Fundamentalism

I am a vegan. I have been one for 2 years.

But, against what one may think, I am not proud to be a vegan.

Not because of what vegans believe in and do,

but because of what so many vegans have become.

Fundamentalists.

Often fundamentalism is associated with organized religions;

but that is exactly what veganism has been turned into by many.

In the last two days alone I have talked to two –used-to-be vegans who said they no longer identify as vegans; Based primarily on other vegans vegangali-calising.

So how do we recognize a vegangelical? According to the urban dictionary a vegangelical is.......

v A fundamentalist vegan who goes around proselytizing vegetarians and omnivores. 

v A vegan intolerant of any other diet, or anyone who adheres to a diet other than a vegan diet.

v Vegetarian or vegan who not only refrains from meat or animal products themselves, but expects others too as well.

v A vegetarian or vegan who is preachy with their views basically.

Does this at all sound familiar?

So you may ask what is the problem with vegan fundamentalism, or preaching about the so called ideal lifestyle of the world?

Firstly, vegans feel they have a moral high-ground which intimidates and angers others. We are only asking to be laughed at with this ‘apex of the moral triangle approach’.

This well known scene from Scott Pilgrim vs the World is a classic example of vegans becoming the butt of the joke.

Scott Pilgrim: No kidding. Anyone can be vegan.

Todd Ingram: Ovo-lacto-vegetarian, maybe.

Scott Pilgrim: Ovo-what?

Todd Ingram: I partake not in the meat, nor the breast-milk, nor the ovum, of any creature with a face.

Envy Adams: Short answer: being vegan just makes you better than most people.

Todd Ingram: Bingo.

Stephen Stills: Hey, man, question: I always wondered, how does not eating dairy products give you psychic powers?

Todd Ingram: Okay, you know how you only use ten percent of your brain? That's because the other 90 percent is filled with curds and whey.

Kim Pine: Did you learn that at vegan academy?

Anthony Bourdain, an American chef, has called vegetarianism, particularly the vegan sects, "rude". He frequently gives an example of an impoverished family who grows food and offers you the one animal they have available on a particular day.

A vegetarian would turn it down, saying "No, thanks".

"It's antihuman. It's antisocial,"

Its simply too black and white.

Which brings me to my second point. Yes, veganism and vegetarianism is about animal ethics, the environment; being responsible for who we are and where we are.

But so many of us are allowing this lifestyle to close the rest of the world off,

To the point where we are spiralling downwards on a narrow path.

Rather than this lifestyle opening doors for us we are creating more and more restrictions in our life, preventing us from seeing the bigger picture. We are looking more and more inward to the point veganism and vegetarianism is all we can talk about.

What about the sunshine? What about the colours of the world? What about the 7 other billion people? Why replace that all with anger and frustration? Why make ourselves ugly in the light of doing something constructive for the world?

And so, what about the 7 other billion people?

If we truly believe in ethics and a just world why do we conveniently forget there are starving, tortured people in the world? Why do we ourselves get angry at other human beings instead?

Are we really taking stupid to a new level?

Thomas Edison said

‘Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ‘

As hard as it may seem to realize, our so called ‘cruelty free’ lives may be consequenting in people at the other end of the world having no drinking water or food.

We are actually still savages if we don’t think laterally; beyond the end of our nose.

Yes veganism dictates whether we eat animal products,

But does it dictate fair trade?

Boycott of sweat shops?

Boycott of supermarkets?

Does it dictate whether we buy another cellphone that was made in awful conditions at the other end of the world?

Does it dictate whether we have shorter showers and less frequently?

Does it dictate whether we are feeding the 2 billion starving?

Does veganism help us to carry the burden of pained suffering people?

Does it help them to see hope?

Or has our world just become so closed that we no longer see those consequences we have on their lives?

Does veganism have sense or reason when we just become so closed?

So what is the light at the end of this tunnel?

Personally, I have learnt one can only start with oneself and then radiate outwards.

I am sure most of you have seen this too to be in this room today.

I believe, the ability to recognize, connect and apply the fact everything is intermingled and connected with each other as this permaculture flower suggests, is the answer. Its not just health/wellbeing and environmental justice.

