Nature Trying to Reset the Balance
If humanity doesn’t change how we treat Earth, Earth will continue to try to get rid of us.
In thinking about the latest virus threatening to become an epidemic in China and global pandemic and the wild fires in Australia, sometimes I feel like we shouldn’t fight so hard against these catastrophes. They are Nature’s way of reducing the burden of life on the planet. Now, this is obviously an abstractly great concept for the planet as a whole, but not something compatible with civilization and society.
No one, including me, would support obliteration of property, loss of habitat, and the potential extinction of species by letting wild fires burn out of control. I would want firefighters to do all they could to save me and my family and important habitats in my country.
And no one would argue that entire groups of people should be left to die of a potentially treatable or preventable disease. I certainly would be vaccinated and get my kids vaccinated, if we were at risk. I would seek treatment if I contracted the contagious disease.
So, it is a thought that just isn’t viable when considered at the individual level. My life, my property, and my country are just as valuable as anyone else’s, so there is no rational or ethical way to let Mother Nature run its course. However, unless humanity makes a fundamental shift in how we interact with the planet, Mother Nature will only continue to try to put the planet back into balance with the consequence that life for humans, and the rest of life on the planet, will continue to get harder and harder.
