This William Shakespeare quote is an onion. When you start peeling it all sorts of scents emanate from it, mostly foul with a soupçon of fair.
Planet earth evolved over 4.5 billion years into a balanced ecosystem.
Humans have just recently broken out of that balanced ecosystem and have been systematically destroying it for the last two hundred years.
A prime example was the US government’s 1873 decision to exterminate the buffalo in order to exterminate the native Americans that impeded our land grab of the continent for own exploitation.
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Also important to note that over the 100 years after European arrival in 1492, the indigenous population of the Americas dropped from 60 million to only 6 million, due to waves of epidemics, warfare and famine.
There are two ways in which our activities exemplify our break from nature’s balanced systems -
Our arrogant self-importance placing ourselves apart from and above all other species, according ourselves the role of earth’s master who has also been granted the gift of eternal life.
Our ego-driven cruelty, widely on display in our behaviors toward other species, driving many to extinction via our greed, limited understanding of nature, and general disregard for anything we deem “below” our status as rulers of the planet.
We nearly pushed wolves to the point of extinction because they fed off ranchers’ livestocks. And yet, most of us love our dogs, which are really domesticated wolves.
A recent incident in Daniel, Wyoming illustrates all of this perfectly -
The firestorm of outrage stems from the February 29 incident when Roberts allegedly ran over the young wolf, just nine months of age, with a snowmobile, causing enough injury to the animal that he was able to capture it. Roberts proceeded to take the wolf home, where he wrapped the snout with red tape before heading to the Green River Bar to show off his injured and muzzled “prize.” After parading the severely injured animal around the bar, posing for photos with it, he took it out back and shot it.
Wayne Pacelle, President of Animal Wellness Action, commented on the abhorrent incident, explaining why the barbaric cruelty must be punished:
“The man who committed this atrocious act of animal cruelty cannot go without punishment under state or federal law, or both. Running over and crushing an animal with a snowmobile, binding the battered and wounded animal’s mouth shut, and deciding to further torment the creature in front of an audience rather than putting her out of her misery is the textbook definition of malicious cruelty. A remorseless, cruel monster like this is a threat to other animals, and a threat to people. The law must speak.”
The human race has committed many such acts, not only against animals, but also against fellow humans.
No other creature on earth is capable of such sick behaviors. Humans stand alone in their capacity for cruelty and unnecessary violence.
And we have done the most serious and long-lasting damage in just the last 100 years of the 4.5B year history of the earth.
When we finally leave the scene,
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what will our legacy be?
P L A S T I C S = our permanent gift to the water planet
The earth may eventually recover and perhaps some sort of new, diminished balance will be restored one day.
I personally see little to zero hope of avoiding these outcomes, especially because most people are willfully ignorant of what is coming due to being so heavily propagandized, divided over tribal dramas, and self-centered.
My epitaph for humanity
We stood on so many generations’ shoulders
Father, mothers, friends and lovers
Who gave their all that we might one day also enjoy life
And we frittered it all away
Destroying nature’s wondrously balanced creation for our own momentary pleasure, advantage and bragging rights
Leaving a sullied hellscape of smoldering ash, suddenly frozen in time
Perhaps for eternity
Circling back to Shakespeare’s quote, “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here,” I would simply add that Heaven is also here, as are all the angels, and I have experienced them during my 72 years upon this earth. As for life after death, methinks that some form of re-incarnation may be built-in? Perhaps I will return as a bird or a fish or a tree? Remember what it was like before you were born? Me neither. That’s what the afterlife is like. A new beginning, hopefully a fresh one on a beautiful, vibrant, balanced planet, where the pursuit of some sort of happiness is still possible.
Footnote
While Earth is the only place in the Universe known to harbor life, estimates of habitable zones around other stars, along with the discovery of thousands of exoplanets and new insights into the extreme habitats on Earth where organisms known as extremophiles live, suggest that there may be many more habitable places in the Universe than considered possible until very recently.
On 4 November 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs within the Milky Way.
11 billion of these estimated planets may be orbiting Sun-like stars. The nearest such planet may be 12 light-years away, according to the scientists.
As of June 2021, a total of 59 potentially habitable exoplanets have been found.
In August 2021, a new class of habitable planets, named ocean planets, which involves "hot, ocean-covered planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres", has been reported. Hycean planets may soon be studied for biosignatures by terrestrial telescopes as well as space telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which was launched on 25 December 2021.
My Takeaway
Even if we mess up and destroy the earth and everything it has produced over the last 4.5B years, it appears that the “Creator” has at least 59 other experiments in progress.
Very very interesting - sadly the truth… and there are so many unknowns for the next millenia… we are not leaving the planet as we inherited it - prestine, full of nature and life… 🥰