                  

Being vegan is simply not enough to earn us moral high-ground; there is so much more to the word veganism.

It isn’t simply the abstinence from animal products but the abstinence from anything that harms other beings; other people, the environment and animals.

It is an abstinence from preaching.

Which is somewhat ironic coming from me as I stand preaching to you!

It is the ability to recognize that awareness is key; but conversion is desperate.

Conversion is intimidating and tiresome.

Conversion is frustrating and draining.

That awareness is beautiful, warm and activating.

It gives hope and inspires.

Speak

Sitting there.

As hollow as it all seemed, it was like this.

As unbelievable as it all was, as surreal as it all was,

She was still sitting there.

She extended her arm across the table.

Her hand rested on the hand of Opposition.

‘‘Having your support is always appreciated and I am very grateful for it!

I am aware of your concerns about my lack of degree 

But, I also think that there are people who spend so much time and money in university and still can't get a 'proper' job. We have sort of entered the era where we battle machines for jobs, and not just that, but battle the population of the earth.

There are simply not enough  jobs!

I feel that I would rather be bitter about me not getting a job due to the lack of a degree 

Than having a degree and an even bigger student loan and then still not getting a job.

And if I did get a job with a university degree, who is to say I would be happy in it in any case?

Life is a journey. It is all about turning corners, being inspired.

We are organic beings; we are not linear as our system currently think we are.

I don't think it any longer plausible, in our age of inspiration, efficient communication and travelling, to 'settle down' in one job after your degree.

I no longer think it plausible for us to shut off our instincts to satisfy the criteria of our society (and the products of it) to plod, unhappily down a path where we always feel we haven't attained enough

Where we are always empty

Where we are always seeking

Feeling guilty

Feeling like we are not enough....

Why can't we be what our instincts call on us to be?

Maybe then we would be less frustrated, and everybody would be sincere and happier in their efforts?

Maybe we would exploit less....?

I totally agree with you that we are losing sight of what really matters in life to us

We are losing sight of how we should be here for the community/fellow human beings rather than our own egotistical goals

And we are losing sight of how ancient this earth is and how much impact we have had on it in such a small time frame....

I no longer believe in the construct of money; money seems to breed individualism and anthropocentrism.

We can no longer strive on that model; it needs to be about helping each other and, ideally, communal subsistent living!

There are alternative systems that one can be a part of that don't need money

That are simply based on trading skills

Growing all your own food 

And living a simple, un-materialistic life.

It can be done.

I know people who are a part of such communities

Where it is more fulfilling

More beautiful

And leaving as little impact on earth as humanly possible.

Basically inspiration can be gained from villages all around the world

Tribals have rituals that we may ethically disagree with

But their way of living is still incredible and most sustainable

After all they have been doing it for thousands of years.

It is food for thought.

It excites me to think of what can be done.

It excites me to think I could be a part of this incredible system soon.....’’

There was silence.

She retracted her hand,

She felt sweaty, a little confused at all the conclusions she had just made while talking;

Overwhelmed that there actually was an answer within reach.

Silence.

The chattering of people behind them became obvious.

There was a girl accusing the other of not being honest enough.

There was another woman who spoke in an unknown language to an awkward male.

And there were birds.

The birds squabbled over bits of food.

Chasing in unimagined circles with their feathers ruffled, and wings slightly opened.

It was all about survival.

The last bit of food was their’s

Or maybe not?

Where was their real food?

Fingers started drumming the table.

Her attention returned to Opposition.

“ But what if it doesn’t work out? What if you can’t find work? What if you have to go back and live with Mum and Dad? How would they like it? Have you even talked to them?”

She slowly slipped her shoes off under the table

Rubbing her feet together

She felt the warm dampness of the sun baked mossy bricks.

Her shoulders relaxed and she lifted her head up

“Mum and Dad know. I told them.

This is exactly what I am trying to say.

It no longer matters to me whether I have a job or not.

Money no longer matters.

I can always go wwof somewhere and get free board.

And get experience.”

“ I don’t understand. What about all your ambitions? You used to be so ambitious; you used to want a PhD. What happened to you?”

