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The Immunity Syndrome
Author: TriSec    Date: 08/21/2021 12:22:18

https://mindreels.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/theimmunitysyndromehd0652.jpg?w=1000


Or, with apologies to James Bond - "The World Has Had Enough".


We call her 'Mother Earth' and 'Mother Nature'. A mere mote of dust floating through the vastness of space, huddled up next to an insignificant yellow dwarf star right in that sweet spot for life.

But in the end - ALL life on this planet is symbiotic, and we're a living, breathing thing even if we don't realize it or act like it.

That living, breathing, thing is gravely ill.

A peculiar form of parasite spawned from the primordial ooze long ago. Centuries, Millenia, Aeons - every turn of the planet around the sun brought changes and developments. Some were external. A once-dominant type of life was decimated by a random space rock. Earth is nothing if not opportunist, and the demise of the previous life-form allowed what were insignificant warm-blooded creatures a chance to thrive.

And thrive mammals did. There are but a handful of places on this Earth that have not felt their touch. Somewhere along the way, a group of intelligent primates started growing bigger brains and they got wicked smaht. Or did we?

Throughout the rise of mankind, one thing that we've always overlooked is our own hubris. For a long time, it seemed that no matter what mankind did, the Earth would always be there. Burning fossil fuels to run the industrial revolution. Exploiting plants and animals until they are all gone. Dumping all our wastes into the nearest lake or stream. Cutting down trees to build things, and then farming the resulting land so hard that it becomes barren. There always seemed to be another new resource to exploit - until now.

The curious thing is that Earth is starting to react to us like a wounded and sick animal. As the dominant species, we didn't get that way without enormous survival abilities ourselves. But I can tell you from personal experience - there are some things that are difficult to survive. I was lucky in that I beat the disease that tried to kill me and have returned to a 'normal' life. But it could have just as easily gone the other way.

As a non-scientific observer, my personal feeling is that we are reaching that great tipping point. But the earth is reacting just like a human body would. We're now the parasite, and the Earth is doing what it can to survive. We suddenly have a disease that just won't go away. While the population decrease is negligible in a global sense - it is statistically noticeable.

Fires and droughts throughout the world? They're marginally survivable now, but for how much longer? California in particular - when do they run out of water for farming, or even for fighting fires? People will have to reverse-exodus out of California, like they one flocked TO California to escape worse conditions elsewhere.

Even here in New England. Much ado is being made today about the expected direct hit from Hurricane Henri tomorrow. New England does get hurricanes from time to time...but unlike in the past where they would weaken as they reached the cold North Atlantic, Henri is strengthening, as the North Atlantic isn't cold anymore.

There are many leaders around the world that are just as ignorant as our own Republicans. There is plenty of finger-pointing that can be done here, but to what end?

Going all the way back to the Star Trek reference at the start of the blog - in Gene Rodenberry's world, the Earth finally unified after a devastating global war that started in 2026. (Not that far away in real-world terms.) I'd at least like to think that mankind as a whole is actually smart enough not to blow itself up with nuclear weapons....but if it's our only home planet that is the one 'taking up arms' against an invasive parasite, there seems to be no way to win.


 
 

4 comments (Latest Comment: 08/23/2021 00:40:45 by BobR)
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