Ya know, for all the bad raps put upon the collective heads of homo sapiens, people are
actually kind of cool.
Yes, sometimes we’re stupid. We do things intending to be good and,
more often than not it seems, end up screwing things up, usually
catastrophically. But at least we try.
I mean take the honeybee. The European variety just wasn’t
good enough. They didn't produce as much honey as people wanted so, back in the 1950’s, some brain trust decided to see what would
happen to their productivity if they combined the mild-mannered Euro-bee with a
cousin from Africa. It worked. They
mated and procreated and… disaster. The mild-manners of the polite Euro-bee
were overtaken by the vicious sociopathic personality of the African variety.
Now the Americas have a hybrid widely known as ‘killer bees’ because once they
start to attack, they don’t stop. It’s like a mass suicide mission.
Then there’s the water hyacinth, a pretty water plant native to
the Amazon River basin. In 1884, at the World’s Fair, they were given away as
gifts. Then they became a problem, clogging rivers, stagnating water, killing
fish. In 1910 a bill was introduced to Congress suggesting the United States
import hippos to eat them. It didn’t pass (good thing because what we do with
the hippos once they ate all the plants?).
We’re accused of killing the planet. To many, that’s not a
matter for dispute. It’s a done deal. Everything, all of it, is the fault of
people.
Personally, observing objectively and without emotion, I do think
there are bad things that we do. In the end though, once the planet shakes us
off through extinction (which will happen no matter how much we hope it doesn't), our impact in the overall scheme of things will be the
equivalent of a single gnat’s fart.
The planet was around long before the first homo became erectus and will be around long after the last of us dies out.
It’s just that most people are: a) afraid of dying (as if
they can do anything about it when push comes to shove); b) are passionate
about telling everyone else how to live their lives (because those people have
too damned much time on their hands).
For the first, get over the fear of dying. It’s going to
happen. It’s, like, totally inevitable no matter what you do. If there were a secret to eternal life, it would have hit Facebook by now - sold in bottles and all.
Second, stop bossing everyone else around. If you have your
panties hitched about ‘global warming’ and ‘carbon footprints’ you can always
reduce yours to right next to zero. Stop breathing and things will take care of
themselves. Just don’t expect me to devolve back to the Stone Age because you
say it’s the right to do.
On the other hand, one of the coolest things about people is
the good things they do for other species.
What other creature on this planet, no matter how benign in temperament,
does things like consciously plan for the housing of other critters? Sure, some critters
use things other critters have left lying around. Like crustaceans borrowing
shells from others, after they’ve been abandoned. Swallows and varieties of
wasps and hornets use buildings as support structures for their nests. People,
though, are the one species that uses it’s intelligence to plan and execute
living spaces for other creatures. Like these:
The first sits atop a post behind the building in which I work. It's old and weathered, but someone, at some point, made the point, took the time to buy the wood, cut it, put it together, paint it and mount it. Someone else who lives just uphill and across from the the guy with the musical fence, made the rest of these. There's another cluster on a different road on my way home at night.
Now, after seeing and appreciating these - the workmanship, whimsy and time involved - I think people can be pretty darned cool. Not perfect. Not by a long shot, but we have our moments of ultimate coolth, too.
Have a lovely day!
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
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