We're all doomed
Here is something about me I bet most of my friends don't know - one of my main concerns in life, something I've been interested in since I was a child, is wildlife and environment conservation.
Conservation (or lack thereof) is also a topic which has frustrated me as long as I can remember. It's difficult to open a newspaper or a National Geographic magazine without seeing evidence of how humankind is paving over this rainforest or contaminating that body of water. It makes my heart heavy and sad to know there are a few hundred members of an animal species left in Asia and the survivors are being hunted to extinction for some stupid body part thought to be an aphrodisiac.
Humans in general are ignorant and arrogant. Most don't understand (or choose to ignore) the far-reaching impact "civilization" has not only across the globe, but across time. We are too caught up in our arbitrary quest for "advancement" that we are at the same time destroying our future.
I am a part of the problem. I live in a city and enjoy the conveniences of the modern world. But I really do try and lessen my impact in the ways I know how. While I do eat meat, I eat only farmed animals, thus not affecting wild populations. I do not eat (most types of) fish because populations of commercially-caught fish are dwindling, and many types of fishing also adversely affect non-targeted creatures. I volunteer at the Zoo as well as pay annual membership fees; wildlife conservation is the top priority of the San Francisco Zoo. I will never have children, thus not contributing to the gross overpopulation of this planet. (I don't think there is a non-selfish reason to have children, anyway.)
Sure I like my fast computer, flying in airplanes and 24-hour supermarkets, but if all that were to go away in exchange for a healthy environment, I wouldn't be too sad. Call it a romantic notion, but I kinda like the idea of reverting back to a lifestyle where extended families grow and raise their own food and do many things by hand.
In the meantime, I'll just sit with my head in my hands and cry.
Conservation (or lack thereof) is also a topic which has frustrated me as long as I can remember. It's difficult to open a newspaper or a National Geographic magazine without seeing evidence of how humankind is paving over this rainforest or contaminating that body of water. It makes my heart heavy and sad to know there are a few hundred members of an animal species left in Asia and the survivors are being hunted to extinction for some stupid body part thought to be an aphrodisiac.
Humans in general are ignorant and arrogant. Most don't understand (or choose to ignore) the far-reaching impact "civilization" has not only across the globe, but across time. We are too caught up in our arbitrary quest for "advancement" that we are at the same time destroying our future.
I am a part of the problem. I live in a city and enjoy the conveniences of the modern world. But I really do try and lessen my impact in the ways I know how. While I do eat meat, I eat only farmed animals, thus not affecting wild populations. I do not eat (most types of) fish because populations of commercially-caught fish are dwindling, and many types of fishing also adversely affect non-targeted creatures. I volunteer at the Zoo as well as pay annual membership fees; wildlife conservation is the top priority of the San Francisco Zoo. I will never have children, thus not contributing to the gross overpopulation of this planet. (I don't think there is a non-selfish reason to have children, anyway.)
Sure I like my fast computer, flying in airplanes and 24-hour supermarkets, but if all that were to go away in exchange for a healthy environment, I wouldn't be too sad. Call it a romantic notion, but I kinda like the idea of reverting back to a lifestyle where extended families grow and raise their own food and do many things by hand.
In the meantime, I'll just sit with my head in my hands and cry.