It came through in a threatened tone.

“I am still ambitious.

Just for different causes.

You know what

I don’t want this conversation anymore.

I understand your concern

But, I don’t think you trust the world enough

I think your ideas are too rooted

And you will let nothing uproot them.

Uprooting is good.

It may feel strange.

Weird

And, scary.

But, the unknown is good.

We should be discovering facets of life

Not through textbooks

But, through our own physical experiences.

I feel good. My instincts tell me I am okay.

I want to listen to the universe for once.”

“ Humph.

Typical you.

Always doing such things

I can’t be bothered anymore either”.

She pushed out her chair

Blindly found her shoes with her feet

And rolled into them.

She picked up her bag

Glanced quickly at Opposition.

She leant over to embrace him.

They smiled.

The birds twittered, and everything was left un-turned.

Manifesto

Landscape-puritanism....

Standing in my father’s studio, I used to watch my father generate creative sprawl on one-sided paper. This creative sprawl developed into bricks and trees; into landscape design. It was here, at the age of 9, I was awakened; my journey had begun. It was here that I insisted on defining what landscape design meant to me, and it is in this essay that these thoughts will take form. I insist that human beings must come closer to nature by not dictating its uses and form; but by connecting with its awe-inspiring understanding of this ancient world. Once such an understanding is forged then only successful and fulfilling landscape design can be created; created for the benefit of nature, its inhabitants and us, its children. To forge this connection is to see the Earth as old, wise, guiding and inspiring; as if it were our parents, a greater being not to be messed with.

Man has lost this alliance with nature in recent centuries, replacing nature with himself; the centre of all truth. With the breakout of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18^th century, man bowed down to his creation. The sheer efficiency of machines propelled economic times and the dollar sign became the measure of all things. Society became a machine, people began to think like cogs of machines (Fig. 1), and a distance grew between man and nature.

During this, in the early 19^th century, philosophers and artists rallied together to seek nature again. Romanticists thought that by merely appreciating nature, an understanding could be sought. But, it was a form of subjugation. Nature became the observed object of man’s gaze (Fig. 2) and was under man’s power. An understanding was not forged; but constructed.  The construction began, but this time in nature itself undermining nature’s role yet again.

Niagara Falls is a good example of this. Niagara Falls for a long time had been ‘the epitome of the sublime, offering the experience of a powerful natural feature of superhuman scale that inspires awe and fear’ (Fig. 3).^[1] Frederick Law Olmsted, an avant-garde landscape architect and theorist of the Romantic period, was asked to ‘construct’ and ‘box in’ this sublime experience for tourists. This resulted in the 1887 plan which ‘successfully accommodated tourists with diverse values and expectations’ but failed to address the consequences this would have on nature in the coming decades. ^[2] Niagara Falls became the subject of the human gaze and by no means did this design benefit nature. In the last 100 years this one-way relationship has resulted in conflict; a ‘tension between scenic landmark and source of power’.^[3] This ‘sublime experience’ is now ‘a source of cheap power, a historic landmark, a livelihood’ for man who has subjugated the area to industrialisation (Fig. 4).^[4]

Romanticism then turned into Modernism when the World Wars brought changes in the ways of thinking. The city became the pedestal of man and never before had the dollar sign been so idealized. Capitalism thrived, and man thrived with it; with consequences. Technological and economic transformations in Modernism ‘had a profound impact on the landscape and on our attitudes toward nature’ making us ‘fundamentally hostile to nature’. ^[5]   This led to a ‘divorce’ between design and nature with nature becoming an ‘other’ or an afterthought to the built environment. ^[6] 

An example of this is in Le Corbusier’s plans for re-developing cities. Le Corbusier believed in his Cities of Tomorrow (Fig. 5) that planned, severe, sterile, geometrical spaces that should replace present-day cities. Nature played a minor role. He saw nature as ‘a picture, a view, a scene – however symbolic’. ^[7]  The landscape in this understanding of nature is distanced from the viewer by the frame creating a detached connection.^[8] Further emphasizing his detachment from nature, Le Corbusier believed that ‘organization involves a geometrical plan.... in the midst of nature’ and to gain this ‘surgery must be employed’.^[9]

Thankfully in 1969 this ideal world of man and his glory was shattered by the intimidating images of our planet Earth seen from space. Never before had we seen our isolation; never before did it occur to us that there was no other planet for us to ‘escape’ to and that all the pollution we vomitted onto this one was going to have severe consequences. Environmentalism rose out of this; understanding our planet and nature was the answer. But, alas, it was short lived and the ego of man trampled on the prospects of regaining a better understanding of the world.

