This has nothing to do and everything to do with what's going on.

[MoonRiver]

Human beings are an abomination on Planet Earth. We have done more to destroy the world and all beings upon it, including ourselves, than any other species ever born to live and die here. I'm not saying I have no hope that we can reform ourselves and save the planet. I just think it is incredibly improbable. I fear for future generations. Maybe they will be wiser at the 11th hour. One can only hope.

[tabatha]

1. +1000

We soil our planet in order to keep our homes and work places unsoiled.

[Catherina]

2. Rec'd. Had that same conversation with a friend earlier today.

Told her I wouldn't shed a tear if every last human being on this planet disappeared to give the planet and animals a breather.

[MoonRiver]

7. I have mixed feelings.

I have three children and four grandchildren. THEY would not do the horrors we see inflicted upon the planet. But many, many others torture and kill virtually every living thing upon this earth. I believe the planet was much more stable and peaceful before WE came on board. Of course that point may be moot. We are self-destructing as I type.

[Catherina]

20. I understand. Most of my family and friends wouldn't either

at least not knowingly or willingly. If we could pick and choose who stays, that would be ideal but the same destructive trends would develop again in a few centuries. Like you said, we're self-destructing anyway. I just hate to see the animals suffer while we do.

[MineralMan]

22. Pick and choose who stays, eh?

Really? Who makes those decisions, pray tell? You? Really?

Feh!

[Catherina]

Since that's all you chose to get out of it, we will have no conversation. Again. n/t

[MineralMan]

26. That's what you said, Catherina. Pick and choose.

Who stays and who "goes." What, exactly, did you mean by that, I wonder. Certainly not you, I'm sure, would be among those who doesn't stay, right?

I consider that kind of attitude to be arrogant in the extreme. Perhaps you didn't mean what you said. If not, then please explain it to me. How is it that you're not part of the "humanity" that is destroying the planet? I'd love to hear your story.

[LawnKorn]

3. If we don't get a handle on global warming, it will be the end of civilization as we know it

Peak Oil, nuclear waste, depletion of fresh water supplies, and crop failures are on the way. The next generation is going to have its hands full.

[amborin]

4. k and r

we're far from any other planet in our solar system, and isolated out here on the margins of our galaxy, impossibly far from Andromeda or any other; yet we trash our planet and decimate the other living species on it.

[Occam Bandage]

5. Human beings are the neatest thing Earth has ever produced.

And the Earth has produced many neat things.

[AndrewP]

6. I've had similar thoughts

well said

[inna]

8. uh, no. nothing wrong with humans per se; it's capitalism that is the problem.

[Angry Dragon]

11. I wonder who created capitalism

[inna]

13. bottom line: wrong system, not wrong species

[Subdivisions]

9. Yep. We suck. n/t

[Angry Dragon]

10. I have always said that we would be the first species to make themselves extinct

[MineralMan]

12. Uff da!

Who should be first to go, then? How do we rid ourselves of this "abominination," do you think? Where should the end of humanity begin, in order to save the planet?

I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. I see it here and there on the Internet, and yet nobody ever seems to suggest a solution to the problem. Do you have one? Are the people complaining about humanity as an abomination not also human? Do they not also contribute to what they see is the problem?

A little logic is in order here, I think. I'm not seeing any.

I'll tell you what I did. The year I turned 20, which was 1965, I decided not to create any additional humans. I did not procreate. Yes, there is a problem with population. So, I did something about that, by not reproducing.

I'll ask what those in this thread are doing to fix the problem, other than posting on an Internet discussion forum?

[MoonRiver]

14. A lot of good people, including Al Gore, have solutions.

Nobody is listening. Nobody in control of the world's governments cares enough to do something. It's all about how much money can we make today, and tomorrow be damned.

[MineralMan]

16. Again, I ask: What have YOU done to change the situation, personally?

You're speaking in platitudes. For pete's sake...

[MoonRiver]

17. Ok, here goes.

I contribute and work to support the Democratic Party.
I contribute to human and animal rights groups to help the afflicted.
I volunteer at schools, animal shelters and food pantries.
And last, but not least, I contribute my bucks and opinions to DU. :D

[MineralMan]

18. I see. But you think humanity is an abomination?

Do you not see the contradiction? Have you added to the population? Do you consume any more resources than you absolutely need? Do you drive an automobile, heat your home with fossil fuel, or own energy-consuming appliances like, say, a clothes dryer?

