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Our Philosophy
The Gaia Defense League (GDL) is an organization committed to protecting the living system of which all life on earth is a part. GDL adopts a deep ecology perspective which balances the significance of the human species with other forms of life on the planet.
GDL recognizes that changes on the earth due to human activity including development, resource extraction, and waste disposal have caused changes in the earth's complex system that deny human citizens (and other living entities) their natural and legal rights to a clean environment.
GDL recognizes that the global market system is not ecologically sustainable because it does not allow communities to evolve on a local scale and in accordance with a contiguous landscape's carrying capacity.
Definitions
Carrying Capacity
(http://www.iisd.org/ic/info/ss9506.htm)
The Concept of Carrying Capacity suggests that there is a threshold or critical limit that will be reached in the consumption of resources in any given system. Beyond the threshold the system is disrupted, weakened, and will change or collapse.
Complex Adaptive System
(http://complexity.orcon.net.nz/cas.html)
Complex Adaptive Systems are systems that exhibit emergent (i.e., new) characteristics that result from the interaction of the system's discrete parts. The emergent characteristics of the system are not characteristics of the individual parts that make up the system. The presence of emergent properties suggest that the system is adapting (i.e., learning) or is gaining the potential to adapt.
Deep Ecology
(http://www.deepecology.org)
The Deep Ecology perspective recognizes that the human species is not a superior life form. All life has inherent value and must be viewed as a partner, not as a commodity, in a living system.
Gaia
(http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gaia.html)
Gaia (Greek mythology) goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.
Gaia Hypothesis
(http://erg.ucd.ie/arupa/references/gaia.html)
The scientific Gaia hypothesis was originally formulated by James E. Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. The hypothesis suggests that the condition of our planet, the Earth's climate and surface environment are controlled by the organisms that inhabit it. This may make the Earth a self-regulating superorganism, the whole of which may not recover if some regions or systems are damaged.
Gaia Defense League
912 W. 2nd St.
Erie, PA 16507
(814)454-7523
cathy.pedler@gmail.com
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