Rich's Views

I am not a tree hugger by any stretch of the imagination however there are days when upon seeing the news of what we the smartest species on the plant are doing that I wish humans would just vanish. Let’s leave the planet to the animals while it is still habitable.

I’m just over forty years old and I have seen some very terrible things and I’m constantly reminded that humans only think we are smart. We claim that we provide a vital link in the food chain. What chain are we leaving for future generations of humans if we are fishing so much that there are sections of the ocean that were once teeming with life and are now barren? How about how we are decimating species of whales, fish, and bird’s insects and on and on? We are not leaving a planet with sustainable life, we are destroying sustainable life.

We have proof every day of how bad we are making the planet but, do we stop buying water in plastic bottles? Nope, I’m drinking from one now. I try to recycle but I’m not the most prolific recycler heck I’m not even in the bottom five percent of recyclers. Let’s take a possible look at the future of my plastic bottle. I live in Southern Ohio and the Great Miami River is close by my house and the bottle “could” end up there. From there it is a short trip to the Ohio River, then the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and in a year or three it ends up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Once there it will merge with other trash that is currently the size of Texas. It will take thousands of years for the bottle to break down and all of the toxins to become non lethal.

I can go on and on about what we are not doing and how we hurt each other in wars ranging from the United States Civil War, WWI, WWII and through our current war and that is just a few from the past 125 years. Sure there is the occasional doing your neighbor a good deed and there are times when we can pull together for a national tragedy or to pull a young girl from a well in Texas. But over all we are just doing harm.

I’m not saying there is no good in us, but for the most part there is a "it is about me attitude." I have found the perfect definition for us humans:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/parasite

And here is a final link to show you how smart and compassionate some animals are: http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/5/mother-dog-hit-by-car-son-saves-her-life-in-nyc-traffic-723374.html

Here is another: http://www.matthewgood.org/2009/02/homeless-dog-rescues-dog-hit-by-car/

I’m off of my high horse for now and going to toss my water bottle in my recycle bin and hope that I and you strive for a better tomorrow where we think of not only ourselves and fellow humans, but about the bird that is in your tree and of that cat who wishes to eat said bird.

Rich the Parasite