117 Earth Jam’s Reality Check
John J. Bush III
I recently went to Earth Jam, hosted outside of Mary Lion hall and it was a great time. The bands were playing with a large group of people sitting on the lawn, talking and embracing this day of joy. People where dressed in all sorts of colors and seemed very happy, while others just relaxed, had a few beers at the tent and listened to some creative tunes. My experience there was joyful, friendly, and very relaxing. Everybody was expressing their feelings for earth and its beauty. Everybody was enjoying the bright blue sky, the nice green grass and the warm breeze. It seemed at that moment, the world was fantastical and perfect, but no one wanted to express the hidden and dark version of earth that was in plain sight. Afterwards, there was some trash and many misplaced items around the yard. No one seemed to care about picking up and even caring about the earth at all.
Applying the ecological thought and dark ecology to the whole event could have changed people’s perspectives on their own hypocrisy–how people don’t even realize the dark and uncanny things in Nature. The corrupted, ugliness, and horror of ecology should be brought up and discussed. No one wants to notice or acknowledge the disruptions of dark ecology effects on us. It slips past their knowledge of ecology and they almost look at the world with a fantastical lens. Nothing is harmful in Nature and it is perfectly fine. Well, that’s not the case in the real world.
“When contemporary capitalism and consumerism cover the entire Earth and reach deeply into its life forms, is it possible, ironically and at last, to let go of this nonexistent ghost. Exorcise is good for you, and human beings are past the point at which Nature is a help. Our continued survival, and therefore the survival of the planet we’re now dominating beyond all doubt, depends on our thinking past nature” (Morton 5).
I wanted to yank this quote from the reading to express my analysis of Earth Jam. We now control the Earth and it’s now depending on us to survive. People don’t realize the dark and ere aspects of earth and the affects it has on us as humans. We are a part of Nature and the disgust it brings with it. If we could rethink Nature in a larger scale, then we could allow ourselves this new perspective of it. We could help the whole community realize this reflection in Nature and the many disturbing things that lie beyond the dark. Applying the theory and giving a better look at Nature, then we could feel more apart of Nature. The practices of dark ecology will help us stabilize ourselves. It would help us understand more of this darkness, and our lack of awareness to the situations. To notice these problems (global warming, extinction, and fresh water depletion.) we can understand ourselves with a more intimate coexistence with Nature–a more consistent way of viewing the ecological thought and expressing the realities of the existence with Nature.