This thinking merged into Deconstructivism, which ‘in the wake of the social and environmental disasters of industrialisation.... retreated to the comforting forms of nostalgia and seemingly stable, secure, and more permanent forms’ of breaking down and understanding the environment around us.^[10] But nature, as we know it, was constructed to suit the vanity of man and to fill the pockets of his trousers. Nature came into the cities, in small pockets of land, closed in on all sides by pedestals of ‘civilisation’; overshadowed by capitalism. And man looked at it with greedy eyes and wondered how much money that land could be sold for. The high land costs encouraged greater intensity of land use thus relegating an understanding of nature to a lower tier of priority and squeezing the green spaces out of the city.^[11]

Today we still think like this even with the rising threat of global warming and the doom we invite ourselves in to. Today,

if nature receives attention, then it is only for the purpose of conquest, or even better exploitation – for the latter not only accomplishes the first objective, but provides a financial reward for the conqueror.^[12]

We prioritise this over exploring and learning from the secrets of the Earth. However with the rise of a form of Environmentalism, vast parts of land are preserved and conserved with no economic benefit in mind. But these efforts lie unsupported. Why you may ask? Because we lack connection with these efforts; we lack connection and understanding of why it needs to be done.

 One can conclude that in the last 200 years man has had very little understanding of the planet and the environment that surrounds him. This has consequented in a rise of economic activity which results in power shifting from man to man over nature.  Power is the God in citadels across the world  and it is this God who  gazes out at the subservient entertainer nature. Nature has become a body we can construct for our own benefit, and give program to only for the pleasure of our eyes and not to the benefit of anything else. Let alone for the benefit of nature.

So what needs to change? We must change how we perceive and find a sense of being in nature. We must go back a few millennia to pre-historic times when nature and man connected; and lived in unity.

In my father’s studio and in the translation from inner creative outpourings into the garden I realized how instinctual is was to have a spiritual awakening from nature. The world was opening up. It was no longer just my family, our houses and gardens. It was a world; inextricably linked to everything; to good and bad; to old and new; and to me. Nature and the landscape became an awe-inspiring Goddess; drawing me in tug by tug until I was consumed by the beauty of this ancient balance that had been perfecting itself for millennia.

At this time to wake up at 5am and hear the calls of the Indian summer birds was to tap into the instinct of nature’s instinct. The birds instinctually awoke to the hot red, glowing furnace. To me this relationship was beautiful. The birds had awoken at the hint of dawn; they were linked by some invisible force of instinct. I too awoke with the dawn, trying to let my instincts breathe. I invited sunshine to wash over me; to wake me up to what lay in the depths of all people; a sixth sense. A calling to nature. The warmth, the light and the deep connection to nature embodied me. I became one with the Sun. Its light guided me to the spirituality of nature.

This instinct got me thinking about paganism. To see the land in terms of what it gives and the higher being that it is was made sense to me. To be pagan was to hold nature and its forces close to you; for it to become a priority to you. When one connects with the spirit of the land, its inhabitants and the wider cosmos and relate to it we become nature’s children and not its master. This is what I wanted my relationship to be with nature.

I felt paganism connected us to our ancestors’; another aspect of our sixth sense that was to be called upon. I knew the spirits of ancestors dwelt in nature. I knew that what had stopped me from seeing it earlier was my inability to de-centralize myself and become less egotistical. To talk to your ancestors is to listen and learn to what we take so for granted. We can learn from the land; and we can learn from our ancestors who now lived and breathed through the land. We should learn from ‘the vitality of the glorious old models’, our ancestors, and be inspired to ‘produce more than fruitless imitations’.^[13]

Through this paganism we must channel our ancestors, the beliefs that have been given to us over centuries, that have evolved into an art form of living and thriving on minimal amounts; the vernacular of our soul.

