Surviving and Keeping Sanity in the Modern World..

Image courtesy:
http://jagadishnarhem.blogspot.com/2010/10/pollution_13.html

Modern man (yes me, and you - if you were born in the 20th century) has got to be the most self-centered human yet in the earth's millions of years of existence.

With the industrial revolution, mass production and a capitalistic profit-driven have introduced and legitimized many criminally abusive practices that have been destroying the earth and human existence for over a century now.

1. We plunder and pillage the earth daily for its treasures. Resources like oil and gas can power our lives for but a few hundred years. Not only will future generations not have that luxury, but we will have polluted the earth to a point of no return.
2. Clear water, virgin soil and fresh air are the most basic elements of life on earth. 
• We let none of these be, for our own selfish comfort is more important. Even when we feel guilty about abusing any of these most fundamental of resources, we feel the guilt for but a second before we go ahead with our abuse anyway. For, our acts are only indirectly related to the heinous crimes. That well-packaged bag of homogeneous-looking fruits clearly used fertilizers and genetic seeds that will render the soil useless within a few generations. Do we stop to think about our role in the value chain of abuse of natural resources?
3. We abuse our own bodies with alcohol, drugs, medicine, and chemicals for no more than cheap thrills, quick solutions or superficial good looks. 
• Some of us who cannot get by a day without drink refrain from it when pregnant lest our new born have defects or mental illnesses, but that is much too rigid a constraint on our freedom, isn't it? Why must an as-yet unborn child control us so? Why must we not take a quick pill to rid ourselves of that pesky afternoon migraine or self-inflicted insomnia? Isn't it an easier solution than healthier living with good food, exercise and sleep? Why must we worry about the addictions and genetic impacts that we will be passing on to the coming generations? And, of course we can't step out the door without a face full of make-up. We must, at the cost of our future generations, inhale and expose our skin to chemicals that the honest pharmaceutical companies sell in shiny little environmental friendly bottles. 
4. Our cellphones and microwave ovens, for two easy examples, are technologies with which we subject ourselves to a daily dose of harmful radiations. 
• How can we let a minute pass without checking our phone for that elusive intelligent Facebook post from a friend of a friend of a friend? Oh, what if we miss a call on the second ring, and are excommunicated from our species? We must not let a a few thousand new cancerous cells get the better of us. We can always fight the disease, blame it on something or somebody else, cry with the well-meaning not-for-profit Oprah, and pretend to be heroic for some reality TV glory. A few minutes of entertainment and being connected (for we are new-age professionals) are of course more valuable than avoiding autistic children and grandchildren, why do you even ask?
5. Nature has provided for abundant food and nourishment. What do we do with it all?
• Abundant food and nourishment you say? No! We are forced to grow chickens and cows, and wait for them to die (oh no, why would we kill them ourselves?). Without that wonderful protein that nature has no way of providing to us (beans and lentils? I'll pretend I didn't hear you) we wouldn't have the strength to sit up and read that news article on the UN's peace and non-violence efforts.

Hypocrisy, a high premium on individual freedom at all costs, a material focus on comfort, and an utter lack of vision past our noses define our current age. I'm afraid our future generations are going to be worse and worse. The principles we teach them, the environment we leave them, and the institutions we pass on to them will be no match for the problems they will be faced.

Those of us who have some conscience and selflessness will have little impact on the world around us, and should be content with the small contributions we can make to the world, compete just enough to keep afloat in the mayhem, and remain as nature-friendly as we can while we focus on intellectual advancement.

Each new generation will come up with temporary solutions and 'kick the can' down the road. Answers to the problem of the spread of diseases and ailments will be new gadgets and drugs. Answers to the problem of impure water will be newer methods of purifying water, not the control of water pollution.  We will continue to hypothesize and measure our impacts, set thresholds for pollution levels, disagree endlessly, and convince ourselves that a better world awaits us. 

The earth will give up on us when there is no one left that can acknowledge what we've done to her.