Civilization's last chance - a bad bet.

Bill:

Nice article, as far as it goes.  I've included my Letter to the Times in reaction, below...

Here's my theory:

Life evolves by taking over energy niches (my brothers eat at noon, I'll eat at midnight).

Humans evolved, alongside our CULTURE, to take over energy niches too: hands, brains, fire, bipedalism, language, tools, clothes, shelter, agriculture, health care...our culture and physical evolution together lead, inexorably, to where we are today.

Inuit didn't evolve in place, they competed quite well with polar bear for dominance of the arctic energy niches however, thanks to their Culture!

Human culture has now "evolved" to dominate all natural systems, and our over population is the evidence...nothing "natural" can stop our continued growth and impacts on the environment.

So, culture works just like biology to take over energy niches. 

Which makes everything "man made" quite natural indeed.

It's simply that the rest of life on the planet will not withstand us, and, while we can clearly dominate, do you seriously believe we can MANAGE the myriad natural systems within which we've caused chaotic change?

We're obviously quite smart enough to overwhelm nature, but no way are we wise enough to manage it.

Plastics and the Pacific Gyre say it all...just the shadow of the floating flotsam has chaotic influence on various systems.

Since no one understands the systems we've already upset, you cannot show that actions we take (or don't take) won't make things worse...that's how bad things really are!

Therefore, www.vhemt.org is the least painful outcome, given the givens, and, in my educated opinion, the only moral choice...to minimize the die off of humanity and minimize humanity's impacts on Earth's systems.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael (Frish) Frishberg
Date: Sun, May 11, 2008 at 9:44 PM
Subject: Civilization's last chance - a bad bet.
To: letters@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-mckibben11-2008may11,0,7434369.story

Human Caused Global Climate Chaos is the inevitable result of our profligate ways...and reflects our individual human selfishness as accomodated by capitalism!

NOTHING on the horizon shows any hope for a significant decrease in CO2 and other emissions, and the article didn't mention the failure of fisheries, drought and lack of potable water, deforestation, deglaciation, and other traumas...since the real problem is overpopulation of humans...

Corporations control the future, NOT GOVERNMENTS, and profits are their mission, not people or climate.

To reduce the inevitable suffering, I choose to be childfree. 

Any other choice is immoral, given the future we've created.

www.vhemt.org
--
Cheers,

Frish