Dear editor,
When we humans invented farming, we invented the ability to exterminate ourselves through overpopulation.
When we were hunter-gatherers, our population couldn't outgrow our natural food sources. With farming, overpopulation became possible, and we began to progressively destroy the natural world to make room for crops to support our growing numbers.
When we invented money, we invented an even better reason to destroy the natural world.
Before money was invented, it made no sense for a hunter to kill more than he could use and then hoard it, because large excesses just rotted. Sharing made sense and hoarding didn't.
Money, however, doesn't rot, and it really opened the throttle on a few of our less admirable tendencies like selfishness and greed.
In B.C., the results are obvious. Native people lived here for more than 10,000 years without destroying the forests and the salmon.
They didn't have money, but we brought it. We laid waste to the forests and fish in less than 200 years, and we did it all for money.
Somehow, humans and money together create an almost diabolical mix. We're currently destroying our planet and ourselves as energetically and speedily as we can, and our biggest concern seems to be the price of gas.
Our entire society is based on money, including our "democratic" governments, (which are being destroyed by the lure of money from large corporations), our education systems, our media, even our food and entertainment.
Money and population growth go well together, because corporations always need more consumers so that they can keep making more money.
Is this good for us?
As humans, we're the only creatures on earth with the ability to choose. The road we're on leads to a cliff. Shall we just keep the pedal to the metal?
We can change the direction of our society, but it requires a lot of hard thought and action. Whether we realize it or not, our government is us. It won't change unless we do.
Karl Stevenson,
Royston