Reciprocity
What do we really need? How should we meet our needs? Will we leave the world with a debt or are we willing to change our ways to leave it in a state of abundance?
Many of us understand that our way of life is having a destructive impact on the basis for life on Earth. Some of us are moved to do something about it by changing our ways and shrinking our ecological footprints.
We’re reducing, recycling and re-using resources. Maybe we’re cultivating some home-grown fruit and veggies to reduce the impacts of unsustainable farming. Or we’re harvesting solar power and water from our rooftops to reduce carbon emissions and the demand for scarce water.
Individually, these actions are making a small and positive difference. And they’re being replicated on a larger scale by mindful corporations and investment funds that support ‘clean capitalism’. The emergence of national and international emissions trading schemes are another hopeful sign that we’re moving to ways that harmonise with nature and sustainability.
But our collective lives have damaged Earth’s ecosphere and biosphere in ways that can’t be undone in our lifetime. Maybe many lifetimes. The harm we’ve done since the dawning of the industrial age is baked-in, and the effects of the way that 7.3 billion people live today will reverberate for decades, if not centuries.[i] [ii] [iii]
This trajectory underlines the common sense of living in harmony with nature and the tenets of ‘sustainable development’. It also highlights the wisdom of old ways rooted in an understanding of reciprocity, and the attitudes of esteem and gratitude that informed our old hunting and gathering practices.
These old ways taught people that they were made of the same stuff as the world and its inhabitants — namely, earth, wind, fire and water.
During those times, people understood that their way of life — and their true nature as humans — were identical to the plants, the animals and the greater world. Their lore said: the world needs you, and it’s your responsibility to care for the world just as it cares for you and the community.
Rebecca Adamson, a Cherokee leader and activist spent her summers in the Smoky Mountains with her maternal grandparents, from whom she learned Indian ways and values in Qualla territory — land held in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Her words illustrate how reciprocity — giving and receiving — is fundamental to the web of life.
Let there be no purpose in giving, save reciprocity.
For to a people whose spirituality lies within Life’s wholeness
Who share the gifts of the sky and the mountains and the seas and the forests
Who exchange abundance in the circle of animal brethren,
Giving is not a matter of pure altruism and benevolence
But a mutual responsibility
To make the world a better place.
Let there be no purpose in receiving, save reciprocity.
For a society whose belief in humanity lies within the interdependence of people
Who hold to the deeply universal good of community values and
Where children are the generation of our People
Giving is seen in the entirety of receiving.
Let the reciprocity of giving lie in a deepening of the Circle of Life.
For as with Life where
The root needs to receive in order for the plant to give fruit
It can be seen that in the honor of giving
As in the honor of receiving
Good is only realized by the contributions of both.[iv]
An edited extract from Dan Gaffney’s new book and podcast series, ‘Journey Home — Essays on Living and Dying’, published in November 2019.
[i] Joint science academies’ statement (2014). Global response to climate change. January 6
[ii] Stocker, TF et al (2013). Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group 1. 5th Assessment Report, IPCC
[iii] Monbiot, G (2016) How Did We Get Into This Mess? Verso Books
[iv] Adamson, R. The Indian Giver (1991) cited in Berry, M and Adamson, R (2000). The Wisdom of the Giveaway — A Guide to Growing Native American Philanthropy. Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, pp 1–2