Paganism has fully realized this vitality and through the ages has become the pathway to a better understanding of the landscape around us. To realize we are not alone on this planet, but a part of a wider orbit that encompasses not just our lives and ancestors in the Earth, and the solar system but all the millions of other solar systems out there. To realize the land is alive with our past, and is a topography of secrets from our ancestors would send us on the pathway to understanding the land.

A post card from Ireland arrived at this vital time of my awakening. It was of the megalithic tomb, Newgrange (Fig. 6), which confirmed what I was feeling was not isolated. On the winter solstice, the Newgrange tomb’s central passageway is flooded with sunlight. This is the only time it gets sunshine; and at this time it gets it only for one hour. At this time the tomb, man, ancestors and the cosmos is linked. Man was connected to nature instinctually; this was his intuitive response to his ancestors and the wider world. At this time there was a ‘union of the deepest sublimity with the deepest beauty of nature’.^[14]        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

But none of this understanding and exploration can exist without the appreciation and use of art. Greater than anything, landscape is beauty. A common theme in eras of Landscape Architectural theory is that the land beholds great beauty, and the man made city does not. Camilla Sitte talks about cities being ‘painfully art less’ where they have become ‘worthless, having exhausted the last drop of art’s blood from its veins’. ^[15]  This has led to a lack of ‘appeal to the sense of perception’; less imagination and less beauty.^[16] Sitte further remarks that it ‘must be remembered that art has a legitimate and vital place in civic arrangement, for it is this kind of art alone that daily and hourly influences the great mass of people’.^[17] This appreciation of art is giving our sixth sense a glimpse of the world.

All of the above defines my soul. The land is spiritual and the more I am at one with it the more spiritual I feel. It is this soul that becomes the ancestor of future generations; it is the breath in nature that drives inspiration and connection to the greater world beyond our noses. This is what I think of the land and this is what of me that will live on.

After my spiritual awakening in the landscape, I turned to contemplation. Olmsted said that contemplation produced ‘an enjoyment of the moment, an escape from stresses of the present and worries about the future’ which ‘exercised and refreshed both mind and body’.^[18] This having a lasting ‘beneficial physical, mental, and moral’ effect on me’.^[19]It was these benefits I gained and craved; the whispers of the ancient times, the ancestors who talked through the trees, and the earth below my feet became my rock. I saw it as an ever-changing tide that had so many secrets harboured for us to see when we chose to delve into them. The secrets were inspiring, comforting and full of wisdom. I saw that an early morning walk was ‘a blessing for the whole day’ as Henry Thoreau said. I, saw that the land was my parental guidance; ever there, ever strong, ever loving and, ever inspiring.

It is all these elements that compose a mutual understanding of the land. It is these ‘tools’ that must influence our designed environment.  All of these combine to make a unique approach to design. The vernacular approach. A combination of paganism, respect for ancestry, soulful instinct, tradition, art, an understanding of the ever-changing landscape, evolution, and adaptation culminates in this. Why can we not ‘seek out the essential quality of this heritage and adapt it to modern conditions’ where we should be ‘able to plant the seeds of new vitality in seemingly barren soil’?[20] Why can we not ‘harmonize the essential old principles’ with present day needs?[21]

An architect who displays this acuity is Geoffrey Bawa. Being of Sri Lankan and Dutch tradition he has drawn on the best of tradition, the land and the element of change; he has drawn on the vernacular. A remarkable house of his is Ena De Silva’s House (Fig. 7) in Colombo. In this house nature has been synthesised with centuries of Sri Lankan history and tradition. But, most importantly nature is at the centre of this design. The house would not be the way it is if it was not for the wisdom of the past and of the land. The Portuguese inspired roof is of terracotta clay tiles (Fig. 8); of the earth. The windows are from plant fibres. But most importantly this house would not be the house it was if its centrepiece was not the gnarled, old tree in the courtyard (Fig. 9).

