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A review by briarroses
The Nation of Plants by Stefano Mancuso
5.0
Compelling, at times frightening, at times encouraging, Mancuso takes an exercise — what would the Nation of Plants say to the UN, if it could? What would it say to the people who live among plants and never look twice at them?
It begins with the prologue, introducing the exercise and explaining Mancuso’s intentions. The Address of the Nation of Plants to the UN follows, a short speech summing up what the rest of this brief book will discuss. Mancuso then includes the Constitution of the Nation of Plants (each article is expanded upon chapter by chapter for the rest of the book); the Constitution is as follows —
1) The Earth shall be the common home of life. Sovereignty shall pertain to every living being
2) The Nation of Plants shall recognize and protect the inviolable rights of natural communities as societies based on the relationships among the organisms that compose them
3) The Nation of Plants shall not recognize animal hierarchies, which are founded on command centers and centralized functions and shall foster diffuse and decentralized vegetable democracies
4) The Nation of Plants shall universally respect the rights of the currently living and those of future generations
5) The Nation of Plants shall guarantee the right to clean water, soil, and atmosphere
6) The consumption of any resource that cannot be reconstituted for future generations of living beings shall be prohibited
7) The Nation of Plants shall not have borders. Every living being shall be free to travel, move, and live without limitation
8) The Nation of Plants shall recognize and foster mutual aid among natural communities of living beings as an instrument of coexistence and progress
Each is thoughtfully developed and clarified, bringing together research and the creative thought applying it to the way we interact with the living world around us and how we can be doing more for the plants who are doing so much for us. Mancuso is clear — without the help of plants, we can’t survive.
Definitely worth the read, I’ve been trying to share it around to everyone I know. It is brief, so it should be easy to get in, get the facts and then decide what to do with the info next even for a casual reader.
It begins with the prologue, introducing the exercise and explaining Mancuso’s intentions. The Address of the Nation of Plants to the UN follows, a short speech summing up what the rest of this brief book will discuss. Mancuso then includes the Constitution of the Nation of Plants (each article is expanded upon chapter by chapter for the rest of the book); the Constitution is as follows —
1) The Earth shall be the common home of life. Sovereignty shall pertain to every living being
2) The Nation of Plants shall recognize and protect the inviolable rights of natural communities as societies based on the relationships among the organisms that compose them
3) The Nation of Plants shall not recognize animal hierarchies, which are founded on command centers and centralized functions and shall foster diffuse and decentralized vegetable democracies
4) The Nation of Plants shall universally respect the rights of the currently living and those of future generations
5) The Nation of Plants shall guarantee the right to clean water, soil, and atmosphere
6) The consumption of any resource that cannot be reconstituted for future generations of living beings shall be prohibited
7) The Nation of Plants shall not have borders. Every living being shall be free to travel, move, and live without limitation
8) The Nation of Plants shall recognize and foster mutual aid among natural communities of living beings as an instrument of coexistence and progress
Each is thoughtfully developed and clarified, bringing together research and the creative thought applying it to the way we interact with the living world around us and how we can be doing more for the plants who are doing so much for us. Mancuso is clear — without the help of plants, we can’t survive.
Definitely worth the read, I’ve been trying to share it around to everyone I know. It is brief, so it should be easy to get in, get the facts and then decide what to do with the info next even for a casual reader.