So...we set up an aquarium. Being modern advanced humans (Homo gimmegimmegimmeus) we use all sorts of technological tricks to cram as many fish as possible into this tank; no way we can settle for the paltry few that a given tank size would support without all the "help". We filter, we skim, we aerate, we circulate, we coddle bacteria to do our bidding, we dump tons of money and effort and chemicals into the tank and it thrives for a time. Most of us accept that the water requires renewal and replacement on a regular basis; a few others figure that the answer to this drudgery is still more technology, as if we actually understand and can control all the natural systems that are functioning in the tank. Some of us take "better" care of it than others, and others, through laziness/vanity/ignorance/whatever, allow it to slide more rapidly towards collapse. Many times we invent an excuse to absolve ourselves of responsibility in case of tank failure. "Things happen that are beyond our control" or "just bad luck" or "It's not anyone's fault" are bandied about. There's even a name that's been coined for it: Old Tank Syndrome...that's the short form for "I'm too lazy or cheap...or I think I'm too smart...to change water!"
But this is a microcosm, a system closed to all external influences except those we exert upon it, a tiny particle of nature that exists in our living rooms or basements solely because we have brought it inside...so, therefore,
by definition, we are indeed responsible...dare I say "to blame"...for everything that happens in and to that microcosm, whether we are willing to admit it or not.
Now let's look at the planet. We have always looked upon it as infinite...we talk about "the whole world" as though it were
everything. Well...it's not. It's just a bigger microcosm, a sealed system which is susceptible to both external and internal influences which will move it's evolution in various directions. In this microcosm, we are no longer the sole influencers; a nice center-punch by an asteroid, a blast of cosmic radiation, even the relatively slow degradation of our sun through time, all can and do change our planet. But we are like a particularly hardy aquarium fish in that we survive, we breed faster than we can eat each other, and we inevitably overpopulate. As we labour towards "the good of all", nobody seems to notice that the best thing for this planet's natural development would be if all of us vanished overnight. We talk about making this a "better" world; what is usually meant by that is a world where there is no war or famine or disease, where everybody gets to grow old and fat and happy, with a nice house and a family and a comfortable retirement. Except...there's nobody who is going to "change our water", so to speak. There's too many of us...there's more every day...and the bulk of us can't see beyond the tips of our noses. We are up to our asses in the global version of Old Tank Syndrome...and the Utopian goal we strive towards inevitably worsens that situation rather than lessening it.
But wait...there's more! And it's actually good news! Human nature itself attempts to keep us in check; as much as we insist on breeding and consuming, we also have a mean streak that kicks in periodically to kill off fairly large chunks of the population, slowing the global collapse a wee bit. Other natural checks appear from time to time...the pandemic we are in now is one...which will slow the rate at which we continue to coat the planet with a nice thick layer of people, all of whom apparently "deserve" a long wonderful life. If the planet is lucky, a combination of viruses, asteroids, zombies and good old-fashioned homicidal tendencies will erase humanity and give the next contender a shot at running (or over-running) the planet. It might be a nice clean wipe-out leaving the rest of the world unscathed; picture empty cities and cracked highways overgrown with greenery. Or it might be a full-on apocalypse, total devastation leaving only a desert crawling with cockroaches and rats. Either way, it's the inevitable conclusion of Old Civilization Syndrome. And once we are gone, so are our arbitrary and biased ideas about "good" and "bad". It'll be bad for humanity, but it'll be good for cockroaches...and why are they any less worthy than we are?
Whaddaya say,
esoxlucius
? Have I cheered you up enough yet?