All we are left with is one, rather weighty choice: Do we hang on to our precious 'lifestyles' until the bitter end, passing the buck to future generations and multiplying their misery in the process, or to we get a FUCKING grip and take responsibility for the problems staring us all in the face. When considered within this larger context, our so-called 'environmental problems' do not represent a sustainability crisis at all - life on earth will continue to thrive and evolve, with or without us. Indeed, it connects us with every other species on the planet, which thrive and proliferate when their habitats are conducive, and then starve and die off when ecological overshoot is reached, thus maintaining the balance and health of the ecosystem. And it's pretty clear where we are in the cycle now - can the class spell O-V-E-R-S-H-O-O-T ?!? yep, time to brace ourselves for an epic smack down.īut there's no need to panic, we can take comfort in knowing that there is plenty of precedent in the story of life on the planet. This pursuit eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns, usually rather quickly, and mother nature (or hoards of hungry peasants) slap us down to repeat the cycle. So I think this is our natural predicament as humans: in tough times we start out by surviving anyway we can, and then, as some semblance of stability is achieved, we reach out for more in an attempt to become more comfortable. (Incidentally, a similar and related cause of societal collapse occurs when humans are exploited beyond their breaking point, which often leads to popular revolt in order to dismantle an oppressive system of centralized power).īut whether it be the hyper-exploitation of natural resources or the subjugation of other humans, both undermine long term survivability and both stem directly from our innate desire to live lives of luxury and comfort. Basically, these societies bit off more than they could chew - they extracted too much from their environment too fast, and they were left with too many hungry mouths to feed when mother nature had nothing left to give. every collapsed society in history - the Maya, Greenland Norse, Easter Islanders, Romans, etc.). There are also times when our ambition to improve our livelihood in the short term undermines our ability to survive in the long term (e.g. Tracking the great arc of human history, it is evident that these two impulses have been constantly at work in our lives, driving us to eke out a living against all odds in lean times, and precipitating great leaps in the development of technology and social organization when conditions are favorable. less labor intensive, less time consuming, or more efficient). Two of the most prominent aspects of human nature are the survival instinct and the impulse to improve one's life by making certain tasks easier (i.e.
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