Are you part of the solution or a part of the problem?

It's all well and good to talk about the horror of humanity's impact on the planet. It is what you do, personally, to ameliorate that impact that makes a difference.

[MoonRiver]

21. As I said earlier, I'm not talking about myself or my family.

Just take off the blinders and look at the world at large.

[MineralMan]

23. Of course you're not. You're not part of the problem, right?

It's the "others" who are the problem. Are you so certain of that? I notice that you did not answer any of my questions. Now, you don't have to answer me. I can't compel you to do so, but you're going to think about it, I'm betting. It's the "others" who are the abomination on the world, right? Not you...

I'm sorry, but responsibility begins with each individual. It is not the "others." It is each and every one of us who impacts the planet.

Good luck, there...

[MoonRiver]

25. I think you missed the entire point of my post.

I have a very pessimistic belief about our, human, animal and plant, survival here. I think the earth's demise, if it happens, will be largely due to human beings. None of us are perfect, including me. Doesn't affect the outcome, however.

[MineralMan]

27. Are you not a human being? If you are, then you can change

things, I'd think. If you do not, of course, nothing will change and things will go on as they have.

Good luck to you...

[MineralMan]

24. "Just take off the blinders "

What blinders would those be? The ones that showed me that overpopulation was a real problem back in the 1960s. The blinders that caused me to decided not to procreate? Those blinders? I have no blinders on at all. I acted to reduce my impact, and have continued to do so in many other ways. What have you done, personally, to limit YOUR impact on the planet? It's a simple question. Or is it all because of "others?"

[Newest Reality]

15. Barring some outside source or force one might imagine,

We human beings may be the species that is the measure of it all, ey? I mean, you can watch too many Pixar movies and get way to anthropomorphic about the mindsets of animals, yet if we are the ones who know and experience and react in complex ways, then what is there without us?

We can wake-up to a beautiful, Spring morning and comment on how warm the sun feels, how beautiful the emerging flora is, etc. Conversely, we can find self-hate for the collective, capitalistic raping of the biosphere and the mass denial and ignorance about how we are treating our home.

Yet, if there was no human presence,(from a simply pragmatic view) then it might just all be as it is without any qualities or appreciation or reflection at all. If we were not here and, as it appears has happened in the past, a meteor could hit the Earth and wipe-out most of the beauty and life on it.

So, as abhorrent as our collectively immature acceptance of the behavior of our leaders, governments and especially our corporations is, it is our notions and realizations that arise in consciousness that makes any sitatuation, good or bad or by comparison known.

I wish there were a reasonable out in our self-extinction and I hope that the realization that we would like to keep "experience" going for our species could be allowed to replace the self-loathing we might feel. We are experience and measure and feeling, therefore, thriving and perpetuating our species with more affection and respect for the vital nature of our living planet seems the best route to take ... even if that is just one of us at a time.

[MoonRiver]

19. "I think, therefore I am."

Yet many other species may think and recognize themselves. In fact science has demonstrated that this is so. Maybe communication among these "other" beings about life and death is as complex as among our own species. We don't know, and we shouldn't judge, and arbitrarily kill, based upon our ignorance.

[CrispyQ]

28. I agree wtih Agent Smith.

"I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had, during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you aren’t actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with its surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we... are the cure."

[MoonRiver]

30. Wow, that's a description I never thought of!

But, if the shoe fits.....

[astral]

29. The human cultures who did, and still do where they are allowed

to, live close to the earth. The philosophy that you consider the people living on the planet seven generations into the future when deciding how to live now.

We don't need to kill people off, we need population control from the birth control side of things, and we need to pull together and live as nature intended.

Can we? With so many of us?

Human beings are not an abomination to the Earth, but the cultures who took over and squished out the other ways of life and choose to live like we are the last generation on the planet anyway, so who gives a F**k?

We were born into that culture, though not all of us to the same degree.

It's a tough topic. I hope we're willing and able to move forward and change with the times.

Meanwhile the US government is making it hard to make normal free choices in how we live and what we eat drink and breathe and inject (not!) into our veins.