I just watched a special on Orangutans in the wild or what is sadly barely left of the wild. It's not just this that makes me bring this up it's something I feel really strongly about and always have. Why are we as humans so devastatingly disasterous to our planet? It really tears me up inside to see species being totally wiped off the earth. Species that were here LONG before us, species that would could learn from and coexist with. But instead there are hunters, farmers, businessmen all destroying what is left of the wild for profit everywhere. Other past societies have respected and coexisted with all plants, animals, insects, etc. Why do we rape Earth of it's natural diversity and richness. It makes me so sick to my stomach.
When will the human race realize the natural cycle of things, that nature takes care of itself. Don't use pesticides on plants you will alter a cycle that has much more important than you might have thought. Don't fish out sharks and kill them in fear when they DO serve a very much needed purpose. Don't polute waters with man made chemical compounds which will KILL off species to extinction. Don't polute the planet we all live on, don't cut off your nose to spite your face! And on the fitness side that our bodies are optimally designed, that taking extra hormone for someone with no hormone deficiencies is NOT natural and only had adverse effects?! I may seem like a "tree hugger" but what is so wrong with that, really?
I'm sure I do a lot of enviromentally bad things, I just wish we were all more educated and aware of our enviroment and it's inhabitants. I don't want to be telling younger generations from now about bald eagles, buffalo, dolphins, and orangutans or whatever that were around when I was alive. If those businessmen would get out of their offices and get closer to the nature that birthed them maybe they would have more respect when they look into the eyes of their close cousin species and see them caring for their children that get stolen by hunters and caged for profit and trying to survive against all odds instead of destroying their habitat.
"Only after the last tree has been cut, only after the last river has been poisoned, , only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you see that money cannot be eaten." ~ Cree Indian Prophecy
Do you realize how many species disappeared from this planet before we ever existed. Perhaps that is the natural path... I don't think everything wrong on this planet can be blamed on humans. Mother Earth is a pretty tough old bird. We may do some damage to her but she'll be around a lot longer than we will. She will survive and some other species may be the dominant force on this planet someday. We've only been around a small sliver in the timeline of this planet. Quit giving yourself so much credit to do anything whether good or bad. You're only human...
Human societies making themselves exctinct is not a new phenomena. Jared Diamond's latest bk "Collapse" deals with historical occassions of groups that have effectively killed themselves through grosse negligence.
Collapse also dispenses with the myth that all native peoples are ecologically superior (though many were/are).
That said the current situation is quite different in that global corporations have the ability to destroy the water/air/soil in distant lands. Governments complicit in helping said corporations accomplish this are sure not helping matters much as well.
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Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Thanks for your thoughts Rev. I'm not by any means a raving 'tree hugger' but, given my believe that we humans are the steward of this planet, I think we've been doing a pretty crappy job of late. Of course, this affects not only biodiversity, but also our own health. I believe there should be a balance struck between commercial production and stewardship of resources, and I think this balance has gone out of whack of late. But that's just me... I'm considered crazy because I think it odd that we feed herbivore ruminants ground up flesh and then wonder why they get 'Mad Cow' disease. In that case, it's not the cows that are mad, but rather the cowboys. I'd like to throttle the smartass who came up with the idea of feeding ruminants waste meat products.
As I like to say, you can screw with mother nature for a while, but her payback is a real bitch.
BTW, I am going to steal your final quote for me sig line, if that is OK with you. Great saying.
I've been called a "raving tree hugger" on occation (why do you think they call me outdoorboy?). But I do have a corporate job and drive an SUV (of course mine really does go off-road to get me to the sweetest trailheads). That said, I have to totally agree with Kaiser on the meat thing. I just finished reading "Fast Food Nation" and it really scared me.
Every species becomes extinct or evolves at some point. The difference between us and the other species is that we can actually consider it happening and take action. So what are we going to do with this increadible gift? People need to realize that it's not about hugging trees but trying to save the human race.
Right now we have a bill in the state legislature that would open up the wilderness area around Little Rocks water source to the development of subdivisions. So the run off from the lawn chemicals would easily get into the drinking water. Business people like to yell that it's just a bunch of tree huggers that want to stop this but it's actually about protecting the water supply for our city.
Usually, if we work to protect ourselves we will in turn protect the environment and other species. We are really all in this together.
Nice rant for a Monday!
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Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
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