A SIMPLE ARGUMENT

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Argument, perhaps, is the wrong word. Regardless, the discussion that follows is quite simple. The main points are these: No one is right, no one is wrong. No one wins. No one loses. An argument demands at least two sides and polarity. Integrity has no sides.

Change makes argument futile. Everything changes. Everything is finite. By definition, finite means to have definite, definable limits; or to have a limited nature of existence. Change inevitable follows.

There it is. Simple

Unfortunately, the implications of finiteness are most complicated. Humans seem hard wired to judge and contend. Though aware that nothing stays the same, that everything changes, they insist that if it changes THIS way, it is good; if it changes THAT way it is bad. Polarity.

Both those for THIS and those for THAT seem to agree on the notion of progress. An imperative of western civilization is that problems can always be resolved and that change can be beneficial. That is progress. That is improving mankind's lot. If things don't change for the better, it is going to be bad.

Polar bears are dying in the Arctic. Starving to death. Falling to disease. A few biologists agonize over solutions. Species are disappearing all over the planet. Something must be done, but what? What is the right thing to do?

Think globally, act locally. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Go green. Save the planet.

A broad view suggests that this is chasing our tails. There is nothing to do. Environmentalist understand this. They understand that the more one does to manage the planet, the more that has to be done. Clearly the thing to do is nothing. Step away and let the earth heal itself.

Step away and heal ourselves.

The universe is complex and interconnected. The Earth and its biomass is equally complex and interconnected. Billions of humans doing this and that make for further complications. It is a tight fit with all of us here, and getting tighter. Most of us are feeling the pinch.

Feeding those starving bears, for example, kills them. Unless feed is provided forever. And then the bears become dependents, become something akin to domestic stock. And what is wrong with that? Live domesticated animals are better than dead wild animals? But remember, the more one does, the more that needs to be done. Move the bears to reservations? Breed seals to feed them? Teach them to ring bells or dance for their dinner?

And there is this: Humans are all too finite themselves. Everything that should be done cannot be done. Humans are only human after all.

Changes will come. Good, bad or indifferent. The Earth will abide, in all likelihood, far beyond the brief tenure of homo sapiens. Do nothing. Carry water, chop wood is the ancient Chinese dictum. Eat, sleep, go to the bathroom. Do nothing more. The planet could use the respite.

Simple as that.