There's a good reason the notion of a child keeping a pet rock is absurd.
After all, a rock is nothing more than an inanimate object. It doesn't have any redeemable qualities or any endearing characteristics. It simply is. It's really not a fitting pet at all with nothing to admire or appreciate. That is unless, of course, the child uses his imagination to project a deeper meaning on the rock than is actually there ' human-like attributes, perhaps.
Tomorrow marks the 36th annual Earth Day ' a time to raise awareness about the need to protect humanity's favorite rock. The holiday usually carries a positive connotation. It's endorsed by our government (yes, even the Bush administration) and often given time in the classrooms of our elementary schools. Here on the eve of Earth Day, and in the midst of Earth Week
I will explain why this holiday and everything it represents is an atrocious affront to mankind.
Most people never take the time to dissect this notion of Earth Day and strip it to its essence. Its philosophical underpinnings lie in the rigid ideology of environmentalism, which too wrongfully enjoys a positive connotation. Environmentalism's zealous advocates have done well in selling it to the public as something noble. However, actual inspection of the merits of this ideology will reveal it as the destructive, human-hating madness that it is.
The environmentalist movement has long enjoyed significant support on college campuses like ours, replete with young idealists searching for a cause. The movement is less a cause, however, and more a war on human progress and happiness. What its more level-minded followers (and there are a few), along with those newly enticed by its warm exterior, must realize about environmentalism is that its inevitable consequence is the extinction of the human race. Sound contradictory? Far from it.
What environmentalists preach is no ideal but rather a retreat. The unavoidable outcome of a genuine embrace of the environmentalist mentality is mankind's reversion to its natural state. The implications of such a transformation are staggering. The environmentalists, whether they realize it or not, support the return of the famine, poverty and staggering death rate that once characterized human life ' pre-Industrial Revolution. Environmentalism's thoughtless, zombie-like followers would have us sacrifice everything we have achieved under the empty premise that we shouldn't disturb nature.
This is the fundamental difference between humanity and the lesser creatures that walk the earth. It is beyond the capacity of animals to alter the nature of their environment, and therefore their existence always is threatened by environmental upheaval. Where the environmentalists have erred is in their conviction that humans are subject to the same limitations. If this were true, it would indeed be self-destructive for mankind to manipulate its surroundings. Instead, it is this very intrusion into the environment that has resulted in so much life-enhancing progress.
Simple biology would have us stick to hunting and gathering. Morality ' a uniquely human concept ' says we can do more for our own benefit. We have, and generations of humans have been happier for it. We have lived longer, more prosperous and enjoyable lives by making use of Earth's resources. The engines of industry, technology, science and research have done infinitely more to further human happiness than environmentalism's backward doctrines ever could hope to do. Environmentalism is of no practical use to mankind ' an emotionalist fallacy worthy of wholesale rejection.
What environmentalists overlook, or perhaps what they lack the vision to see, is the sheer vastness of human potential. The solution to ensuring human survival despite Earth's finite resources lies not in the defeatism of the environmentalist movement but in the irrepressibility of the entrepreneurial spirit. Throughout history, great minds with noble aims have elevated our species to previously unimaginable heights. In the 21st century, this can happen again, leading to legitimate means of averting human extinction. Of course, this is only if society's producers are not made to feel guilty by ideologues who would demonize the word progress.
So this weekend, cast aside reverence for rocks, vegetables and lesser beasts. There remains only one entity on Earth worth celebrating, and that's humankind. We alone give meaning and purpose to this revolving ball of molten lava we're urged to protect at our own expense.
All we should worry about preserving is ourselves. The means to achieving this cannot be found in an environmentalist retreat into our animalistic past. They lie solely in the boundless realm of human ingenuity.' Joe Vance is a sophomore journalism major and Post editorial writer. Send him an e-mail at jv407004@ohiou.edu. 17
Archives
