Ella+R’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

The Buffalo Theory Many of you may have heard the phrase “the world is your oyster” before, but today I am going to challenge you to hear out my rendition of it: “the world is your buffalo.” Yes, I do realize this sounds a bit odd, but bear with me while I go back and explain where I am coming from. Up until this last weekend, I was beyond stumped for ideas on what to do my speech on. With such a broad variety of topics to choose from, how could I narrow it down to just one? Then, I just so happened to walk by my bookshelf and see some old copies of The Magic Treehouse book series I read so much as a kid, in particular the book Buffalos Before Breakfast. In this book, Jack and Annie are whisked away to the middle of the Great Plains, where they have a chance to observe firsthand the lives of the Plains Indians that live there, their cultures and customs. During their journey, they experience the respect this people group has for the buffalo that live there. The buffalo are their food source, and not only that, but their source of clothing, shelter, weapons, and everyday utensils such as needles, bowls, and spoons, the Plains Indians were almost completely reliant on this one species of animal to preserve their way of life. Recognizing the value of the buffalo not only to their tribes, but as an integral part of the ecosystem around them, this people group held the buffalo to the highest level of respect, acknowledging the extent of its value, utilizing every last bone fragment and sinew to ensure that nothing went to waste.

I realized after finishing this novel how little Americans live like that today, and how I wish they would in the future. As a society on the whole, we live as though everything in the world is at our disposal, like it is simply there for us to take advantage of, a lack of respect for the natural world we live in, and also for the people who inhabit it. Rarely do money-crazed business tycoons stop and think about all the people they have had to exploit or use as stepping stones to work their way to the top, rarely does our society propose we do anything more to stop the mass deforestation, or decline of fossil fuels in our world than simply agree they should be stopped. Last week I heard a Dragon Talk on the decline of wildlife due to human activity, and one of my favorite quotes from it was as follows: “Just because we, as humans, are the top of the food chain, does not mean we are apart from it.” If we view the food pyramid as a triangle, we may be at the top, the number one predator. But, in order for a triangle to have a top, it must first and foremost have a base to build upon. Those small plants and animals on the bottom of the pyramid, seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things, provide the crucial groundwork that the remainder of those above them rely on for their livelihood.

We rely on the world around us as much as, or even more, than it depends on us. It would do fine without us, we would not do fine without it. Despite this, as a society in general, we like to put ourselves on a superiority pedestal, giving ourselves a mandate to control and manipulate the world, rather than use and respect it. This generation has little thought for future generations outside of our own, not enough progressive action is geared toward conserving natural resources that are limited and running out rapidly, or towards the mass destruction and mass extinction of thousands of plant and animal species each year, because it does not directly affect our affluent lifestyles over here in America...yet. However, at the rate we are going currently, Ecotricity has presented a prediction that oil reserves will run out by 2052, coal deposits may get us as far as 2088, predictions that might be contrary to what a majority of the world would like to believe.

Many would like to live under the assumption that the deterioration of the natural world is a problem for future generations, that as long as we can make it through our lifetimes relatively untouched, then no harm, no foul. But that is exactly the kind of mindset that I have such a problem with, that I want to see change as we go further into our futures. What did we do in kindergarten when we were playing with the blocks, or legos, or dress up for that matter? We took care of them, and put them back where we found them when we were done so that the next person could use and enjoy them in the same way we did. It is common courtesy, something that seems to be very lacking in many aspects of today's societies. If something directly affects us, there is a huge push to prevent it and return us to our former comfort and quality of life. However, we have an extremely hard time thinking of the world in the same way the Plains Indians thought of their buffalo, or in the same way our kindergarten selves thought of the blocks, be mindful and respectful, protect and preserve for those who come after us.

Though I have talked mainly about respect for the world up until this point, this same topic can be carried over into the treatment of the people who inhabit it as well. Briefly mentioned before was my point about money-crazed business tycoons who lack respect for the poorer workers they may exploit to reach their position of so-called success. We are all very aware of major corporations who hire immigrants over citizens of their own country, not from the goodness of their hearts or because they want to provide said immigrants with a better life, but simply because they can get away with paying them lower wages, or provide no insurance coverage, safe in the knowledge that they cannot afford to complain or request better benefits for themselves. This is the kind of attitude that disgusts me and deserves to be taken far more seriously than it is today. Have we stooped so low into our own selfish desires that people have turned into stepping stones on the way to monetary success, human beings seen as mere obstacles in the road we must clamber on top of and “overcome” to get where we want to go? Our society feeds on greed, greed relies on selfishness, and extreme selfishness can only thrive on a lack of respect and appreciation for anyone outside of yourself.

This “buffalo worldview” is not a demand from me to you telling you to stop taking advantage of the opportunities and resources that the world has to offer us. Nor is it me telling you to take me literally, start hunting down all your own food, and using the bones of the animals to make your kitchen utensils out of. I simply want to live in an America where something so simple as respect, and mindfulness go a long way. Give yourself that kindergarten mentality back, allow yourself to do away with disrespectful and selfish desires, to think about the extent of the value of both the world around you and the people who are in it, and keep your mind open, you never know what other kinds of lessons you can learn from Jack, Annie, and their Magic Treehouse.