Do We Have The Right… 5 comments

26 Sep 2004 @ 04:50, by Salama Shaquana ….to be treated and to expect to be treated any differently? Is our fate just that, our fate and what we need is acceptance of the eventual outcome? I was reading a recent article by Richard Heinberg in New Dawn Magazine where Richard was expressing his views on Oil, War and the Decline of America. The wake up call for us is the depletion in fossil fuels and what that means for our future and the future of our children. As I have been in a reflective mood of late it has prompted me to ask the question – are we doomed for extinction and more to the point is that so wrong? Is our evolution being played out? We always place ourselves above the rest of life on earth so why should we expect to be treated any differently. Richard in his article in gave a compelling insight into the depletion in oil and the impact that has on the world currently and the potential impact on the world of the future. His stance is from the perspective of ‘the ecology’ rather than an economic viewpoint. Richard expands this position to take into account the boarder issue of the universal ecological dilemma and the three interrelated factors: · Population pressure · Resource depletion, and · Habitat destruction Our way of life is critically dependant on fossil fuel and more importantly oil. Without an alternative we will die unless we are prepared to change how live and to do that quickly. Time is running out for us. Which leads me to my point. This dilemma is not unique to humans (as now and over the centuries, species have come and gone. Daily hundreds of species reach extinction. We know about it, but few do anything to reverse the trend AND even on this forum people had said, that is evolution. So as humans by and large many view this as part of the normal life cycle and in essence the evolution of planet earth. Whilst we like to think we are more intelligent than the thousands of species we have driven to extinction, perhaps in reality we are not. Nature endeavours to save life and often she has the unique ability to deal with threat to the environment and life within a specific eco-system. Population pressure in the animal and insect kingdom sees the weakest die off or killed by the strong to enable the species to survive. This doesn’t always work of course hence the extremely high level of extinction. Resource depletion if often counter balanced with the species changing and evolving to adapt to the changing habitat to enable species to survive. Mass and rapid habitat destruction however often leads to extinction of specific species and there is little than can be do to reverse the trend. Richard tables six possible responses to our ecological dilemma. More elsewhere – find territories that are under exploited Exploit existing resources more intensively (Richard notes that many human technologies, including fire and agriculture, provide ways of doing this) Discover new exploitable resources (oil, uranium etc) Limit the population Limited resource usage (through ethical systems that valorise voluntary poverty) Die off (usually from famine, disease or predation) Richard breaks the survival equation into ‘supply’ 1 – 3 points and ‘demand’ the last three points. The option to move elsewhere on this earth is remote, as we have covered almost the entire planet and like the Vikings of old – raped, pillaged and plundered as we have conquered the so called wildernesses. We could take the theory of the hollow earth seriously and explore that as an option, I am sure this is happening anyway. This of course would have limitations (I doubt if the total population of the earth could be accommodated) and it wouldn’t take humankind long to ravage this new territory. So perhaps this is just a stay of execution. Exploiting existing resources will buy us time but we have to ‘pay the piper’ someday and we probably have 30-years maximum with existing reserves assuming we cut down on our consumption. We could find new reserves but I don’t think there are ‘many stones’ left unturned and even when viable alternatives exist the government and business controls this and we can’t rely on them to take the long-term view. This brings me to demand points. Some countries have attempted to limit the population, China, as an example. Genocide is actively pursued in many countries and whilst many of us find this unpalatable it happens nevertheless. We kill off animals to control their spread so really are humans any different? We already have millions dying as a result of famine and disease and whilst there are those to try to help, given the population of the earth the numbers trying to help are meagre. The ‘it is not in my backyard’ brigade out numbers the care workers. This is a tough question but should we even try? I am not making moral judgement here, merely stating the fact as I see it. To reverse the trend requires a massive rethink and change in life style. Many great souls at NCN say this all too frequently but just think for a minute about evolution. Could we just be coming to the end of the human existence? As so many of ‘us’ place ourselves in the position of deciding the fate of so many other species are there those who are deciding our fate? Are we fighting a losing battle and should we be changing our stance and rather than fighting the inevitable should we be preparing ourselves for what is to come. Back to my original question – do we have the right to expect to be treated any differently, when we have wrecked havoc on this earth and its inhabitants? Are we trying to fight evolution and it extinct our fate and acceptance that we are dying off what we need to embrace? If we are to reverse the trend in all honesty to you believe on mass we have the resolve to do so?

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