Humans are part of the ecosystem, just like any other species. I find it difficult to understand how we came to feel that we have the right to impose ourselves on this earth and on all things which share the earth with us. What we don't seem to realize is that the earth will outlast the human race. If we destroy our environment, we are not destroying the earth itself, but rather, we will have destroyed it for ourselves, making it impossible for humans and for many other species to live. And yet the earth will live on in some form. What we need to do is to think of the earth as a place which, in its natural state, can nurture us. But if we destroy it, or distort it, we will only be hurting ourselves. It is not a distant, abstract problem. It is a reality that is very close to home. ^