They're Trying to Kill Us

The Koch brothers, that is, as well as other business interests that are spending fortunes to actually block any action to curb global warming. What can they possibly be thinking? It is hard to imagine that such people are stupid enough to believe that global warming is not happening, and that it has at least something to do with human activity. I mean, with all that money and power, no matter what they might personally believe, they must have well-informed consultants who presumably know what is going on in the world. Or do their consultants just tell them what they want to hear? When some 97% or more of all world scientists agree that global warming is happening, and it has something to do with human activity, you would think everyone would take it seriously. While it is true the deniers can hire scientists to say it isn’t happening they must know that is what they are doing – hiring scientists to deny it is happening. They can’t possibly think otherwise, can they? Could their obsession with short-term profits be so great they literally cannot think beyond that? Can they be totally blind to reality, so brain dead and greedy they just don’t care what happens to us? Don’t believe that as a species we are not potentially in danger of disappearing, there have been several varieties of us in the past (Australopithecines, Cro-Magnons and others) that have not managed to survive.

Maybe they are well aware they are putting us in danger but assume they can enjoy their obscene wealth during their lifetimes and before the curtain falls? It reminds me of one of Idaho’s earliest senators (I’ve forgotten his name), who, having made his fortune cutting all the timber he could as fast as he could, when questioned about possibly leaving some for the next generation, replied, “Let the next generation shift for themselves.” This seems to be pretty much the attitude of humans throughout history, having slaughtered many species to extinction, dammed the rivers with little thought to the fish, cut the timber as if there were no tomorrow, extracted oil and minerals in the same mad fashion, and only just now seem to be waking up to the possible consequences of their thoughtless actions. Let us hope it is not too late.

Perhaps with all that money, and being used to getting anything they want, they think they can bribe their way out of the mess they have certainly helped to create. President Obama said he has little patience with climate change deniers and now suggests we act when it may well be too late. Our rivers, lakes, and oceans are so fouled there may be little chance to save them without much more urgent action than anyone has suggested, anyone that counts, that is (scientists apparently don’t count). Think of it, we may be the only species with the ability to prevent our own extinction, but didn’t bother to do it. Can it be the case that species, like individuals, must inevitably die? It seems to me that much of our ordinary activity is leading to extinction. Our behavior is certainly responsible for global warming, but what about our obsession with the internal combustion engine, plastics, built-in obsolescence, and so on, all slowly contributing to our eventual demise, slowly fouling our nest potentially to the point of no return? It is not merely the Koch brothers and their ilk that are trying to kill us, we are killing ourselves.  On that cheerful note let me close with still another problem.

Some are concerned that Zimmerman, who admittedly shot and killed Trayvon Martin, has shown no regret. Why should he, as far as he is concerned he killed a “fucking punk asshole,” not an innocent unarmed Black teenager minding his own business. Our interpersonal relations, too, need a great deal of work.

[History] is little else than a picture of human crimes and misfortunes.
Voltaire