AJB Temple wrote:We have to hope that our children are smarter than us. However you look at it we:
Pollute the seas and air
Cause soil degradation with our agricultural methods
Overpopulate the planet
Cannot feed the most overpopulated areas
Are resistant to population control in the name of individual human rights
Focus scarce resources on prolonging natural life spans
Permit less than 1% of the global population to control 99% of wealth and resources
Are detrimental to other species leading to rapid extinctions
Cause global warming, changing both sea levels and planetary axis
Waste enormous quantities of natural resources
Wage pointless wars
Endlessly argue about borders
Adopt a short termist “hope for the best” outlook.
Our inability as a species to see and act on the bigger picture will be the root of our downfall as we all protect our bit of space and lifestyle. Just wish I had a solution. The basis of it would have to be start from a clean sheet of paper and recognise that we are all in this together and our children and grandchildren will suffer if we keep being stupid.
This is something I've long maintained. Human beans as species look for short term, national gains (however they're defined; borders, military, economic etc) and generally can't see, or fail to do something about the long term picture developing in front of their noses. We act individually for our own self-interest or national interest and rarely if ever, for the good of the planet.
The attitudes of human beans are very unlikely to change as ingrained 'attitudes' (as an RE teacher once said to me) are just about
the most difficult thing to change. I was reminded watching the Bond film 'Quantum of Solace' the other evening that future conflicts, as the population of the planet rises exponentially, will be about resources and there's only a finite amount to go round, no matter how smart we become with technology (the 'universal' cure all
)
When I was at uni, the bell jar experiment was explained. A bell jar was supplied with adequate air and food to support a indefinite population of house flies. A male and female were introduced and started to breed and breed and breed. All the flies had enough food, enough air and enough water; conditions for a sustained population were perfect inside the bell jar, but after some time
all the flies were dead.
- (15.76 KiB)
Private Frazer had it in one - Rob