Perhaps as a species we are not the stewards that God/Allah hoped that we would be. We are too stupid, self-centred, egoistic, shortsighted bigots who will believe any old story, to rise to the challenge of being stewards of the environment and the planet for our children’s children.
All the good things that man has ‘invented’ were there before they were ‘discovered’, proving beyond doubt that whether you believe in creationism, intelligent design, or evolution, you have to admit that everything we need has apparently been provided by someone or something. We lack nothing, but we continue to play god with whole populations, and increasingly with the whole planetary ecosystem. And we think we know what we are doing.
A recent ‘experiment’ at genetic medicine in France produced deaths and ‘unexpected’ results. In England a course of a new drug produced ‘unexpected’ results and a man lost his fingers and toes, and other were extremely ill for quite a time. No doubt there are many other ‘god-like’ decisions that keep going wrong, because of arrogance and stupidity, thinking that we know everything there is to know about a given subject.
The scientists know that the latest theory is just that, a theory, until all the facts can be explained, or a new theory comes along to explain nearly all of them except that annoying one thing that cannot be fitted into it, unless you keep adding new dimensions and the total to date I believe is 11, and numerous particles and exotic quarks and mesons and bosons and string theory and on and on and on. Does any of this have a practical use? I myself like to study atomic theory as I did when I was studying to be a radio operator in the Royal Navy; radio theory was a favourite of mine.
The point is that people/scientists are curious about the world and the Universe, and set about finding out all they can about it. Along the way, somebody has to fund them and then the research inevitably leans towards ‘useful’ discoveries. These discoveries lead to products, which apparently make life easier for the population and make a few bucks for a company. Usually, apart from Medicines/drugs, nobody ever questions the long-term effect on the quality of life.
The invention of plastic could be seen as a boon to make things that were lighter and stronger than wood and did not rot. But the ‘doldrums’ on the equator, where there are hardly any winds and very little movement of the oceans, there are vast ‘seas’ of plastic products covering miles and miles of ocean around the world. Who the hell is going to clean that up? And where can they put the plastic; into landfills? They are all already full and the land for more is becoming limited, so much so that, people are ‘inventing’ power stations that burn the rubbish/garbage to get rid of it and provide something useful, electricity, instead. Never mind the toxins given off from burning such material. If the scientists who invented the atomic bomb wish they could take it back, and the inventor of plastic could take it back…
Everything the human race does seems to have consequences and the remedies come too little too late. Global warming, (real or imagined, and I am one who thinks its real) is going to make life very difficult for millions of the peoples of the earth, if not impossible, and the UK government and the nuclear lobby still want to build more nuclear power plants, as if Chernobyl, and the earthquake proof plant in Japan and the American three mile island experience wasn’t enough warning too. And take coal fired power plants, they propose building more in the UK in spite of the many calls for wind and solar, and tidal projects. The renewable projects do not get funding or even tax breaks like the nuclear industry. China is often held up as a major polluter, yet I have yet to hear of any company/government in the west doing what China is doing, building a coal liquefaction plant with supposedly clean filters from any chimneys etc. It is a secret process they have invented and nobody knows the details, at least that’s something, but even then eventually the coal will run out as the oil is running out. Renewable energy like wind and solar are held back by vested interests and short sightedness. Our children’s children will wonder what the hell we were thinking, if they ever get to be born.
I know that this article is more than a little rambling and a sign of unclear thoughts, and lots of bits and pieces, and, I do not come to a thundering conclusion with facts and processes to save the world. Frankly I do not see anything that is happening now, nor during my life, that gives me any confidence that mankind will grow up and take responsibility for the only planet that we can live on. It is truly beyond my small mind to see what can be done, or rather, I can see lots of things that CAN be done, but I know that there are not enough people in the corridors of power to make it happen, even in one industrial country, and the world is rapidly becoming industrialized wherever there is a profit to be made.
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