Greed and Arrogance Throughout History

[flowerbug]

I hate to say it, but part of the problem is that greed and arrogance are fundamentally part of human (and indeed living) nature. We just call it "instinct to survive" and "to better oneself" but it is fundamentally the same. The moment you say "I have a right to live" or even "I have a right to try to live" you have already gone over the edge. To truly be in harmony with the wheel of nature is to let it run right over you and crush you. The circle of life is really more about death.

As far as I am concerned we probably started irrevocably down the wrong path when we worked out fire, the wheel and language. We've basically been wrecking everything since then. We hunted most of the megafauna to extinction because we were hungry and they were better targets (or were competitors for the tasty animals" We took the cedar forests of Lebanon and the Atlas mountains and turned them into scrublands because we needed to build big buildings and ships. We drove the lions of Ethiopia and such places out of existence (or nearly so) because we thought it was fun to watch people kill them or them kill each other in big amphitheaters. We took a thriving Island of palm forests and cut everything down to make rollers to put up big stone statues (and in the process almost drove ourselves to extinction)

More and more I think the Human Extinction movement 1. Has the right idea and 2. Needs to get rid of the "voluntary" from their description.

i'm not that pessimistic, but for all those who are destructive we do need balancing builders, healers and protectors of the environment. even just a few pennies per purchase can go towards rebuilding and restoring and it all makes a big difference. i see how our little bit of land in the middle of agricultural mayhem works as an oasis for a lot of different lifeforms. as much as i might struggle with some of them i sure don't want them extinct and if we figure out how to survive in space longer term i sure would want to take them with us.

 

[Marie2020]

there is a reason why i refuse to buy a lot of today's gadgets. they're often not made to last and like you say the vendor ties you into recurring expenses or charges rediculous prices for parts. the heck with them and the disposable society... that's not how i want to live.

I want a phone with a replaceable battery as long as I can come here and watch Netflix I'll be happy.

I do feel bad and and rather foolish because I scrubbed the floor with the poor staff on the phone. It's not their fault they work for a scamming company

 

[Marie2020]

I hate to say it, but part of the problem is that greed and arrogance are fundamentally part of human (and indeed living) nature. We just call it "instinct to survive" and "to better oneself" but it is fundamentally the same. The moment you say "I have a right to live" or even "I have a right to try to live" you have already gone over the edge. To truly be in harmony with the wheel of nature is to let it run right over you and crush you. The circle of life is really more about death.

As far as I am concerned we probably started irrevocably down the wrong path when we worked out fire, the wheel and language. We've basically been wrecking everything since then. We hunted most of the megafauna to extinction because we were hungry and they were better targets (or were competitors for the tasty animals" We took the cedar forests of Lebanon and the Atlas mountains and turned them into scrublands because we needed to build big buildings and ships. We drove the lions of Ethiopia and such places out of existence (or nearly so) because we thought it was fun to watch people kill them or them kill each other in big amphitheaters. We took a thriving Island of palm forests and cut everything down to make rollers to put up big stone statues (and in the process almost drove ourselves to extinction)

More and more I think the Human Extinction movement 1. Has the right idea and 2. Needs to get rid of the "voluntary" from their description.

How about this guy

I hate to say it, but part of the problem is that greed and arrogance are fundamentally part of human (and indeed living) nature. We just call it "instinct to survive" and "to better oneself" but it is fundamentally the same. The moment you say "I have a right to live" or even "I have a right to try to live" you have already gone over the edge. To truly be in harmony with the wheel of nature is to let it run right over you and crush you. The circle of life is really more about death.

As far as I am concerned we probably started irrevocably down the wrong path when we worked out fire, the wheel and language. We've basically been wrecking everything since then. We hunted most of the megafauna to extinction because we were hungry and they were better targets (or were competitors for the tasty animals" We took the cedar forests of Lebanon and the Atlas mountains and turned them into scrublands because we needed to build big buildings and ships. We drove the lions of Ethiopia and such places out of existence (or nearly so) because we thought it was fun to watch people kill them or them kill each other in big amphitheaters. We took a thriving Island of palm forests and cut everything down to make rollers to put up big stone statues (and in the process almost drove ourselves to extinction)

More and more I think the Human Extinction movement 1. Has the right idea and 2. Needs to get rid of the "voluntary" from their description.

