trees are valuable, soil is valuable, children are valuable. And we have to declare with love: "You are not going to destroy these valuable things!"
Can you explain why ecology and human rights are linked?
The illusion of mechanistic philosophy and capitalism have tried to get into our minds that are separate and told us that we are not part of nature. And the truth is that financial capitalism grows on this planet, but human well-being does not. The most basic things we need come from the earth. Nuclear energy is the most expensive and dangerous that can exist and they still tell us that it is clean and safe. Fast-food is destroying our forests and killing our bodies, disconnects our brains so that we don't think and choose; fertilizers pollute our waters and with transgenics we are polluting and destroying the diversity of thousands of species on the planet so that someone patents a monoculture.
What does nonviolence mean to you? Do you think that Gandhi's Satyagraha (peaceful struggle) is possible today despite the violence of governments?
The principle of nonviolence is not to harm the earth or living beings. And it is something more pertinent than ever. In India we are applying Gandhi Satyagraha with the defense of the seeds; and in the streets of India nonviolence is being practiced against corrupt politicians. And yes, governments are more violent because capitalist globalization demands violent military action. And there are people who die, but if your answer is to take a gun I assure you that you have already lost, because the capitalist armies have more weapons than you can ever have. Nonviolence is more ethical, more effective and also prevents a movement from being criminalized. From fear you cannot do it, only with love, it is also a matter of connections, connecting ... and the magical moment arrives.
Is the lack of contact with nature the cause of so much stress, unhappiness, depressions ...?
It even has a name: Nature Deficit Disorder. And it has been proven with many people that it gets well right after having contact with nature.
What is your biggest lesson learned?
That there is no force more powerful than love. As an example I can tell you that I am here with my son. I am a single mother and most of the good things I have done have been guided by my love for him, by my desire for him to have the best in life. Love is my guide. I could have been a very angry and unhappy person, but I have made love an enrichment for my life.
"Transgene is agriculture that usury the economy"
Industrial agriculture has several stages, first because of the control of seed production and the patent system, which causes a total dependence on farmers versus producers. The second stage occurs with fertilizers, which also involve production control and dependence on the part of the farmers towards the manufacturers of these chemical fertilizers. And the third, is through pesticides. In this way the alternatives end. The last step of the food industry has been with transgenic foods. The price of these seeds is very high and, at first, many farmers in India, for example, started to grow them. To be able to buy them, thinking that they were magical seeds that would not need insecticides, because they were said to be immune to pests or insects, they threw the house out the window. What the farmers did not know is that they were seeds that produced, in turn, unusable seeds. This situation has destroyed thousands of small producers, has caused the suicide of many peasants and is destroying the peasant social fabric in India.
Why are small family farms more productive than industrial monocultures?
They are more productive if we look at production from a broad and qualitative aspect, from energy efficiency.That is why I am an advocate of organic agriculture. In organic farming, a producer will consume less energy to produce products that, in addition, will have a higher quality. It will use seeds that it produces, it will not use fertilizers or pesticides that harm the environment. Production will take place in a natural cycle, respecting the environment, that is, conserving it. The industrial system of agricultural production is profitable, it favors the monoculture that produces large quantities but that needs a much larger energy investment, an energy that unfortunately is not accounted for within the production system, such as the purchase of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, energy expenditure on machinery, irrigation, etc.
The transgenders in India have led many people to suicide? Are the transgenders to agriculture what usury the economy?
It is all part of the same system and there is no doubt that transgenics are the usury of industrial agri-food and what nuclear energy is to the production of energy. Thousands of peasants have committed suicide distressed by the debts owed due to the purchase of milagrosas seeds that were sold at very high prices. In these three cases of transgenic, banking and nuclear energy - what is perceived is that there is an absence of responsibility and it is society that pays for the broken dishes with alarming consequences.
Vandana Shiva is a scientist, philosopher and Indian writer. In 1982 he created the Foundation for Scientific, Technological and Ecological Research, which includes among its initiatives the promotion and dissemination of organic farming Gica, the study and maintenance of biodiversity and foster the commitment of women to the environmental movement. He received the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1993.
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Only ecology can stop wars! Report to Vandana Shiva
