Our Majestic civilization, as Esus so aptly puts it, is crap. We work harder and longer than any society before us has, and our children are likely to work harder than we do. Our technological advances are trivial when seen in the light of the damage they do. (And that's saying a lot). Depression and mental illness are forever on the rise, while they were virtually unknown in the "native" world until we introduced christianity to them. We have a tendency to lead stress filled lives and set standards which are diametrically opposed to each other. As in: Monogamy and Two people working career jobs. Think about it.
What makes people think humans are so special to begin with? "We have abstract thought, that means we'll be the only species ever to expand beyond our means?" The prediliction is to think of the resource greedy, environment bashing societys as the basis for human thought, when its simply not true. If the first homo sapien sapien to fall out of its mother's womb had created a race that acts the way we do, we would not be here today.
And while I'm ranting, Global Warming isn't just a notch up on some global thermostat. No one can turn a dial and fix the problem. And it won't lead to a big happy greenhouse either. I'm not saying we're facing a waterworld-type future, just that when the water level rises globally, groundwater rises as well. Suddenly valleys are lakes and swamps. We're already stacking people on top of one another, what happens when the sea level rises fifteen feet? If someone wants to find the statistics somewhere, I'm sure I've heard that the global temperature of the ice ages wasn't more than ten degrees colder. I think its more like two, but I'm trying to play it safe.
"I just planted a tree." Oh goody. I'm sure that planting that spindly little pine where those sequoyas were will really help avert any ecological ramifications.
Seriously, this thing about humans nigh unto gods is way overblown. Even the worst gods don't play to kill off the whole board. Way I see it, we're just the first kids to make it the abstract playground, and now we get to kill anything that might want in. I'm not anti-humans, and I'm not anti-technology. First of all, I'm human, and I don't think its wise to think of yourself as inescapably, genetically evil and wrong. Thats crap. And second, technology's not the problem. Its this (thing) where we stick with the first dumb idea because it made some people rich. I'm pro-technology, lets start using it to make our lives easier, our air better, and the land less polluted. I'm anti-[Technology=pollution]. And that's where its at.
Before one goes spouting about the brilliant life expectancies and amazing quality of life, it might be prudent to take a look beyond your backyard. Bad health, short lives and overall shitholes are not few in number. A more than fair portion of these caused by the same prosperity we revel in. I don't suggest one drop material things and become a hermit because that won't help anything. But it would be good to get some perspective about where all those material goods come from, who makes them and under what circumstances.
I could go on and on, but I'll stop here and, (my apologies to super munch) I wholeheartedly agree with super munch. And I'm not trying to make enemies either.
And PS, under no circumstance do the words "slightly aggressive" and "Weapons of Mass Destruction" have common ground. (I'm probably over-reacting, but I'm probably pissed the f**k off).
Volsung
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