So I heard my friend call an invasive plant a displaced relative and when pressed on it they basically said that the plants didn’t choose to come here and they are victims of colonialism. Invasive implies they aren’t welcome, you wouldn’t say that the enslaved people brought over to the new world are invasive so why would you a plant? Then they said human agriculture was invasive because it’s monoculture and doesn’t allow other plants to grow, which you know fair point. So what’s the consensus is my friend an idiot or am I an idiot?

Edit: I just texted my friend, they said they got the concept from this book. Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science

  • Bluegrass_Buddhist [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I’m looking for a non-philosophical answer to this question.

    It's a philosophical question. By definition you're not going to get a concrete answer. Worrying over the term "invasive" is just aesthetics fetishism, and "right" and "wrong" are abstractions. The real question is whose interests you favor: the people and ecosystems that can be harmed by a new species for which no natural check exists, or the new species itself.

    But another point, this is all kind of academic. No state program of any worth exists for dealing with invasive species in the US, and none are planned, so this is just an intellectual excercise.