Week 3 - The human species is living as if it had more than one planet to occupy

       Living as if a new life awaited us on another planet is analogous to a poorly managed outhouse that fills up with shit requiring a new one be dug. At this juncture we know of no other planet suitable for our species so the question is irrelevant. We have to keep shitting in our overflowing outhouse that is filled with flies and stinks worse than Elizabeth, New Jersey. If only someone had brought a bucket of ashes or straw to the outhouse it might have been salvaged before filling entirely. Now it is a health hazard and starting to contaminate the water. Everyone in the community has parasites and cholera. The government is handing out antibiotics like candy.

The community leader took all of the communal funds to build a golf course and can’t spare a shovel to dig a new outhouse. He says the golf course will help support the community. There isn’t enough money left to buy a new shovel so everyone is shitting willy nilly because the outhouse is a hazard. People are walking on stilts because their shoes are always covered with shit. Face plants and missing teeth have become the norm and all young children hope to be dentists when they grow up. Everyone wears mosquito nets to protect from the flies. The community levied a tax to buy a water filter and gas masks were handed out by the thousands, but still no shovel. If only someone had filled a bucket with ashes…

Now flies are being genetically modified to feed on clouds so we won’t be inundated. People are happy not to wear mosquito nets, but airplanes are having a tough time. Airplane crashes have quadrupled since fly modification. The Modifiers also failed to consider that flies help decompose our garbage. Garbage mountains now line the horizon with peaks that are taller than Mount Everest. Certainly no one predicted the great chocolate riots of 2018. More people died than in the Russian Revolution. The cocoa tree requires flies for pollination. In fact, research suggests that flies may be more important pollinators than even bees. Without flies the birds have gone hungry and have been falling out of the sky. The government gave out hard   hats, but still no shovel to be found. If only someone had filled a bucket with ashes…

Without birds the rodents have gone hog wild. In response the government has given every household two cats. At first it seemed a reasonable plan of action, but the cats have multiplied and now they rule entire neighborhoods. Playgrounds are entirely caged on all sides to keep the children safe. Allergies have skyrocketed. The tissue industry is the number two stock on the market, only second to stilts. New technology is being developed to provide a constant mist of antihistamine. A shovel sits in the corner, but no one even remembers there was an outhouse…

If a suitable planet did exist, would it be reasonable to think that we could simply start again? This question reminds me of my mother, a psychotherapist. I spent much of my youth traveling and recall her oft repeated refrain that you cannot escape yourself. Whatever troubles you bear you bring with you wherever you go. At the time I resisted her suggestion that I might have been trying to escape something, but now I recognize her wisdom.  We would only repeat the same patterns were humanity to relocate to a new planet. Consumption and greed is an addiction as is short sighted symptom based problem solving. The destruction of the planet is not only about the physical earth, but is tied to our relationships with one another. The greed and the need for immediate gratification that leads to earthly destruction is rooted in inequality, cruelty, war, racism, sexism and classism. If we do not respect nature then we inevitably cannot respect each other and vice-a-versa. These societal patterns we have developed effect our entire being. Like neuro-pathways that become more and more entrenched each time a behavior or thought is repeated. Thinking we will fix it all when we can start again with a fresh slate is like an alcoholic saying tomorrow will be the last drink. 

If only someone had filled a bucket with ashes…..