Earth does not need us
The world is like a living being. Like the cells, tissues, and organs of a certain organism working together to keep that organism alive so do the various components of the Earth. From microorganisms to elephants and their ecosystems right through to super-organisms, they all contribute as either cells, tissues or organs that are interconnected and holistically contribute to keeping the Earth alive and breathing. How it works is that each component, be it an ecosystem or a microorganism, is tasked with a certain duty. Only when these duties are added up can the greater importance of the components be realized. Their ultimate importance being to keep Earth alive and fully functioning. The human race forms a normal component of this organism called the Earth but unlike others, this component is growing cancerously. Like any cancerous growth in an organism, if not dealt with quickly it could lead to an organism’s untimely death.
The human race’s role in this organism is to leave as little negative impacts as possible while also maximizing positive impacts similar to how cells of an organism may live, serve their purpose and die without the organism taking much notice of them. As cells may pass on information to other cells, the role of people includes passing on information to others about our interconnections with the environment but this is not always the case as the message may sometimes be to multiply as quickly as possible. The human race, as a component of Earth the organism, is now dividing cancerously inside this organism which also affects related components and renders them inefficient. The faster than normal growth also means that the human race ends up taking more space than usual which then leaves the organism disfigured. The only way to get rid of a cancerous growth is by removing it, which in this case unfortunately means extinction of the human race.
Likening the human race to a cancerous growth seems heartless but when one looks at it closely the existence of people on Earth does resemble the occurrence of a cancer in some ways. There is no region of the Earth that people cannot colonize. Human presence more often than not disrupts the surrounding environment and its processes, and the radius of destruction grows as human numbers grow. Human population numbers are growing rapidly and in the process destroying the very thing that is supposed to support human existence, much in the same way cancerous growths may end up killing their host if not brought under control. The sad truth about all of this is that Earth does not need us much in the same way that cancerous growths can be surgically removed from the body of a certain individual without that individual dying. Another sad thing is how conservation is said to be saving the environment or wildlife when in fact it’s the human race that benefits most from any form of conservation. Conservation’s ultimate goal is to preserve the integrity of ecosystems. Ecosystems sustain the human race through various processes and as ecosystems become weakened by human over-exploitation they slowly lose their ability to support the same people destroying them.
Once we start seeing conservation as an unnatural thing only made necessary by our actions then maybe we will realize that those crazy ‘tree-huggers’ are not fighting for animal rights but for our rights. Once we see conservation as anthropocentric and selfish since it is ultimately for our benefit then maybe we will realize that the Earth does not need us. Earth has its own self-regulating mechanisms that ensure a dynamic equilibrium for population numbers and not this rampant human population growth. Once we start realizing that people are not the pinnacle of evolution but only a passing phase then maybe we will be able to see that the Earth will continue living without us and that might actually buy us some more time on this beautiful Earth.
– Fortunate M. Phaka