The Big Picture Globally Speaking
Labels: Compromise, Environment, Life, Society
Being extremely self absorbed myself I can understand how the rest of humanity could be so indifferent to the needs of the many versus what they want for themselves. However considering we have no where else to go and our very existence relies on everything we reap from this planet, I feel it is necessary to point out a few obvious notions about the gravity of our situation.
Every time a decision is made to put humans first over the other life on this rock humanity is saying that we are so special and so neat that really we don't need a green planet, no, we just need land to build hermetically sealed buildings on so we can all live in enclosed luxury after the sky goes black.
Certainly I am not the only one who feels this way or we would not have environmentalists. Granted I don't think that we should just cold turkey our industrial nature. There are just so many things we could be doing better with more thought to the other citizens of this planet, human or otherwise. Burning oil for fuel is not a God given right and eventually it will be gone. The question is this...will humans insist that the planet be raped until every last drop is squeezed from her soul without regard to animal habitats or forests just so we can have our profits and our cars for a few more years?
Being human, regardless of what your religion tells you, does not make you better or more worthy of survival than any other life on this planet. In fact the more religious you are the more compassion you should have for all of the creatures you believe were created by God. Unfortunately since humans wrote the rules they will of course spin them in their favor. Too bad all life on this planet requires a symbiotic balance to exist and thrive. If you want proof that humanity is the blight of of the universe and not the saviors of it - just note that were we to die off or go away - this planet and the other species on it would revert to their natural balance turning the world back to the paradise it was before we dropped from the trees and started building houses.
That said, you should understand that I am a carnivore. My husband hunts and we eat what he kills. We have trees that we have cut down for lumber. This is not about tree hugging or any other extremist point of view. This is about the attitude prevalent that mankind can do as it likes without regard to the rest of the planet. That the air above you is not shared by the other billions of lungs across the globe. That the water in our ocean does not mix with the waters of the oceans on the other side of the world.
The only reason it feels like nothing can be done to create a balance between mankind and the rest of the planet is because humans do not want it. We want to take and take until its all gone then and only then will we worry about what to do next. There is no reason to drive less now that prices are coming down...no reason to recycle every can, no reason not to litter in the woods, no reason not to pour your motor oil or left over paint in the creek. What do you care? So long as you have what you want today - screw the next generation they can fend for themselves.
How can I be so sure that we as a species do not want what is best for all versus just humans?? Take a look around, read a few comments posted after any environmental article. Humans first blah blah. If you want me to believe that we are the most evolved creatures in the universe maybe we could start acting like it instead of behaving like selfish children..."Mine mine mine!"
