‘We need to rekindle a sense of responsibility’ ~ Alastair McIntosh

There is an urgent need to rekindle a sense of responsibility and to remember how to share with one another. That is the view of Scottish environmentalist, author and broadcaster, Alastair McIntosh.

Speaking at a St Louis Education Forum in Dublin recently, McIntosh said we needed to rebuild community. He talked about the need for regeneration and re-membering – that which had been disembodied; re-visioning – what the future might be; and re-claiming – what is needed to bring it about. In other words, community empowerment.

McIntosh, who founded the Centre for Human Ecology in Glasgow, described human ecology as full human community. He said it was essential to have a “triune basis of community” – community of soil (earth), community of soul (God) and community of society (with one another).

The loss of the Celtic Tiger had meant that many people had lost their “anchor points” in life. “It is the job of educators to give new mooring points,” he said. “We need to rekindle a sense of responsibility …. We need to rediscover the deep realities we have neglected.”

He spoke about the importance of having a sense of place, identity, values and responsibility.

He said that if educators failed to develop all of a young person’s humanity, it was tantamount to a form of child abuse. There was far more to preparing a young person for life than simply imparting academic knowledge.

“Are we going to use our middle class education to boost our own ego or to improve other people’s lives?” he asked. “Education gives power; what do you do with your power? Are you putting yourself above the community or are you serving the community? You are educated FOR the people!”

He concluded by speaking about the power of engaging with head, heart and hand and described spirituality as “engaging with the Holy Spirit in a way to change community”.

Alastair McIntosh’s books include ‘Soil and Soul’ and ‘Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition’.

See www.alastairmcintosh.com for further details.