Little Into Big: Why Microaggressions Against Nature Are a Big Damn Deal
- Laura A. Weber
- 13 minutes ago
- 3 min read
I witnessed a yellowjacket murder last week. A pool party had attracted the waspish visitor and frightened one of the littles, so a brutal beating with a pool noodle ensued. Apicide. I couldn't turn my head away from the overkill, nor did I cry out in revulsion or protest. I sat mutely, my stomach roiling, while my kin was beaten to death.
What is one death of one small insect in a world that is decimating pollinators on a macro-scale? My friend the honeybee keeper texted the next day to say crop dusters were endangering their hives, directly affecting their farm's fruit trees. So, one yellowjacket murder vs. thousands of bees in hives that pollinate a farm's fruit trees? Put it on the scale.
Why does this particular apicide even matter? Aren't yellowjackets wasps, just good for stinging, not even great pollinators? Their intrinsic value is called into question by the name "wasp," implying they are good for nothing but potential harm. Calling them "wasps" somehow mandates a license to kill? Sweet images of "environmentally friendly" pollinator bees means we might be able to tolerate them, if not "love" them better than yellowjackets. Awww:
Yellowjackets are less effective pollinators, compared with honey bees. Yet yellowjackets are very valuable to the food ecosystem as natural pest control. Worker wasps feed on garden pests, such as caterpillars and aphids, which in turn helps protect local vegetation. The wider "We" needs them, even though they may present a nuisance at a pool party.
The wider "We" needs them. They're our kin.
What was equally disturbing to me about the yellowjacket massacre is that all the children under 10 in the pool witnessed the atrocity. They learned in that moment that when a stinging insect approaches or encroaches (and we may not even know what it is, if it's harmful, whether we're allergic, etc.), it must be eradicated immediately, so the threat of potential stinging is eliminated. Complete domination. Overkill. The lesson? Fear is driven by ignorance. It drives harm, injury, killing without understanding.
There are natural approaches to crafting a stinging insect deterrent that don't involve swatting with a pool noodle, rolled up newspaper, or other implement of destruction. Actually, swatting is the worst thing to be done, since yellowjackets release pheromones that attract their mates to come join the fray. If one is seriously allergic, there are many steps before calling an exterminator.
There's a more serious, basic philosophical issue at stake here, one that we need to face, good people. Microaggressions against Nature, such as seemingly "minor" everyday choices, have macro-consequences. How we treat our creature-kin, air, water, soil, trees, and open spaces, maybe even patches of wildflowers as "untidy," and therefore expendable, matters. If we view Nature as somehow separate and lower than human life, all of life perishes. These unexamined, prevailing attitudes form a cultural foundation that normalizes apathy, antipathy, or hostility against Nature. Such attitudes lead to large-scale environmental devastation, as we are seeing by rescission of "harm" from the Endangered Species Act. Cumulative, subtle attitudes reflect a wider ideology of human dominance where systemic ecocide is inevitable.
From the eco-encyclical "Laudato si: On Care of Our Common Home," by the late Pope Francis, “We have only one heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people. Every act of cruelty towards any creature is contrary to human dignity.” And again, “If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.” (Source)
Isn't it time we consider mindfulness, or at least curiosity, rather than knee-jerk reactionary killing as a way to cultivate relationship with the wider "We?" What if we feel intimately united with Nature because our prevailing disposition is one of love, of consideration, concern, protection, and care? What if we love with all our hearts the natural world - the wider "We?"
Maybe it doesn't matter to many we know. But it might to one yellowjacket.
And that yellowjacket is a microcosm of the biosphere.