“DESTRUCTION OVER REASON”
by OPOVV, ©2015
(Jan. 19, 2015) — In the timeline of human existence, the current self-destructive trend manifested itself the instant the first human acted in an irresponsible and destructive manner. Welcome to “The Garden of Eden” or Easter Island; take your pick. Possibly the first evidence of the devastating results of clear-cutting are to be found on that impossibly remote island in the vast Pacific Ocean, or you can just look at the borderline between South Carolina and Kentucky where strip mining destroys irreplaceable ecological habitats, and for what? Cooking? Heating? Producing electricity? The answer is money.
But money is not to blame. Why, money is harmless, as are silver, gold, myrrh, and whatever else is on the ever-changing list of desirable (trade-able) items by humans. Sneakers. No, money or the quest of money is not the problem. The problem lies in a place within the human brain that’s called the “My-me-mine-greed zone.”
Get this: we have foreign investors of American coal and gold mines, so what do they care if the result of clear-cutting and pollution is ecological devastation beyond repair? The myth is that the land is somehow “reclaimed,” an impossibility (Yes, they‘ve been lying to us!). Build golf courses and shopping centers, but don’t drink the contaminated water or else you’ll come down with every cancer known, and, no doubt, some that aren’t.
The original rule of thumb was this: leave the land as it was or make improvements: do no harm. The “make improvements” was the mistake, for it gave an excuse for giant hydroelectric schemes and mowing the prairie grasses.
But it gets worse, this insidious invasion of the brain that believes in “goodness” and “honor” on the one hand and survival on the other. There’s a myriad of methods by which living cells gain their energy in order to multiply (definition of “life”), but to wantonly destroy something for an infinitesimal percentage of the whole opens a whole new playing field with no rules. Two examples: just for the hides: buffalo hunters in our American West and baby seals being clubbed to death.
Disagreements among humans have been our one common denominator, but it’s the methods and extent to achieve desired results that sets the problems of today apart from those of yesterday. Never have we seen innocent people being butchered just for the sake of being butchered. Never, in the whole history of the human race, have we seen a cult that worships death do so upon others rather than upon themselves, living lives as hypocrites to the extent of utter and complete denial of what they proclaim to believe.
The most infamous case in point is that of the Muslims flying the planes into the Twin Towers yelling “Allahu Akbar!” There are a thousand and one other ways to commit suicide, but to deliberately destroy other lives and property at the same time is, at best, completely ludicrous and, at worse, a product of mass psychotic behavior.
We have entered a new age where reason, dialog, debate and common goals no longer exist. The wanton destruction caused by clear-cutting and the killing of animals (including fish) for trophy, sport, horn or hide (fur) is all part of the reasons the problems that we see in the world have manifested itself.
The American Indian treated the animals and the land as sacred living things to be honored and respected. That is no longer the case and hasn’t been for hundreds of years. We are reaping exactly what we have sown: a disregard for our planet and, as a consequence, as an afterthought, human life as well.
It would be good to look into our hearts to see what is and what is not important to each one of us. Do we respect the stream, the tree, the deer? Do we respect the land and the air? Do we pollute because we don’t know any better, or do we do so for greed?
We’ve lost our place on this planet, and long after the human race has been turned into dust, the earth will have survived. The dichotomy is that we have a chance to reach for the stars, but we’ll never make it with the warped human philosophy that places destruction over reason (greed). And as long as we can’t see our own shortcomings, we’ve little chance to survive this latest onslaught (Islam) that threats all of the human race.