So the stark choice today is between survival of the species and giving up the array of irrelevant elements pretentiously presented as life's essentialsAs part of its "Don't Choose Extinction" campaign, the United Nations (UN) has circulated a video on the eve of the Glasgow Climate Summit to be held from October 31 to November 12. In the video, a dinosaur enters the conference hall rather majestically, creating a commotion among the participants and audience---mostly diplomats. Scared as they are, they wait with bated breath until the behemoth takes the podium and starts addressing people. In a remonstrative note, the giant creature makes its point clear.
It questions the sagacity of the mankind because the species is heading for extinction which is surprisingly man's own choice. The dinosaur rightly points to the insanity of spending US$11 million a minute by the governments around the world to subsidise fossil fuels. It argues in favour of a quiet reflection: "Imagine if we had spent hundreds of billions every year subsidizing giant meteors". This would have been the proper analogy of what the human species is doing right now.
Dinosaurs did not do that and the beast argues his species at least had the excuse of asteroids that hit the Earth and exterminated the giants that once roamed approximately 66 million years ago. It accuses mankind for driving itself extinct in just 70 million years. It is the most ridiculous thing, it reproaches, ever to happen.
The prehistoric animal then suggests what the governments the world over should do. It is a lot of public money that goes into subsidising fossil fuels. This enormous sum could be used for far better purposes. It has suggested the money could be spent on global poverty reduction. It did not mention other purposes the money could serve. Clearly, a fund raised collectively could be used for research in renewable energy sources and saving the planet from getting up excessively heated.
The prediction is dire: even if all the countries meet their targets of reducing emissions of carbon to the promised level, the average temperature will rise by 2.7 degree Celsius by the end of the century. That will have serious adverse impacts on life and livelihoods. So far scientists have come up with technologies that may provide temporary respite but no without long-term negative consequences. Factories, automobiles, air coolers and even the food industry release CO2 in exchange for the comfort and security they give.
The choice of a dinosaur as a speaker before diplomats is not for nothing. A huge animal species could not survive even though it had no contribution to its own extinction. It was a completely external cause for its demise. It was presented to remind humankind of this basic fact. If they could not survive without playing any role in their own extermination, what a folly it is on the part of the most rational animal on the planet Earth!
Luxury and comfort have been taken to outrageous limit. Today the choice is between survival and a drastic curb on luxury and comfort. Coronavirus had a message for all but few people received it. The message is that those living in excessive luxury and comfort were most vulnerable to the disease as against people who earn their bread by the sweat of their brows. If excessive luxury and comfort can be done away with, there is no need for mad rush for earning money insanely. Profit can be shared rationally, instead of accumulating for no meaningful purpose, with workers who actually are the driving engine.
Even in an imperfect world, if the human species transcends its boundary of stinking selfishness and filthy bias, poverty can be eliminated. The planet's wealth is more than its population needs for a decent living, what is missing is its judicious distribution.
So the stark choice today is between survival of the species and giving up the array of irrelevant elements pretentiously presented as life's essentials. Men like Elon Mask are in favour of colonising the Mars where the species will survive when the Earth will collapse. Instead of spending the outrageous sum on making that planet habitable, it is better to employ scientific knowledge, intellect and energy for saving the only planet known so far to have fostered life on it from perishing.
- Thursday, 18 April 2024 |
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