The Practice of the Wild, Noah Ryan

Gary Snyder makes a good point when he says that the world is sharp like a knife, and the sharper the knife the cleaner the cut. He is being a bit poetic, but it is important to realize that the universe does not tolerate BS. Natural selection does not produce perfect beings, but it quickly cuts things that do not work. When a bubble is blown, it forms a sphere for the same reason, it moves with the flow of the universe and the path (shape) of least resistance. It is not cruelty when the sick and old deer are eaten, it keeps the herd strong. The knife of the world may seem cruel, but it is ultimately a harsh and necessary teacher.
It seems to me that our culture attempts to play god, to decide who will live and who will die (this is related to the first part, I swear). We have decided that all humans live, and that it is merciful to our people that our populations will increase as long as we can feed them, and all animals deemed unwanted or unnecessary will die. We work every day for all the years of our life just to survive in this culture. Our culture does not live in a way that follows the grain of our nature. We deny our biology, we even try to transcend it as if we were better then all other biological beings. I believe that this is a great folly. The community of life does not tolerate any population growing infinitely, nor is it possible for us all to "just love each other." or hold and and make peace. We will never get rid of hate and selfishness, nor should we try. I do not look forward to world peace, for it will never come in any meaningful manner. I look forward to a time when we live according to our nature, in a way that works for us, where suicide, school shootings, mental illness, etc are not widespread. The world is a knife, and this culture will change or it will be cut.