Resources

We love tools. They are things that make our lives better: they make it easier to take care of things, create things, repair things, enjoy things. They could be spatulas, mats to keep our cars clean, hex wrenches, computers, towels, trowels, pens, magnifying glasses, remote controls, power hammers, needles of all sorts, scissors, and clips.

It is common to use one’s resources to make life better, but they are not tools.  They need support, management, replenishing, and restraint.  Resources such as water, air, trees, rocks, and plants serve us well, but they get used up or destroyed without care. They contribute to more entities than just people, and actually are in existence for their own purposes. We are part of the ecosystem that supports us and depends on us too. Think of mosquitoes and all those pro-biotics.

When I was younger, it was common to say, “Children are our most precious natural resources.”  NO, they are not. They are not here for us to exploit or even use.  They are not a “target market.” They are part of the community and part of the ecosystem and must work with the system and contribute, but they are not ours.  They are here for their own purposes, and we cannot know what those purposes are without putting in the time to train them to be productive, self-aware, community-minded, curious, and skilled.  And that time and effort we are putting in cannot work for them well unless they already feel safe, fed, cared for, and loved.