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Since

β€œIt is changed from a living, breathing, participant in the lives of every being in the forest, into wood, a mere resource to be used up. The harm the axe inflicts does not begin when it fells the trunk and its branches, it is inherent to its very existence. The axe destroys the cyclic patterns of existence, transforming the tree into a mere standing reserve to be exploited.”

Our take-away should be that we should stop making axes? I don’t think so. Human are the most aware and powerful life-form that, like every other earth-bound life form, is existentially embedded in the earth’s ecology. For our long-term survival we need to be constantly aware of the power we wield through fire and all its children and act accordingly.

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