02/24/2008: "Voluntary Human Extinction"

music: Train - "Drops of Jupiter"
mood: Angered

I'm working on updating the site with some new things so be on the lookout for that. I also have my first hostee all moved in - julytree.org/wish! Go check it out.

My computer class has turned out to be really easy so far. For the last week or so we've been learning how to design webpages using Frontpage. Ummm... yeah. Ok, so I stayed up until 4am last night doing my sample webpage with HTML, CSS, div layers, Photoshop, etc., and I think it will be pretty impressive compared to the rest of the class. Sometimes I think I should have gone into a career in webdesign... I definitely have the aptitude for it, but it's just not my passion. I enjoy it of course, but the environment is my number one priority. Maybe someday I can use my webdesigning skills that I've accumulated to do something for the environment that will be worldwide through the Web. I've already got some ideas in my head, but it would take a lot of funding to make something like that happen.

Back to the environment - a really frequent topic in this blog, I know. I'm starting to think I'm somewhat of a misanthrope because I've always said that humanity shouldn't be here. I'm not sure if I honestly believe that, but there's a really big conflict involved in that statement. My Environmental Ethics class is actually touching on some of the thoughts I've had circling in my head about this topic... and it's so surprising and sad to me that so many people in that class had never thought this way before.

Anyway, the conflict lies in something called Voluntary Human Extinction, for which there is actually a movement - VHEMT.org. It's basically a humanitarian approach to the environmental crisis that we've created. We can enjoy our lives (while attempting to inflict minimal impact) while we're here, but commit ourselves to not reproducing. With 100 percent compliance, that would actually work and would allow nature to regenerate itself without our interference. However, it seems unlikely that this kind of movement would even get 1 percent of the population to support it and thus it is not feasible.

I believe that human nature will never allow for humanity to live sustainably with the environment in our current society. We rely so much on technology and expect it to save us when we eventually degrade the environment to unlivable conditions. So there are several solutions: 1. we implement incredibly strict laws on resource usage (which I suppose will be my intent in my career path), 2. we drastically reduce the size of our population to one of people who can maintain a sustainable society, or 3. we become extinct (whether by choice or by deterioration of the environment so much that we kill ourselves off).

Somehow this line of thought depresses me. My whole life will consist of working to save a planet that I know cannot be saved unless one of these conditions is met; therefore, I guess I will not be making much of a difference anyway. I have already determined that nature will be the one that prevails in the end when we finally destroy it so much that we kill ourselves off, thus giving it the opportunity to grow back. The only problem with that end is that it leads to reckless abandonment in conservation with a careless attitude, leading to the destruction of many valuable species... which would not be the case if we somehow managed to accomplish one of the other 2 scenarios.

This is why I think I have become a misanthrope - I am no longer looking at environmental conservation in humanitarian terms the way most environmentalists do (i.e. preserving the earth for our future generations), but rather I see it as something valuable outside of humanity's existence. However, I don't think that's a bad thing - people need to start thinking of the world for what it really is.

I was having a related conversation with someone this evening, and he told me I must pick my battles and take baby steps. I responded that this is my life's battle, but the entire world is working against it. It's as though each little step, like offsetting some carbon emissions or refusing to eat meat, is just thrown down the trash when some jerk jumps in his Hummer with a super-sized hamburger in his hand. He responded that perhaps it is a waste of time because I'll miss what makes life great while trying to procure a future for the world, when my own future won't even be legacied. True... but again, I'd rather spend my life working for an aspect of the world that I care the most about rather than trying to put myself into society in a way that I won't fit. I guess I just need to come to terms with this scenario that seems to have no solution in sight...

This also brings me to another point - the randomness of life. The way that in the span of the entire universe, life on our little planet probably doesn't matter at all. Its value in terms of the universe is minute, and eventually it will be gone along with our sun and the entire galaxy... but the universe is most likely eternal. This is why I cannot put my faith in religion, which is so Earth-centered, human-centered... God created the world and put humans in it? I don't think so, not when you realize the enormity of the universe... and what must be beyond it? Or does it go on forever? The earth's lifespan is tiny in comparison, and if there was such a God that cared so much about humanity's existence... why would he wait so long to create us, and why would he make us so tiny? And what is he doing with the rest of the universe? It seems quite improbable in the overall scheme of things.

Some people think we are not overpopulated, just certain areas are too dense, like cities. But when I went to Costa Rica last month, a place that before humanity was completely covered in rainforests and dry forests, I discovered that's not entirely true. The countryside sure looked greener, but in fact it was covered with vast expanses of fields and very little forest. All in all, only 2 percent of Costa Rica's diverse forests remain, even in a country where conservation efforts have been tremendous?

Why in the world are there so many people? Who felt it was necessary for humanity to grow to such proportions? If not even from an environmental stance - is it not true that people can often feel insignificant and worthless when looking around and seeing how many other people there are? How can one person's life really make an impact when there are billions of others across the globe? True, a few lucky people make headlines and leave a legacy, but there are billions of others of people who existed and there is no record of their existence ever occurring. Do you really want to be a simple statistic after your death? If there weren't so many of us, maybe this wouldn't be a problem.

I think for tonight I am done with this topic, but it will not stop churning in my brain. I'm starting to think I should write a book on my environmental perspective and maybe it can have a sweeping impact on the world. But then again, with the vast amounts of people I have to compete with to get something published and become successful... I doubt it!