Friday, January 13, 2012

The end

I don’t believe in a future for Homo sapiens. We will never create an environment friendly civilization here on earth. Those who believe that we will wake up one day and begin to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases and toxic waste are living in a dream world.

An exponentially increasing number of people consume more and more oil and we are emitting more and more toxic waste and greenhouse gases. We are like nicotine addicts who know that smoking is dangerous and causes cancer, but keep on smoking anyway.

I’m not alone in my belief that there is no future for our species. I think most well-informed people would agree with me. Some people still pretend though, that they have not given up yet, and some still believe that science and technology will find a solution.

Small groups of people still believe that all problems can be solved if we simply became vegetarians and began using bicycles instead of cars. Yes, it would be wonderful if everybody suddenly became nice and kind environmentalists. Then we would not exploit the earth’s resources as hard.

Environmentalists have almost always grown up in protected areas. They have never seen the ugly sides of life. How are they to know that the world is pretty rough outside their lovely little town or outside their campus?

People can think whatever they like about these things, but I have given up hope on humanity. Humanity will not stop driving cars and we will not limit our emissions. They don’t care at all in China, India and USA if we in Europe would succeed in limiting our toxic emissions to some extent.

One consequence of my disbelief in a future for humanity is that I no longer care about trying to live in an environmentally friendly manner. I no longer sort my garbage. I don’t mind driving an old gas-guzzling car. I don’t waste money on organic food.

Another consequence is a background pessimism and cynicism. My beliefs color my worldview. When I look at the world, I see it filtered through my beliefs.

Many people try to hide their pessimism and cynicism behind a cheerful facade. I don’t blame them. I also hide my real beliefs behind a facade. If you meet me, you will see me smiling.