Save the Planet? Save the Humans!

Save the Planet! My grammar school teacher implored us before delving into epically boring instruction regarding reducing, reusing and recycling.  That was the 80s, and for more than two decades after that lesson I believed that by being green I was helping to save our beloved planet earth.  Eventually, though, I learned that it was not the earth which needed saving, it was us.

The earth, regardless of what your Sunday School teacher taught you, was not placed in the sun's orbit for humans alone.  As hard as it may be for the millions of narcissists that inhabit this planet to believe, the planet was here for billions of years before we arrived and, barring some monumental advances in technology, will be here for several billion years more after we are long gone.  Humanity poses no risk whatsoever to the survival or long term health of this planet.  We are nothing but a virus, temporarily perturbing our host, but bound to be a forgotten memory shortly after our demise.

Now, environmentalists, don't fret.  My self-centeredness may seem to come at the expense of the movement for environmentalism, but, quite the opposite, it is the best argument for preserving the natural wonder of our planet, considering that our survival as humans is 100% reliant on maintaining the environment. 

Being a pessimist at heart I realize that it is only a matter of when, not if, this planet will no longer be able to support our species.  No one wants to go back to living in the horrible pre-Industrial Revolution era, except the Amish, and that is exactly what it would take to reverse the systematic destruction of this planet being carried out by the human species.  But through changes in behavior and advances in technology we can lengthen the duration of our stay in this ecosystem before we turn it over to cockroaches and rodents.

 

Remember, the planet doesn't need saving and it was (or is) terribly ignorant and narcissistic of you to believe humans would be capable of saving it if it did.  We need saving.  We are killing ourselves (and millions of wondrous creatures at the same time) and we are the only ones who can save us from ourselves.  Don't worry about the planet.  Be Green to Save the Humans!