I thought I’d comment on the climate change issue which was discussed recently in a number of posts (and credit goes to
Tony for its introduction).
In summary, the points raised appear to be (but I could be wrong) that:
• less important issues are deflecting attention away from global ones;
• it’s our own fault if our species is destroyed;
• we’re basically no more important than a virus, so if we disappear it won’t matter in the scheme of things;
• it’s cyclical and has happened before, so it’s Nature’s way of healing the planet/restoring its balance; and
• we’re unable, as individuals to do anything about it, so why not just accept it.
I feel that just sitting on our collective backsides is defeatist, and while we individually might not have any control over the direction in which the world appears to be heading it’s at least possible to discuss the issue here with some sense of the impact global warming will have upon the planet, rather than to imply, for one reason or another, that’s it’s really not important.
I wonder whether those, both here and elsewhere, who think that it really doesn’t matter whether human beings are made extinct have informed their children, and their children’s children, if any, not only that human life isn’t important in “the scheme of things,” but also that they (and the rest of humanity) are only as important as some random virus.
I also wonder, had they done so, how their children (and their grandchildren) reacted to their parents’ (and their grandparents’) news.
Of course, if someone is childless, the situation might be, “So what, I’m going to die before the human race is made extinct anyway.”
Which is fair enough, I suppose... But such people (presumably) would have siblings, and have nephews, nieces, and so on, down the generations.