Hello, Friends. Hope you are all safe wherever you are. Here in Canada, as you may have heard, a psychopath went on a killing spree on the weekend in rural Nova Scotia which itself is largely rural. Among those he shot were a 17 year old girl, her mother and father, a lady Mountie, a beloved elementary school teacher, a kindly couple and their little dog, Zoey.
Of those listed above only Zoey survived. At least fifteen other people were also killed. As of this writing, 22 are known dead. There may be more because the murderer also set fire to many of the crime scenes. Who knows what investigators will find when they shift through the ashes?
Anyway, the point is that as a species Homo sapiens has produced an Einstein, a Thoreau, a Chopin, a Leonardo and so on. It has also produced scores of mass killers, particularly since World War II. Why this is…who knows? To paraphrase the biologist JBS Haldane, “Humanity seems to have an inordinate talent for producing homicidal maniacs.”
The Mounties got this bad guy eventually. He died from wounds sustained in a firefight. Some might say not soon enough. It is slowly coming to light that this guy was abusive to a former girlfriend (surprise!) as well a serial swindler who cheated friends and relatives out of their homes. He was the pluperfect horse’s rear end and Canada – certainly Nova Scotia – is better off without him.
In comparison, Covid 19 is a killer, too. As of today (Wed 22 April 2020) it has killed about 185, 000 people, give or take, world wide. This is only the official count, of course. Who know how many have died in their home or somewhere other than a hospital? Or how many deaths were due to Covid 19 but mistakenly attributed to something else – renal failure, heart attack, stroke, and so on.
At any rate, 185,000 >> 22. Then again, “thanks” to Covid 19 car accidents are down, certain violent crimes are down (although looting of closed stores is up). The air is clear over urban First World urban areas, even places like Los Angeles and New Delhi. Many areas are quieter because traffic is down.
Animals are somewhat safer because big fat hunters from North America are not going to Africa to hunt animals who are just minding their own business on the Serengeti and elsewhere. Although…poaching is up in parts of Africa because there are fewer rangers around. Hopefully, the good guys will get it sorted out.
In fact, aside from the terrible losses of the Weak and Innocent and the chaos resulting from an antiquated insanely overrevving competition-based economy being thrown into free fall, Covid 19 could be taken for a much needed slap in the face by Mother Nature. Unlike the Nova Scotia mad man, Covid 19 might actually be teaching us something useful. Although, I do wish She had done it in a gentler way – send some sort of Cosmic Text Message maybe – but obviously that’s not how She Works.
NOW is a good time to re-think how most of us got into this pickle of yet another pandemic and how we can get out of it – if such a thing is possible. Do we want to go “back to normal” where tens of millions of cattle and poultry are slaughtered every year so that we can have our drive-in burgers and chicken McNuggets? (It’s a tad ironic that fewer than 200,000 of “us” have died so far because of Covid 19 whereas 500,000 chickens are killed every day in Canada so that people can have their snack food.)
Or what about the rainforests and jungles which are annihilated to be replaced by palm plantations so we can have endless cosmetics, snack foods; not to mention increased carbon dioxide emission, flooding, soil erosion?
Going cold turkey on these industries would be disastrous. BUT can we limit our consumption and waste to truly manageable levels? Maybe yes, maybe no. Can we practise true sustainability. Maybe yes, maybe no. What is clear is that we just cannot “go back to normal”.
“Normal” is what led to Covid 19, SARS, MERS, North American Swine ‘Flu, North American Mad Cow Disease, and European (UK) Mad Cow Disease. Going back to normal then, inevitably, is suicide. My aide, the Dark Man, thinks that might be the way to go from a Gaian perspective….
To illustrate just how complex it might be to find a good and true way forward, filmmaker Michael Moore has produced a film called “Planet of the Humans”. It is directed by Jeff Gibbs. It is NOT, despite what we have come to expect of Michael Moore, a leftie documentary about how “Going green” is automatically good. It thoughtful and will give the viewer pause.
It offers a view worth thinking about. These days of Covid 19 would be a good time to watch it. The air is clean and our lands are quiet enough where we can actually think about what we have watched.
And it is free. Thanks, Mr. Moore.
Planet of the Humans
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