This house and garden has been designed with an understanding of the land , its permeability and its materiality, the processes of time on the land and the importance of nature as therapy. The courtyard tree is worshipped and not framed detachedly as in Le Corbusier’s City of Tomorrow developments. Here Bawa shows he believes ‘that man and nature are indivisible, and that survival and health are contingent upon an understanding of nature and her processes’.[22]

In another project, Geoffrey Bawa has gone further to bring nature into man’s realm where nature is allowed to run its course without being overly constructed. In his Kandalama Hotel (Fig. 10), in Sri Lanka, nature runs loose across the built environment in an eternal, wilderness sprawl. It is the beauty of nature that is recognized here. It is the infinite contemplative rewards we gain from being so close to nature that is recognized here. If man and nature are to meet; then why not create an interface where both can exist harmoniously?

Another architect that shows a harmonious approach to nature for aesthetic and environmental reasons is Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser. He is an eccentric architect who saw and understood the undercurrents of nature and sought to bring this understanding to the urban environment. His apartments in Vienna, Hundterwasserhaus (Fig. 11), nature becomes a ‘tenant’ in the apartments rather than an afterthought or a subservient entertainer to man. These ‘tree tenants’ pay more rent than the human occupants according to Hundertwasser. The trees, which are incorporated into the building’s fabric, clean the air, attract birds, and create shade.

This element of the built environment is looking at the future; the trees will hold up a constantly changing environment within this building that human inhabitants will adapt to rather than the other way around. This characteristic of the project is the very characteristic that is absent in Olmsted’s Niagara Falls project which failed to have the foresight to know the outcome of future years. The understanding of nature present here in this building and its benefits to human beings without it being subjugated and isolated in its context is one that creates a strong mutual relationship between man and nature.

  

In conclusion, we are in a time where perception of the landscape and nature needs to change. We need to understand that what we strive for daily is temporal; but the ancient land that we choose not to see or understand is not. I ask that we are inspired by the land through our ancestor’s connections with the land through our instincts. I ask that we re-think our attitude towards nature and adopt one of a child who sees nature as parents who are guide, inspire and should be respected. I ask that we appreciate and respect rather than become the master of nature. In terms of design we can translate this understanding into a vernacular attitude where we see the bigger picture; a de-centralized view of the world. That by adopting vernacular philosophies we use art, history and tradition to create a bond with nature. Landscape design is the infrastructure of the future, it is  the medium to bring man and nature together in a mutual relationship. ^[23] It is the medium that will bring about mass change and it is through well thought vernacular design that we can bring nature to the forefront of our lives. We can invest spiritually into it and be rewarded by its ancient vocabulary and wisdom. We must use design wisely to not feed into temporal pleasures such as money and egos, but instead we must invest it into the ever changing and ever guiding environment around us before it is lost and we are lost with it. I no longer want to see us constructing nature; but nature having a chance to speak in its own rich, beautiful language.

---

[1] Anne Whiston Spirn, Constructing Nature; The Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted, New York: W. W. Norton, 1996, p.95

[2] Ibid, p.96

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid, p.95

[5] Cited in Elizabeth Meyer, Landscape Architecture as Modern Other and Postmodern Ground, Melbourne: Edge Publishings, 1994, p.16

[6] Cited in Elizabeth Meyer, Landscape Architecture as Modern Other and Postmodern Ground, Melbourne: Edge Publishings, 1994, p.16

[7] Ibid, p.14.

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid, p.4.

[10] Charles Waldheim, The Landscape Urbanism Reader, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006, p.38

[11] Camillo Sitte, City Planning According to Artistic Principles, 1889,p.70.

[12] Ian McHarg, The Plight  in Design With Nature, New York: 1969

[13] Camillo Sitte ,p.72

[14] Anne Whiston Spirn, p.93.

[15] Camillo Sitte, ,p.59.

[16] Ibid

[17] Ibid. p.73

[18] Anne Whiston Spirn, p.93.

[19] Ibid

[20] Ian McHarg, The Plight  

[21] Ibid

[22] Ibid

[23] Richard Weller cited in Charles Waldheim, p.44.