Sustainability as Symbiosis is an article that focuses around the topic of sustainable development on what the author calls Gaia, or "the planetary ecosystem". .
Straight off the author compares the current degradation of resources that the earth is going through to "cataclysms that wiped out large fractions of the earth's life in the Permian and Cretaceous eras," and later on compares humans to parasites. The author makes it very apparent that the current impact of humans on Earth is not only similar to a parasitic relationship, but it is a parasitic relationship, and that is why sustainable development has not yet been achieved. The only way to make sustainable development a reality is for humans and Gaia to have a symbiotic relationship, where both parties can benefit. .
To me, this article can be summed up with a simple saying: "you can't get something for nothing." Humans cannot live on this Earth and get so much good things from it and not give anything in return, such as burning fossil fuels, but not cleaning up the air. Is a symbiotic relationship possible between humans and Gaia? Yes it is, but it will take guidance of the masses by trained people, which is where I think this article fits into the course. The Resource managers of the future will have to develop ways to make sustainable development possible, or at least more attainable, and articles like this one help to reinforce the belief that great changes are necessary for sustainability to become a reality. This article has a negative view towards humans on Gaia, but it is this type of negativity that pushes some people to change their ways or to develop new techniques. It is, for example possible that humans will continue to be parasitic but we will develop new techniques for using what the Earth has to offer, and sustainable development will not have been reached by changing our ways but by changing our knowledge of the world around us.
