Bertrand Russell wrote that “mankind . . . are a mistake. The universe would be much sweeter and fresher without them.” He may have a point.
Our success in the evolution tree is due to our large brain and evolution’s gift to mankind: our opposable thumbs. Both of these gifts have given us an exceptional success rate at adapting to variable environments, which may explain our survival while other species became extinct. Early examples of our ancestors are described as an animal of limited intelligence, primitive social skills, odoriferous and by evolutionary standards not offered up as much of a prize for the possibility of becoming top dog.
We fooled Mother Nature. We are now one of the most successful and dominant animals on our planet. We are able to modify our environment for our comfort, exploit the Earth’s natural resources for our sustenance and will soon be able to export our civilizations to distant planets to be unwelcome as undocumented aliens.
Our planet is in trouble, and it is getting worse.
In many parts of the world the human population is exploding, food production is declining, there are mass famines, inadequate housing, marginal sanitation, nonexistent modern medicine standards, limited educational opportunities, and millions and millions of guns and other weapons, but no food.
We succumbed to the Old Testament’s exposition of “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28) and our planet is now paying a high price for that questionable advice.
Rachel Carson warned us in her 1962 book Silent Spring about the impending ecological crisis. Famous underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau did his best to describe the dying oceans. Ratcheting up a new cold war will only compound Earth’s problems and hasten the inevitable holocaust. There will be no winners, only losers.
A once reliable and responsible major Western democracy has renounced and abdicated its role as a beacon of leadership in global affairs. These include climate change, pollution control, arms control, international trade and a long list of human rights issues. It prefers to govern with chaos and rigid partisanship, and with amateur political talent. It replaced critical thinking and intellectual leadership with bellicose and hypocritical leaders who set ignorant and dangerous precedents in a dangerous world.
Russia, which is led by equally unstable characters, recently announced that it has tested a new super intercontinental missile named “Satan 2.” When launched from the Arctic poles, it can reach any destination on the globe before the target can retaliate. China is rattling sabers over Taiwan and is extending its dominance in the South China Sea. The divisiveness on the Korean peninsular threatens world peace and the Israel-Iran relationship is always on the boil. It is all a dangerous game of chicken.
If you want a depressing evening, watch the 1959 film On The Beach. It’s as relevant today as it was then.
No amount of humanitarian intervention can or will solve our planet’s problems. It’s too little, too late. Greed, avarice, money, hate, envy, pride, vanity, power, politics, religion and tribalism are all conspiring and colluding to doom mankind. It cannot be stopped. Earth will be a chastened planet, exploited by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and uncontrolled environmental pollution.
No one will remember who was the first to start the wars. It won’t matter. We will be reduced to a subsistence existence. It won’t matter how much money you have because there will not be anything left of value to purchase. Food, shelter and medical care will be in short supply or nonexistent. It won’t matter how rich or politically connected you are because even the super rich will run and hide and eventually succumb. We will have no one to blame but ourselves.
To amplify the extent of the damage humans are currently doing to our planet are two floating islands of plastic garbage, one in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Atlantic. The Pacific garbage patch is the size of France and growing larger every day. Most of that trash comes from China and other developing nations in Asia. Scientists from the National Ocean Service object to it being called a “floating garbage island” and consider it a “floating soup of plastic material.”
If you believe that America is immune to these disasters, consider this 2013 report from Save the Children. It found that infant deaths in the United States on day one of life (11,300 annually) is 50 percent greater than all other developed industrialized countries combined. That is not a statistic of which to be proud in light of the current emphasis on Make America Great Again.
If Agent Orange wasn’t bad enough, we now have new chemical threats. According to AlertNet, there is recent evidence that high levels of organic arsenic and glyphosate used in agricultural pest control chemicals are in our food supply, including beer and wines, and may be responsible for many serious health threats. We are slowly poisoning our children and ourselves at the altar of greed. Where is the EPA when we need it?
There is hope. After the human footprint is reduced, the planet may recover. Life, in many forms, has an amazing ability to adapt and survive. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl and Fukushima were wake-up calls and we are on notice to begin paying attention to what we are doing to our home: Planet Earth.
There are many responsible and effective organizations that want to help our planet. They need to be supported and applauded. Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, CARE, OXFAM, Save the Children and a host of other generous benefactors are able and willing to do their best to ensure that today’s children will grow up in a brave new world that celebrates life and all of its potential. Hopefully, these children will become better stewards of our Earth.
In The Impact of Science on Society, Russell’s dark vision of the future concludes with this: “Let us get on with the job of fertilizing the desert, melting the Arctic ice, and killing each other with perpetually improving technique. Some of our activities will do good, some harm, but all alike will show our power. And so, in this godless universe, we shall become gods.”
(Jim Baer lives in Concord.)