Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by T A A on November 10, 2011 at 11:11pm

So depressing that in the mere duration of my lifetime, so many animals have gone extinct, and people still say society is "moving ahead", it makes me want to vomit.

Permalink Reply by T A A on November 10, 2011 at 11:15pm

It would be nice I think to keep a sort of extinction list here. I've found a few on the internet, but none were organised the way I'd like, maybe you'd have more success than me DG?

 

It would be nice to have a decade by decade breakdown over the past century, and a 50 year breakdown for the past 500 yrs, a century breakdown for the past 2000 yrs (where possible), and whatever is available to us from before that.

 

Extinctions of other species are to me one of the most negative aspects of humanity :(

Permalink Reply by Alejandro M on November 11, 2011 at 12:45am

Permalink Reply by T A A on November 11, 2011 at 1:16am

He uses cheap arguments... unfortunately, he belongs to a bygone paradigm. The point he misses comes early in the clip when he says it's not the planet that's in trouble it's humans. As the health of our ecosystems worsen, so does the deterioration of civilisation through resource competition, and healthy living competition. What he misses is what classical marxism missed, that industrialisation is not the answer to human happiness, that more humans does not equal happier humans, that resource plenty is better for humans than resource scarcity.

 

Of course it's likely that the green and blue ball we live on will go on long after Homo sapiens becomes extinct, that is not the question. The real issue is what sort of existence do we eek out in a world were the very few desirable quality resources (clean air, clean water, safe shelter, quality food) remaining are shared only amongst the 10% most wealthy.

 

Unfortunately, environmentalists and ecologists must deal with two realities... firstly scientific pleas for conservation of a healthy environment, undeniably for the preservation of the human quality of life, which most lay people and uneducated people find unappealing because it's not easy to be scientifically literate, it does not happen from watching one's TV set at home, it takes effort and perseverance. Secondly, a majority of the planet's humans are nincompoops who understand nothing of science, and therefore to get messages through to them, environmentalists have resorted to emotional pleas instead of the drab and scientific considerations. Terms such as "save the planet", "mother earth" originate from this emotional call. It's why I, as a biologist, never use such terms, they are stupid and emotional. Yet, I can see the reason why groups resort to them.

Some may say the means is more important than ends, but I disagree. Without a clear objective and willpower to change trends, methods are without consequence.

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on November 18, 2011 at 11:15am

Rhino Crisis Round Up: 33 Rhino Horns Seized in Hong Kong, Charges Filed in UK Museum Theft & More

Permalink Reply by T A A on November 18, 2011 at 2:08pm

Wow, this is a quote I'll remember!

May your asses wind up on the poopdecks of Hell with rectums eternally impaled upon great knobbly butt-plugs carved from the very rhinoceros horns you so bastardly poached in life.

When did the Jackass producers become political, I like them more :)