what makes us so selfish?

What makes us so selfish??

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately…

We have definitely seen a change in our weather, more and more scientist now excepting global warming as fact, as opposed to a theory, we have seen major floods, draughts, crops failure world-wide and a whole host of other pollution related phenomenon. Chemicals affecting the sex of fish and killing off marine life, Asthma (and other lung related disorders) on the increase, forest’s canopies being damaged by acid rain, Oceans being poisoned, the list is almost endless…

Why?

Why do we continue down this path of destruction? We are not stupid. We can now clearly see the damage our lifestyle is doing to us and the planet. The Amazon will soon be but a memory, permafrost and glaciers are melting, Deserts are spreading. But still we continue.

I still see people on this forum, and others, arguing that global warming is just a myth. That pollution is not as bad as people make out. That this is just all part of the earths natural cycle of cooling and warming. If that is so then what is the thick yellow smog I can see lingering over London on hot afternoons? Is that part of the cycle? Is it natural that fish being born with mixed sex organ’s? Is that part of the natural cycle? Are we all so attached to our cars? Do we really need our food packaged in fancy plastic and cardboard? Do we love our DVD’s, CD’s, Computers, TV’s, and all the other crap we surround ourselves with, so much that we are willing to destroy the biosphere that keeps us alive. If you dropped the TV over a cliff would you jump after it to try and catch it?

We constantly surround ourselves with luxuries we do not need. All of these create masses of waste products, not to mention the industrial pollution caused from creating these items.

And, Yes, I do realise that without computers I would not be able to convey my message (before some clever clogs try’s to point out the obvious) The point is, with out all this crap I wouldn’t have a message.

Governments constantly turn a blind eye to industry and life styles. But we all have a choice… We are all capable of talking with our vote… but we are to afraid to loose our luxuries. We would rather have war criminals in power than someone who threatens to restrict our use of cars. We would rather loose our sons to distant wars than vote for someone who might restrict our energy consumption. It’s crazy…

I do not want my daughter growing up to think of the Elephant, the Tiger, the Panda, in the same way that I think of the Dodo. I do not want her to have a vague memory of something called the Amazon. I do not want her to die an early death through an acute respiratory complaint. Or worse still, I do not want her to see the complete collapse of the eco system.

I know I will get flamed by some of you saying that this is all blown out of proportion. But please… WAKE UP… Its right in front of your nose, this is no longer something that affects people in far away places. This affects us all. Just go to the nearest city on a hot afternoon, get yourself to a high point, and have a look for yourself. IT’S REAL.

Do not read this thinking I am attacking individuals. This is aimed at all of us, as a race.

And so I ask again… What makes us so selfish? What makes the human race openly sacrifice this planet? And more importantly… What gives us the right?




Anyway, here are a few story's i found with about 5 minutes of searching the BBC site...




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Its sad, but people just dont care, socialism would help, but it would'nt solve the problems.

I can't believe theres people that think global warming is a hoax.


Its like my biology teacher said, if we dont change our ways, were pretty much commiting mass suicide.

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Probably because not too long ago we were a species with population of 50 to 100 thousand members.

What we did collectively had only minimal environmental effect.
So our genetic pre-disposition for self promotion and preservation was probably favored.

Now we number 6 billion and growing and we very definately have an impact on the environment, to the point of fishing the oceans to virtual extinction, WTF are we going to do then? I really don't know.

In natural environments predators act to limit populations of various species. The wolf oddly enough helps protect vegetation in Yellowstone Park [and elsewhere] from over grazing by herbivores that are its prey. The beavers have a usable river environment that is owed to the wolf. The wolf enables [as odd a connection as it seems] the beaver, when the wolf is gone so are the beaver [and the aspen trees that get grazed while still tiny by herbivores so they never grow up to be the next generation of aspen trees].

Maybe what will happen is some form of human predator species will develop to cull the human populations if humanity can not do it itself using personal inclinations or government impositions.

It wouldn't have to be a biological species. It could be some kind of social, religious, economic entity that either kills off huge segments of the population or limits their reproductive rates.
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Greed,Power and domination will destroy the earth.

If you had a society which its main goals were to pursiew self improvement
and to work in peace and harmony. Sorry that will never happen.

Go back to bartering no money no credit cards.

Originally posted by iori_komei


I can't believe theres people that think global warming is a hoax.

I think people dont know what to think or believe. You hear diffrent theroies from all, get the same from none.

Like in the movie "Matrix" humans are a virus of the earth. Couldn't have been said any better. I do my part the best I can but we live in a world in which we need these luxuries in order to survive. I would much rather live as the native americans did but those days are long gone.

I think mostly it is a case of 'don't know' or 'don't care' or a blend of the two.

Don't Know - the real costs of our consumer lifestyle are often either hidden from us or just not in plain sight. If every time we bought a Nike trainer or a Starbucks coffee we saw a quick video of the tiny piece of the rainforest that had been chopped down or the exhausted 6 year old child in Bangladesh we would think twice about our purchases.

Don't Care - often we know the consequences of our lifestyles but it just doesn't matter because those consequences seem so far away that we won't be around to deal with them. Cigarettes are an easy example (and I smoke). Most smokers disregard the consequences because they are so far in the future they just don't seem real. But show me a newly diagnosed lung cancer patient who doesn't wish he can turn the clock back.

I think that the best way to change people's attitudes are through education. Firstly people need to be more aware of the (sometimes very small) global effects of their local actions and also we need to find a way to make people really understand that the long term consequences are not, in fact, all that far ahead.

This is the subject of a book I have been researching / writing recently, so if anyone has any information they think would be of use I would be interested in hearing from them.

oh... this was my first post on ATS too.

we have ALL had a dig at causing global warming with our cars/buses/trains/planes no one person is to blame its just the earth cant cope with over 6 billion humans draining it of its resourses day in day out clean drinking water will soon start to be very hard to come by for many parts of the world and living conditions for humans will be very harsh in 100 years time but we all want big cars that guzzle petrol we all want to fly on planes we all want to fill landfill sites up with crap that we no longer need so we will all pay the price in the future.

The trouble is until you get one ruling Government for the planet, countries will do as they like regardless of the damage to the environment . I think it might take a major disaster like a plague that wipes out 70% of the population of Earth to make this happen. My feelings , were long overdue for some sort of mass extinction happening.

Originally posted by undercoverchef
Why do we continue down this path of destruction? We are not stupid. We can now clearly see the damage our lifestyle is doing to us and the planet. The Amazon will soon be but a memory, permafrost and glaciers are melting, Deserts are spreading. But still we continue.

The rich and powerful will have us continue down this path because it is profitable for them. The Kings of oil, companies like American Petroleum Institute, Exxon, and Chevron, feed millions of dollars into disinformation to confuse the subject. Just as evil tobacco companies claimed that smoking is not addictive the kings of oil claim man made green house gases don't harm us.

You are right we are not stupid. Many of us try and do things like recycle or cut down daily energy uses. Most of the problems are coming from corporations and its up to us as individuals to stand up and do something about it.

The world is dying we consume way too much. The Earths resources wont last us forever.

The Human race can co-exist with the rest of the planet but not the way our life style is now. We need to consume less and pollute less... or else.