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A recent TV show that mentioned something about efficient use of energy – I don’t recall exactly which, but there’s lots of those nowadays – once again made me think about the subject.
People keep searching for more efficient, more clean ways of getting energy. Obviously fossil fuels will only last so long and power needs to come from somewhere. All existing forms of ‘green’ power have their downsides – biogas and related methods still rely on burning stuff, wind power requires ugly structures, solar power is often not efficient enough, and nearly all known methods require so much energy produce that it won’y pay off for a good while to come. And in the meanwhile, the only viable solution we will have for the next 30 or so years, nuclear power, is falsely being regarded as dangerous by many. At the lack of an alternative everybody just sticks to what they know, and mankind happily keeps on consuming.
The real issue however is not energy production. The real issue is not the lack of decent food, water, health care and schooling in the so-called third world countries. The real issue is not the unwillingness of the modern man to reach out and help another man, nor is is it the economy or poor moral values in younger generations. The real issue is simply the source of all those problems: mankind itself.
The human being is above all a selfish creature that seeks nothing but its own pleasure. It will do so by indulging in food, engaging in activities it percieves as fun, and by pursuing the primary goal of any living thing: survival through procreation. In this process it keeps on consuming the natural resources of the planet it lives on without regard of the future, without regard of the ‘big picture’. The result? A heavily over-populated planet, that is in no way mentally prepared to face change.
Shortage of food is not created by a supply that is too small, but by a demand too large. Sickness does not spread due to the lack of a cure, but rather because it gets the perfect chance to do so in a densely populated environment. Lack of sufficient energy and natural resources comes not from a supply that is too small or inefficient, but from overuse of what is available. The problem behind every problem is simply that the human species is too large – but does anyone dare to face it?
No, instead we keep giving to so-called charity and search the cures for diseases, so that our numbers may grow even further and that we live even longer. The weakest aspects of the human mind, most notably morality and pointless fear of the inevitable end, has brought nature’s job of natural selection to a near standstill simply because we cannot stand to see another man die. For billions of years nature has kept a perfect balance on this planet, but at some point one species broke that circle in endless pursuit of larger numbers and longer life. Only a few hundred years ago a man would have been considered very old if he reached the age of 25, whereas if a single person of that age dies nowadays it gets proclaimed as a tragedy.
The solution is simple. I am not sure as to if it is still the case today, but at least once there was a Chinese law forbidding any couple to have more than a single child. Imagine that that would be the case once again, worldwide. In addition, allow anyone to end his or her life if he wishes so, do not attempt to treat an illness that will be fatal anyhow. Stop attempting to improve the duration of life and stop attempting to do so in so-called third-world countries, but let nature do what it is best at for a change.
In a matter of somewhere between 40 and 60 years the world’s human population will have been halved. Global energy usage is at a point where nuclear fusion and/or solar power will easily be capable of sustaining the relatively low needs, and there is no emission at all. Reduced need for space allows forests to recover as well as allow many kinds of animals to flourish once again. Yes, the economy will have “suffered” – but only because of a globally smaller demand – remember that growth for the sake of growth is pointless. Instead of spending 20 or so years waiting for the end a man just accepts his death as a natural part of existence, not as something to be feared; partly because of the realization that an individual who is unable to contribute to society is nothing but a burden to it. However smaller, the quality of life for the remaining human kind is much higher, no longer facing self-caused destruction.
At the present course, there may one day be more efficient forms of producing energy (or rather, obtaining it). Increased availabilty only stimulates use, and the population doubles every hundred or so years – in addition to living longer and longer. Natural resources and food will become scarce and it is only a matter of time before major issues – including war – arise. And it will be either war, harsh environmental conditions, or shortage of food that forcibly kills off most of the precious little planet.
For billions of years the sole purpose – if you can call it a purpose – of life has been nothing but survival and procreation. Finally, life has reached the point where, in order for it to survive, it must realize that endless survival may very well cause extinction, whereas death eventually makes way for survival.
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