Environment

As I am sitting here reading some very interesting and thought provoking articles by Jim Kunstler I just had a revelation. I have always preached about recycling and our negligent misuse of our natural resources. In fact I predict that only until we run of out of these soon to be precise metals and other items that are extracted and processed into things of convenience will we change our dogmatic behavior. Well, I was just about to print up one article in particular to have a hard copy for my records, when as I reached for some paper realized I have a box next to my desk for recycled paper. The thought immediately entered my head to just use some discarded paper for this print job, but then I immediately thought "why do that when I still have some unused paper sitting right here." Then it hit me. That is the fundamental reasoning that has gotten the human race into such flux. Why recycle when we still have some untapped? No perception of conservation, just that primitive instinct born from hundreds of thousands of years of evolution but never refined in the recent ages of intelligent development. When we humans were just another struggling species trying to survive in the unforgiving reality of natural selection we would use whatever means necessary to perpetuate our survival. Our numbers properly were in the low millions with disease, predators ( ourselves included, something else that hasn't changed throughout time), famine etc. keeping our numbers in balance so our impact on natural resources were minimal and recoverable. However as our populations increased and our civilizations became more complex, our footprint on the earth became larger and larger. As tribal communities gave to villages to towns to cities and now megatropolis', that footprint has become a permanent scar on the face of the earth, affecting all species and systems on this planet. As we have developed medicine to counter natural selection, child mortality has plummeted and diseases are rarely life threatening, our natural populations increasing geometrically. Combine an ever increasing population with the "American standard of living" protocol which is a model for development in developing couintries and the need for natural resources increases exponentially. When either a non terrestrial species or the next world order of enlightened evolved humans look back at this era of extreme gluttony and irrational mismanagement of this planet we will be judged very harshly being that at this time in earth history we fully posses the ability to comprehend the consequences of our actions and do virtually nothing to arrest or even diminish our devastating activities. I hope long after the fall of this modern civilization some literature survives by the few enlightened people who are concerned now and who are trying to warn of the impending collapse. This era in earth history should be encrypted into a biblical type format, warning the post-collaspe generation of the consequences of global gluttony.


	The American Alternative \| home recent disappointments \| Society \| Environment \| religion \| Fuel \| Pop Culture \| Editorials \| Ignorance-American Style \| In the News Environment Environment Epiphany As I am sitting here reading some very interesting and thought provoking articles by Jim Kunstler I just had a revelation. I have always preached about recycling and our negligent misuse of our natural resources. In fact I predict that only until we run of out of these soon to be precise metals and other items that are extracted and processed into things of convenience will we change our dogmatic behavior. Well, I was just about to print up one article in particular to have a hard copy for my records, when as I reached for some paper realized I have a box next to my desk for recycled paper. The thought immediately entered my head to just use some discarded paper for this print job, but then I immediately thought "why do that when I still have some unused paper sitting right here." Then it hit me. That is the fundamental reasoning that has gotten the human race into such flux. Why recycle when we still have some untapped? No perception of conservation, just that primitive instinct born from hundreds of thousands of years of evolution but never refined in the recent ages of intelligent development. When we humans were just another struggling species trying to survive in the unforgiving reality of natural selection we would use whatever means necessary to perpetuate our survival. Our numbers properly were in the low millions with disease, predators ( ourselves included, something else that hasn't changed throughout time), famine etc. keeping our numbers in balance so our impact on natural resources were minimal and recoverable. However as our populations increased and our civilizations became more complex, our footprint on the earth became larger and larger. As tribal communities gave to villages to towns to cities and now megatropolis', that footprint has become a permanent scar on the face of the earth, affecting all species and systems on this planet. As we have developed medicine to counter natural selection, child mortality has plummeted and diseases are rarely life threatening, our natural populations increasing geometrically. Combine an ever increasing population with the "American standard of living" protocol which is a model for development in developing couintries and the need for natural resources increases exponentially. When either a non terrestrial species or the next world order of enlightened evolved humans look back at this era of extreme gluttony and irrational mismanagement of this planet we will be judged very harshly being that at this time in earth history we fully posses the ability to comprehend the consequences of our actions and do virtually nothing to arrest or even diminish our devastating activities. I hope long after the fall of this modern civilization some literature survives by the few enlightened people who are concerned now and who are trying to warn of the impending collapse. This era in earth history should be encrypted into a biblical type format, warning the post-collaspe generation of the consequences of global gluttony. back !