In the community concept, all ethics share a single promise, that individuals are member of a community of interdependent parts. The individual competes for his place in that community and co-operate. We all struggle for safety, prosperity and peace in our time. Too much safety, though, yields to danger in the long run. The extension of ethics, that was only studied in philosophy, is a process in ecological evolution. In ecology, an ethic is a limitation on freedom of action in order to survive. On the other hand, in philosophy, an ethic, is a differentiation of social from anti social conduct. Another complexity that has seen the light as population density increased is so-operation mechanisms. The latter replaces free for all competition and with an ethical content.
The first ethics dealt with the relation between individuals, later natural increase dealt with the relation between the individual and society.
However, until now, no ethic deals with man and his relationship to land, animals and plants that grow and live upon it. An ethical relation to land can only exist if love, respect and admiration of land and high regard for its values are expressed, far broader than economic value.
The evolution of land is hindered by many obstacles, one serious one is the fact that our educational and economic system is headed away from an intense consciousness of land. An ecological comprehension of ecology is required for an ecological comprehension of land.
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