Winners and losers in the attention economy

Warning: existential navelgazing ahead. Proceed with caution.

Our magnificent, chaotic, messy,
interdependent world.

As I walked the length of our beautiful trail recently, my mind swirled with current events that have been dominating our news cycle. There, seeped in the buzzing-trilling-chirping of assorted amphibian, arthropod, and avian inhabitants, I walked. And I considered. 

I thought of how we passively direct our attention to the topics that politicians and media outlets think are most beneficial for them. How our attention economy converts that attention to power, such that those people and topics that dominate headlines and garner clicks reap rewards both tangible and intangible. How rarely I see the discussion in the public sphere involve this natural world that so many of us love so deeply.

When reported at all, it is under a category like "environment/climate change." They always seem to be paired, as if each on its own is insufficient, despite them encompassing literally everything that surrounds us.

 Environment? What a small and sterile word for the teeming life all around us. For the wondrous and complex world we inhabit, that provides everything we need to survive and asks nothing in return other than to be left alone. The diversity and abundance of the beings who share our small corner of the universe, the only other living things we know of in all of existence. 

Climate change? How narrow a thing to describe the very wellbeing of us as a species and the complex interconnectedness of everything. Our responsibility to steward the living world, and the multitudinous ways we are failing in that obligation. 

When I look at the headlines and accompanying photos, they are men and women in suits, in front of concrete or glass. Nary a blade of grass to be seen. Scarcely a glimpse of blue sky. Our actual world—the world we inhabit and the world that sustains our basic functions of life—is invisible. Why?

The woodpeckers, owls, and other residents, priced out of their
homes in the wooded area north of Birds in Flight.

Maybe the stories that people choose to focus on are the easy ones. They require no knowledge or understanding, but are particularly suited to strong opinions. They are "problems" that can be easily solved by dictat without any pesky investment or spending. Or the stories that are promoted are those that have the largest financial impact on the bank accounts of those steering the conversation. The living world is an invisible backdrop...something that supports and enables our very existence, but neglected nonetheless.

Our living world doesn't have big-money investors and shareholders to promote its interests. And yet...we are ALL shareholders in that world, and we can only thrive when it is allowed to thrive. Maybe we all need to step up and become lobbyists: attending candidate meetings and speaking or asking questions about what can be done to preserve and protect our natural heritage. Clicking on and sharing articles about topics related to nature and our environment. Exploring this amazing world and bringing it into the conversation until it is given attention proportional to its importance.

As a charismatic predator's life ends, others are quick to make
use of her legacy to further their own ends.