Reviewing Vandana Shiva’s Oneness vs. the 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom

By Deborah Emin,  Author, Member, Lehigh Valley Group

Implicit in all the current discussions of how to save the planet is the belief that there are solutions.

It is well worth reading Vandana Shiva’s book, Oneness vs. the 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom, to get a view into two sides of the issues and how she perceives their different approaches.

Dr. Shiva’s basic premise is that the economic system that governs our lives benefits exclusively the top 1% (or 0.001%) while the rest (meaning us humans and all other life on this planet) are left with the toxic results of their greed.

Dr. Shiva uses stories of her work in India to save seeds, to protect farmers, the forests, soil and water from the toxic colonialism of foreign multinational corporations and their influence on the Indian government as vivid examples of what must be done.

I’d say the seeds themselves and her saving of seeds for the purpose of protecting India’s indigenous agriculture, are the overriding metaphors for what is happening to India and by extension, the planet.

It is in the legal contest to keep Bill Gates and his billionaire cohorts from patenting seeds that the true nature of what is at stake can be seen in sharp outline. If some rich humans are allowed to patent seeds, that is they are granted control - ownership - over a process that they did not develop, then all of life as we know it will be owned and sold by the richest among us. The absurdity of their idea that they can own a process that no human has originated is terrifying.

It is this divorce from nature, a belief that nature is something only for exploitation, that distinguishes those who are looking for solutions for a better life on this planet and those looking to enrich themselves by capitalizing on crisis.

The “oneness” in the book’s title derives from the three basic principles Gandhi used in his resistance campaign to remove the British from control of India. Gandhi’s three principles—the building of community, the practice of non-violence, and the shared investment in local economies—are no longer unique to Indian resistance.

We see many examples of these principles at work locally in Pennsylvania on a long slate of endeavors from protecting the waters, to gun control, to supporting local organic farming. Even the efforts to dislodge the building of warehouses that destroy land and air quality are in alignment with the types of actions Dr. Shiva describes in her book taking place all over India.

I encourage everyone to read this book. It is heartening to learn how in sync we are in this small section of Pennsylvania with the vast geography, population and history of India. Shiva’s reports about the toxic coalition of the billionaire class may be difficult to read, but as we all know, they are few and we are many.

Deborah Emin’s work can be viewed on her website.