People like this man has a few answers

 

[Pulsegleaner]

How about this guy

People like this man has a few answers

HE may, but what about whoever ripped up the ecosystem to put the grass and car areas in in the first place? Trying to make the best of what is left is fine, but it doesn't erase the sin of mucking things up in the first place. I have heard of the "Half Earth" theory (that we need to leave 50% of the earth undeveloped for the ecosystem to function) and I don't agree. The ecosystem is so complex and so interwoven that you need 100% of it to be untouched.

ANY use is abuse.

However I may love gardening, I never forget that from a certain POV, what we are doing is terrible. Looked at from a certain viewpoint Luther Burbank was the plant equivalent of Josef Mengele.

 

[Zeedman]

In my semi-rural suburb, I've watched as developers bulldozed beautiful oak & hickory woodlands to build a new sub-division. No effort at all to plan around those trees, to preserve as many as possible - just flatten everything, then re-landscape. It breaks my heart to see such wanton disregard for natural beauty.

I realize that my home - and most others in Wisconsin - began with forest destruction. The lumber barons once made their fortunes here; there are still remains of a pier on the Fox River where logs floated downstream were pulled out & sent to the mills. The past can't be undone, but I've tried to maintain my own small woodland, and to create a mini-ecosystem on my property. I would like to hope that whoever comes after us would maintain the property in its semi-wild state, but that is probably wishful thinking.

I thought of this while thinking about my son. Then, wanted to share. But, Marie has that charming song by her son, last on her song and poem thread. Decided that it might be better here:

When we stop and look around us
There is nothing that we need.
In a world of persecution that is burning in its greed.

Why do we never get an answer
When we're knocking at the door?
Because the truth is hard to swallow
That's what the war of love is for.

Don't know how I missed this for so long. That was the 3rd album I ever purchased, and that Moody song in particular will always be near & dear to my heart. Thanks, @digitS' , for that link.

Oh, the first 2 albums? Pink Floyd "Meddle", and Black Sabbath "Paranoid". What can I say, I was kinda mixed up in my youth.

 

[digitS']

Marie. That is only a few miles from where I did most of my growing up!!!

Jan 5, 2015 - TEG post with picture

I wonder when that was made. Last year, Talent was nearly wiped out by a wildfire. Maybe, they could have used a few more dozen folks guerrilla grazing to keep the landscape a little more free of combustibles.

Steve

@Zeedman , I also owned that album . My vinyl records were given years ago to an architect friend. He visited very recently and I talked to the guy about his "new" job. He has been a radio DJ for about 10 years. The olde fella is well past retirement age .

And no one showed us to the land
And no one knows the where's or why's
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb toward the light

Strangers passing in the street
By chance, two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can?

Pink Floyd, from the album Meddle​

 

[flowerbug]

i don't remember which album i bought first but it was either a Rush album or Queen _Night At the Opera_, Pink Floyd _Wish You Were Here_ was one of the first i bought too. just can't remember which was the first. and then as a single there was Three Dog Night _Joy to the World_ when it came out.

if you think you were mixed up @Zeedman think about some young guy listening and singing along to Helen Ready... hahaha...

 

[Marie2020]

HE may, but what about whoever ripped up the ecosystem to put the grass and car areas in in the first place? Trying to make the best of what is left is fine, but it doesn't erase the sin of mucking things up in the first place. I have heard of the "Half Earth" theory (that we need to leave 50% of the earth undeveloped for the ecosystem to function) and I don't agree. The ecosystem is so complex and so interwoven that you need 100% of it to be untouched.

ANY use is abuse.

However I may love gardening, I never forget that from a certain POV, what we are doing is terrible. Looked at from a certain viewpoint Luther Burbank was the plant equivalent of Josef Mengele.

I think this man is both intelligent and helpful to the system.

 

[flowerbug]

i forgot to mention Peter, Paul and Mary and _Puff the Magic Dragon_... i didn't inhale... until later. as a kid i didn't know what that meant, but i did like the song.