Staring Into The Mirror

One of the greatest problems facing mankind's future existence and the wellbeing of our planet is one of attitude. The sooner mankind reins in their rampant arrogance the better. We tramp our way through our lives, believing both individually and collectively that we have a divine right, a universal mandate, to exist. By rising to the top of the food chain on this planet, we have become blind to the fundamental facts as they are.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the matter...

1. Just because we have the ability to take what we want from the Earth does not mean that we should. We see the world as a big pile of resources without end, to be used as we see fit. There are little or no long-term considerations for sustainability and management of our devastating effects on all of the myriad delicate and interconnected ecosystems on the planet.


2. We consider ourselves a law unto ourselves, above and beyond the laws of nature. We continually distance ourselves from the natural rhythms, ebbs and flows of natural cycles and systems.


3. Way back in the dim dark past of pre-history, our ancestors were much more in tune with nature, and able to live as part of the world around us, not apart from the world around us. This must count as one of the greatest losses that we have ever encountered.


4. We have been incredibly lucky to balance on the knife edge of survival in the evolutionary game. This has made us arrogant, and we assume blithely that we will continue to exist as a species on this planet, no matter the odds or self-destructive behaviour that we engage in.


5. We should see ourselves as custodians of this planet. The continued existence of this world, and the maximising of its potential (not just for our sake alone) should be our primary goals.


6. In our superficial modern lives, 90% of what we believe matters, doesn't.


7. We seem to be squandering the gifts that we have been given, gifts such as the ability to rationalise, reason and empathise. Properly applied, these gifts can save us and our planet.


8. People don't generally take the time to sit down and think about things for a while. If we did, the realisation of our true position would surely switch on billions of light bulbs above our heads, illuminating our way forward.


9. Rarely do we consider more than just initial consequences before we act.


10. Peace and harmony are not ideals, but essentials.


11. No matter how naive it sounds, there are no conflicts that cannot be resolved.


12. Money does not make the world go round.


13. The industrial revolution set us on a path to greatness and mastery over the world around us. What a crock! We should sit down and have a good hard look at the simple equation of what we have gained from it versus what it has cost us. I believe that the world has lost out in this particular transaction.


14. The free market will not regulate itself and settle into a best-fit position where the interests of all people, the environment and the world in general are guarded and balanced.


15. A planned market economy will also not deliver a cure to our rampant destructive ways.


16. There are at least 3 billion too many people on this planet. We do not think twice about culling rampant destructive populations of pest animals and plants when we see an obvious imbalance or problem, but the population issues of mankind are left to grow unchecked.


17. The very nature of modern economies, whether capitalist or planned, relies on constant growth. We are locked into a dangerous spiral wherein we need more people to fund the people we have, and we need more funds to keep the ever-increasing peoples at the standard of living to which they have become accustomed. Thus the cycle continues ever onward, and the rape of the planet goes on unchecked.


18. Governments of the world, whether democratic or autocratic in nature, will continue to put self-preservation of power first, to the detriment of the hard decisions that should be made to ensure sustainable and ethical existence.


19. Science alone cannot hope to save us, nor can religion or philosophy alone. A combination of beliefs and endeavours is required.


20. The clock is ticking. We can't expect to continue on our merry way and let the following generations take care of it.


21. Whilst the boffins argue about the validity of the science behind climate change, there is still no denying the basic facts that chopping down old growth forests, pumping pollution into our ecosystems and depleting the world's resources are bad things.


22. Temporary job losses in major industries that greatly damage our ecosystems are no excuse to do nothing. If the solutions to our problems were easy, we would have fixed things generations ago. Inaction is not an option.