There shouldn't have to be a case for respecting the Earth, in my opinion.

As a species, we humans have advanced as to be very far removed from a lot of aspects of nature. We've got our systems of commerce, where money flows and builds up here, and tends to do this and that, and we have our social systems, and systems of government, but have partially extracted ourselves from the system of natural selection, protected us from the seasons, taken us out of the food chain, and made hunting unnecessary.

We're so far removed from nature that many individuals are arrogant, species-centric, and believe that we are separate from and protected from the earth. Why protect the environment, when I don't deal with it? If I buy my meat at the grocery store, and live surrounded in asphalt, and the highlight of my week is a LAN party? What good is nature, unless I'm maybe out camping?

This is, of course, an illusion. The Earth has many systems that are too big for us to escape from, and if we continue to act as an imbalance, we'll soon see what happens when an unbalanced tower falls.

Learn more about this author, Stanley J. Pierce.
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