Hate

I have admired the recent activities of a young girl trying to alert the world and world leaders to the dangers of ignoring climate change. The amount of hate generated by people opposing her is a strong indication of the fear that is rising among the members of the economic system that depends on the use of fossil fuels to generate huge profits for them and their supporters. It is not clear to me why someone would endanger themselves, (and the rest of humanity), for mere money. But, I guess if you think that you have enough money, you can buy your way out of anything.

Frankly, I think that it’s a hopeless mission for this young girl. As long as 5,000 years ago there were exactly the same types of people who didn’t care what happened to the environment as long as profits are being generated. Edo from Uruk wouldn’t listen to anyone who told him that continued heavy irrigation of his wheat fields would eventually deposit too much salt and ruin the soil. He was happily reaping huge profits from the wheat needed to feed the growing populations in ancient Sumeria. Irrigation was a great invention then, but who could guess that it would destroy that civilization over time.

If you think about it, the only way we are ever going to effect change is to offer an equally profitable alternative to fossil fuel. This will be a hard sell, sunlight, wind and water just don’t create the opportunity to generate massive amounts of money. And overall, really, who cares where the electricity comes from as long as it comes from someplace. And if it keeps getting hotter, aren’t we are going to need a lot more electricity just to keep the air conditioners running. It’s a perfect trap, and we are falling into it just like the people of ancient Sumeria who needed more food for their growing population and thus, more irrigation. It’s no wonder why we hate anyone who tells us that we are going to get burned if we don’t pay attention to our own foolishness. We hate to be reminded we really are that stupid.

(Below, A British expedition photo of Uruk of Sumeria, the fabled first city in history.)